FB pixel

Infrastructure challenges impacting NIN card production says UrbanID exec

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.

Related Posts

Article Topics

 |   |   |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

Deepfake ecosystem develops around apps, services as detection fights to keep pace

Deepfakes are the topic du jour in the biometrics and identity verification industries, which are increasingly involved in the global…

 

Surveillance tech firm Auror raises NZ$82M for global expansion

New Zealand crime intelligence platform Auror has raised NZ$82 million (roughly US$48.7 million) that will be used to fund its…

 

Airport biometrics integrations bring together sector’s leaders, new players

SITA has concluded an integration of newly-acquired IPS, just as its airport biometric scanners roll out in Thailand. Details are…

 

Stricter retail age verification on the agenda as UK fails to curb underage vaping

A survey of vape users in Northern Ireland is causing alarm in the UK, with some observers warning that a…

 

Facial recognition deployments must factor in risk v. reward: report

Some deployments of facial recognition technology are more publicly acceptable than others. This, according to a new article published in…

 

Mastercard brings passkeys for ecommerce payments to UAE

Mastercard will roll out its passkey-enabled Click to Pay ecommerce feature in the United Arab Emirates through a partnership with…

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

DIGITAL ID for ALL NEWS

Featured Company

ID for ALL FEATURE REPORTS

BIOMETRICS WHITE PAPERS

BIOMETRICS EVENTS

EXPLAINING BIOMETRICS