Nigeria’s NIMC strengthens media partnership to drive national ID uptake

With 121.4 million digital IDs issued in Nigeria as of June 30, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is reinvigorating its partner network in order to drive continuous adoption of the National Identification Number (NIN).

Recently, the ID authority announced that as of this month, 122 million individuals had registered for the NIN. The Director General and CEO of NIMC, Abisoye-Coker Odusote, disclosed this figure while addressing participants at a working session with publishers of digital newspapers in Nigeria.

The objective of the event was to derive strategies through which the media can encourage stronger adoption of the national ID in the country. It was organized by the NIMC, in collaboration with the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers of Nigeria.

Speaking during the event, Odusote painted a vivid picture of the current realities as far as NIN issuance is concerned, adding that some of the reforms undertaken have yielded palpable results including a drop in incidents of extortion by more than 40 percent, Punch reports.

According to Odusote, the reforms also led to a major jump in ID uptake which has gone up by 49 percent since 2022 when the number of ID holders was 72.7 million.

Apart from highlighting the importance of the NIN, the NIMC and the publishers discussed the need for clearer communication on identity matters and to fight disinformation around the national digital ID project.

Odusote urged the media to support them in their push to ensure that users do not pay more than the legally mandated fees for ID services, citing exploitative charges as one of the issues which have led to distrust in the ID system.

“We are asking our partners in the media to help us combat fake news and promote transparency in the identity ecosystem. We need to ensure every Nigerian understands their rights and knows that their identity is key to accessing opportunities and services,” she said as quoted by Punch.

During the event with publishers, the NIMC also spoke about the surge in NIN-SIM card linkage which has gone above 172 million as of May. The body also mentioned increasing benefits by farmers and students from services which are linked to the NIN, according to Techeconomy.

The NIMC Director of IT, Lanre Yusuf, speaking for the institution’s CEO, said to date, about three million farmers and over 800,000 students had benefited from education, social protection, and agricultural services thanks to the digital ID system.

Yusuf also underscored the role partnerships are playing to expand ID adoption in different sectors of Nigeria, and mentioned the NIMC’s plans of expanding digital ID coverage especially in remote and difficult-to-reach parts of the country.

As part of this effort, the ID authority started a training for youth service corps members last month to enable them conduct ID enrollment at ward level across the country.

Article Topics

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