The Federal Government has declared September 16 as National Identity Day and has supported the enrolment of Nigerians for Digital Identity (ID) across the country.
This was revealed in a statement signed by Mrs Uwa Suleiman, on behalf of Dr Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, yesterday, in Abuja.
In the statement, Pantami stressed the need of the importance of digital identity, adding that the ministry was developing the right policy environment to support enrolment for digital IDs in the country.
According to him, September 16, has been declared as the National Identity Day. Following the approval of the federal government under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria also formally adopted the same day as the National Identity Day.
He said that this year’s edition of the National Identity Day will take place virtually on the same date and will have the theme: Identity for Health, Sustainable Developments and Growth.
He stated that capturing will start with the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria and will also support the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and other stakeholders to ensure that the process of obtaining digital identities swift and secure.
He said that the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa rightly noted that Digital Identity and the digital economy were not only linked, but reinforcing as digital ID was the basis for digital economy platforms.
Digital identification, he said, can be an important catalyst for various development initiatives in the continent such as impacting on trade, governance, social protection, financial inclusion, domestic resource mobilisation, as well as security and human rights.
As the world and Nigeria mark the International Identity Day and National Identity Day, accordingly, Pantami urged Nigerians to support the development the digital economy by embracing the use of digital identities.
He, also, encouraged Nigerians to visit NIMC accredited centres for their digital identities.
