Infrastructure challenges impacting NIN card production says UrbanID exec

Acute infrastructural challenges stand in Nigeria’s way as the country carries on with the issuance of mobile digital ID as well as physical ID cards. A prolonged nature of these challenges means that the country may not be able to sustain the production of physical ID cards in the long run, according to an expert.

The Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of tokenized ID provider UrbanID, Olatunji Durodola, shared his views on this and other issues related to Nigeria’s digital identity journey with Daily Trust.

According to Durodola, the production of physical identity documents is “very capital intensive” and cannot as much as succeed in a context where the “support infrastructure is fragile.”

The UrbanID official recalls how Nigerian authorities launched the National Electronic Identity (e-ID) cards in 2013, but the ambitious project soon failed to meet expectations because the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) was unable to square up to a couple of problems including financial constraints, technology integration and maintenance, awareness and accessibility, among other factors.

He also notes another instance where there was the issuance of around 23 million mobile IDs in Nigeria between 2020 and 2024, only for the steam to die down due to factors such as lack of awareness among the population.

Earlier this year, Nigeria announced the launch of a new General Multipurpose Card (GMPC) that will, among other things, drive financial inclusion, facilitate access to social services and be used optionally as the ECOWAS ENBIC card for regional travel. The GMPC is linked to the NIN.

Durodola also spoke about data protection, expressing the need for strong data security protocols in order to avoid incidents of data leak through unauthorized sharing of personal data. In an interview with Biometric Update in June, UrbanID consultant Mannie Oyewole said in the face of growing concerns about data violations, it was wise for governments, enterprises and business to consider privacy-preserving options such as tokenization.

UrbanID designed the NIMC mobile App which has been used in Nigeria to facilitate self-service for the obtention of the National Identification Numbers (NIN), but the app has faced challenges, including data security and privacy-related criticisms.

Recently, news emerged that there is a proposal for legislative amendment in Nigeria to make the government-issued digital ID mandatory for foreigners living in the country.

Article Topics

Africa  |  digital ID  |  identity document  |  National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)  |  National Identity Number (NIN)  |  Nigeria  |  UrbanID