Mr. Aliyu Aziz, Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), says 33 million Nigerians have enrolled for the National Identification Number (NIN).
Aziz said on Monday that the commission had stepped up its strategy to fast-track the enrollment of more citizens and provide them with legal identification.
”NIMC has stepped up its operations, which has seen the enrollment figure with the unique National Identification Number (NIN) now at over 33 million, astronomically up from just seven million three years ago,” he said.
The Director-General said that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had on Sept. 12, 2018 approved the immediate commencement of the implementation of a strategic road map for Digital Identity Ecosystem in Nigeria.
Aziz said that the step would further boost enrollment across the country, more so as government had set the enforcement of the mandatory use of the NIN for Jan 1, 2019.
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He said that the Digital Identity Ecosystem was a framework that leveraged on the existing capabilities and infrastructure of distinct government agencies and private sector organisations.
The Director-General said that the framework was to carry out enrollment of Nigerians and legal residents into the National Identity Database (NIDB).
Aziz said that the framework was to ensure issuance of digital identity, known as the NIN, to give Nigeria a credible and robust identity management system.
He said that the provision of digital identity to everyone in the country to be able to prove ‘who is who’ was critical to accessing services physically or electronically.
According to him, one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations demands that nations provide legal identity for all including birth registration by the year 2030.
“From the above, it is very clear that identification plays an important role in enabling the achievement of other SDG targets, such as social protection, rights to economic resources, land and property, as well as universal health coverage,” he said.