NEW NATIONAL ID CARD; ANXIETY AS NIGERIANS REACT

To uncover the complete history of ID, we have to travel back thousands of years. As we mentioned above, the concept of identification can be traced back to the Babylonian Empire. However, the censuses carried out at this time only gathered information on the number of people and the resources available

The idea of national identity card project was first conceived in 1967 under the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon with the view to identifying ''the Igbos'' who had refused to heed the call to return to the East during the civil war.

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) established by the NIMC Act No. 23 of 2007, has the mandate to establish, own, operate, maintain and manage the National Identity Database in Nigeria, register persons covered by the Act, assign a Unique National Identification Number (NIN) and issue General Multi-Purpose Cards (GMPC) to those who are citizens of Nigeria as well as others legally residing within the country.

The NIMC Act 2007 provides for the establishment of the NIMC, its functions, powers, establishment of the National Identity Database, assignment of the National Identification Number (NIN) as well as issuance of token General Multi-purpose cards. The Act also provides the Commission with powers to make regulations connected with its functions. The NIMC Act 2007 provides the repeal of the law that created the former Department of National Civic Registration (DNCR) and the transfer of its assets and liabilities to the NIMC.

The issuing authority for National Identity, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) had put 1st September, 2015 as commencement date in which all transactions involving the identification of individuals must be done with the National Identification Number (NIN).

On Friday, April 5, 2024, the NIMC announced that it had launched a new card layered with payment capabilities and social service features in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System.

In two months, Nigerians will begin utilising the services of the proposed three-in-one identity card, the National Identity Management Commission has confirmed.

It said the single multipurpose card combining multiple functions of identity, financial and social services will be made available to citizens across the country by August this year.

An official of the NIMC said, “When you are deploying a new technology, there is a lot of work to be done, you need to configure the card, enable the outlet, and enable the wallet to work. We also have to do tests and that is what is ongoing.

“The deployment is ongoing, the portal that people need to access the service has to be deployed, and we have to make sure that it is scaleable and those are the ongoing works.

“There are integrations that all the banks need to do to enable the card and all of those little details are ongoing. We have that target and we are working extra hard to make sure that we achieve that.”

According to a statement issued, the initiative represents a collaborative effort to offer increased options for domestic consumers while fostering the delivery of services in a more innovative, cost-effective, and competitive manner.

The identity cards will include a bank-enabled National ID card, a social intervention card, and an optional ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card.

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has confirmed that Nigerians will begin utilising the proposed three-in-one identity card services in August this year.

Naija News recalls that on Friday, April 5, 2024, the NIMC announced that it had launched a new card layered with payment capabilities and social service features in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System.

It explained that the identity solution was equipped with payment capability for all types of social and financial services.

Commenting on enrollment in 2023, NIMC said, “NIMC's enrolment figures as of December 31, 2023, currently stand at over 104.16 million unique records. “The highest cumulative enrolment figure of over 11.4 million was recorded in Lagos State

Despite the hiccups and other challenges associated with the registration and collection of the National Identification Number (NIN), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced a bid to launch another national ID card for Nigerians;

No sooner than the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) announced its resolve to engage in another national identification exercise that Nigerians started reacting over its justification and whether it should fly or not.

In recent times, the NIN has become a unique identifier assigned to each citizen, and has gained prominence in recent years as the government initiatives targeted to enable security, governance, and service delivery.

However, for some analysts, the new move proposed is coming at the wrong time, while others are of the view that we have had enough, justifying the fact that any technology-driven exercise always strained the country financially and is also time-consuming.

Meanwhile, civil society groups and concerned Nigerians have started probing into the new deal. While marshalling their arguments, they adduced financial implications, poor technology and the Nigeria factor as limiting aspects that could hinder the new initiatives.

While condemning the move, the Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) described the planned issuance of a new National Identity Card as a misuse of the commonwealth of Nigerians, and a scheme to rip Nigerians off public funds.

In a statement issued by the national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in Abuja, the group said the plan showed a lack of national strategy to formulate and implement beneficial public policies governing the issuance of the ID.

HURIWA in the statement wondered how 133 million poor Nigerians suffering “crushing poverty,” were expected “to maintain working bank accounts to enable them to collect the so-called single national ID.”

 “This is a scheme to rip off Nigeria of monumental and humongous amounts of public funds which will end up in the offshore bank accounts of top leaders and their mistresses and acolytes.

“We call on President Bola Tinubu to discontinue this sheer misuse of both the commonwealth of Nigerians and the plan to once more subject Nigerians to rounds of ordeals of queuing up in the hot sun or rains all over the country in their banks to access their so-called banks to obtain the dubious national identity card even as the Rights group said it is poor thinking for NIMC to assume that all Nigerians have functional bank accounts to enable them get the ID from those banks,” the group noted in the statement.

HURIWA added that a report showed that 50 per cent of Nigerians were unbanked and un-bankable due to terrible poverty. The group has therefore urged the government to rather adopt the International Passport as the most critical ID card.

Also, commenting on the issue, an Abuja resident, Ademayokun Ifedapo, described the move as “a waste of funds and needless.”

According to him, what the government should have done, if at all, was to upgrade the old national identity card without having to start another exercise capable of distracting Nigerians.

“Imagine us queuing again for the national ID card after how many years. Could you believe that up till now, some people are yet to be captured while most people are yet to collect their own from NIM office? Here we are trying to commence another exercise to achieve what if I may ask.

“This for me is a project that would eat a chunk of our budget coming at a time when we have lean resources to contend with. Again, the population Census is also coming. Can we possibly afford to carry out the two amid economic challenges staring us in the face? Just think about it. But I think it is not necessary.”

Another public commentator, Ayisatu Ogbeide, dismissed the idea, saying ‘not again.’

Ogbeide anchored her argument on the non-availability of modern technology to enhance a hitch-free exercise to avoid the lapses of the past.

She said, “Let me tell you, in order to avoid lapses of past years where endless exercise was the order of the day, we must ensure that the new exercise is technologically driven for a seamless exercise.

“Yes, I agree that more security be embellished to further fortify the national identification card, but then if it is not well captured in the budget it has become another burden.

“Look at the way former President Muhammadu Buhari postponed the Census exercise. Do you think it was ordinary? The decision was made for reasons you and I may not fathom.”

Ibrahim Al-Hassan, in his reaction, said, “I am yet to receive the first NIN and I heard we are about to get another one. I still don’t understand why we are lumping up these things.”

“Could it be that we ought to have gotten some of these things way back and now it is haunting us or what? What’s the need to rush into all of these exercises and still make mistakes? Or do we simply like making mistakes and keep spending money in this country? I will at this point implore President Tinubu to be different from the lots and save us some money.”

“Imagine, the president has the Census exercise to carry out as it was budgeted for and was passed down by the last administration. Ordinarily, it should have been Buhari’s government project but they dodged it and now Tinubu has to carry on. So, I don’t know. I think the government should just mind our spending and consider the masses in all their decisions and policies.”

With the new National Identity exercise expected to gulp a whopping Eighty Billion Naira, while Nigerians are yet to come to terms with the Coastal Highway bills, a new mansion for the Vice President and new presidential jet in a situation where the nation still complains of paucity of funds the people are at a loss what the government hopes to achieve by policies which only make the economy worse.

The envisaged trouble of standing on long queues at banks is frightening considering the experience of people during cash control policies by government and the banks.

Nigerians are in for another round of hardship occasioned by a government policy. A distraction form the negative policies of government, one is tempted to think.