The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says over 100 million Nigerians have no identity.
The Director-General of the NIMC, Mr Aliyu Aziz, made the disclosure on Wednesday during a zoom meeting with editors.
Mr Aziz who spoke on the topic: “Strategic Roadmap for ID Development”, said these include the poorest and the most vulnerable groups, such as the marginalised – women and girls, the less-educated people, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, people with disabilities and people living in rural and remote areas.
He maintained that the estimated population of Nigeria stands at 200 million, but only about 38 percent of the population have any form of ID.
According to the NIMC boss, the commission has enrolled and issued 41.5 million unique identifiers, known as National Identification Numbers (NIN), since the commencement of identity registration and enrolment in 2012.
He pointed out that the commission registers all Nigerian citizens physically present and those outside Nigeria as well as the legal residents.
Mr Aziz further hinted that from 2012 till date, only 41.5 million citizens and legal residents have been enrolled into the National Identity Database (NIDB) and issued unique NIN, an average of 5.2 million enrollments per annum.
He observed that at this rate, it will take a long time to enroll the remainder of the people currently living in the country, and by that time, about 292 million more people would have been added, hence the need for a strategy to enroll the backlog within the shortest possible time.
Aziz asserted that that was the reason for the idea of strategic roadmap and the birth of the ecosystem approach, contending that while the identity card could expire, the National Identification Numbers (NIN) issued was for a lifetime.
He stressed the need for people to be registered for documented identity, saying it mattered a lot, especially for development.
“Identity matters a lot for development, as inclusive and trusted ID systems can help achieve the goals of empowering individuals and enhancing their access to rights, services and the formal economy.
“It helps in strengthening transparency, promoting efficiency and effectiveness in governance, service delivery and accountability.
“It also supports private sector development and service delivery, grows digital economy as well as regional and global integration as well as generates reliable data.
“Good ID system supports development goals, including access to finance, gender and equality, empowerment, access to basic health and education services, child protection, migration and labour market opportunities, improved access and quality of social protection as well as governance,’’ he said.
Aziz said that people were registering more in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Kano compared with other cities, while residents in states in the South-East appeared to show little interest in the identity capturing.
The NIMC director-general said that the commission had entered strategic partnerships with media agencies to sensitise Nigerians on the importance of identity registration.
Meanwhile
Reports say gunmen suspected to be kidnappers on Wednesday killed two persons and abducted unspecified number of people on Lokoja – Abuja road in Kogi State.
It was gathered that those killed included Mr Nicholas Ofodile, proprietor of the popular Chuks Supermarket in Lokoja, and a commercial taxi driver.
According to the report, Mr Ofodile was driving towards Abuja in his Lexus Jeep car with registration number Kogi LKJ 658 PU when he was shot dead by the suspected kidnappers between Aseni -Etegi communities near Gegu town.
Also, the second victim, a commercial taxi driver, was also killed behind the wheel of his vehicle while conveying passengers to Abuja.
The Public Relations Officer of the State police command, DSP William Aya, confirmed the incident.
He said that the actual number and identity of those kidnapped were unknown as many vehicles were involved.
Aya, however, said that police have started combing the bush with the aim of rescuing the kidnapped victims.
He said that the kidnappers struck twice at two different spots on the road between 6:40 a.m. and 8:a.m.
Also commenting on the incident, Mr Emmanuel Abe, the state Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), said his men were at the scenes to assist the victims, adding that the body of Ofodile was taken to the mortuary of Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, while that of the second victim was handed over to his relations.
He said that eight vehicles, including a luxury bus, were flagged down by the suspected kidnappers.
According to him, all the vehicles were heading to Lokoja when the incident occurred.
He said five of the vehicles were in police custody at Gegu, while the commercial Volkswagen station wagon was handed over to the relations of the driver who died in the incident .
