Ending The Anguish Over NIN

 By Adekunle Adekoya

The National Identification Number, NIN, is a project of the Federal Government embarked upon to achieve a number of objectives, with the establishment of the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, to actualise the purpose. An enabling law, the NIMC Act 2007, was enacted to give legal life to the commission.

There actually had been a previous effort through the Department of National Civic Registration, DNCR, which achieved very little. According to information on the website of the NIMC: “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.”

From all indications, it’s been 16 years that NIMC came to life through the enabling act of 2007, during which it has tried to fulfil its mandate, which is yet to achieve fruition. Many directors-general have assumed office at NIMC and left, until the incumbent acting DG/CEO, Abisoye Coker-Odusote. Hoping she would be confirmed, we are waiting to see what she would do different from her predecessors.

While waiting, the new helmsman at NIMC needs to know that fellow countrymen and women are going through hell to get their NIN. Earlier this week, Coker-Odusote in a widely-publicised statement said that “it is criminal to engage third-parties or offer bribes to officials in order to expedite National Identification Number registration or modifications.

In the statement yesterday, she stressed the importance of adhering to proper procedures established by NIMC. She said the commission was committed to ensuring that all registration processes were carried out seamlessly and in strict accordance with existing laws and regulations.

“We have a responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the NIN modification process and to protect the rights of every Nigerian citizen. Engaging third-party services or paying bribes compromises this process and is against the law,” she said. She also urged Nigerians to resist extortions in line with the federal government’s anti-corruption campaign.”

Nevertheless, experience on the streets show that third parties are doing brisk business with NIN. This is because of the ever-present Nigerian factor, a situation where things do not work as stipulated for a number of reasons that are unique to being Nigerian. For example, citizens wishing to register and obtain a NIN often meet brick walls at the NIMC offices in many parts of the country. 

NIMC offices will be found in many local government headquarters secretariats, but a casual visit will reveal that many of these offices are not rigged for the purpose. Oftentimes required staff are not on seat. When they are, a prospective registrant is often told that “there is no network”, and is advised to come back at a later date and time. In addition, there is often a power outage. The same frustrating refrains are usually the experience on a return visit. 

The serial frustrations are what have created windows of opportunities for “third parties”. These third parties charge from N3,000 to N5,000 to “do NIN” for a willing customer. To modify records, staff at NIMC offices have been known to demand as much as N25,000, while third party operators demand as much as N40,000. Meanwhile, telcos are barring lines whose subscribers are without verified NIN. 

In addition, many services and documents cannot be obtained because of NIN, as a result of which many Nigerians are suffering. The NIMC boss must find out how these third parties secure access to NIMC’s back-end through which they register people. Having secured that area, the next thing is to ensure that the NIMC offices deliver services for which they exist. There must be “network”. There must also be “power”. Lack of electricity should not be an excuse; ours is a generator economy.

In all of these, I will urge the NIMC boss to look at her assignment from a different perspective. As I write, most Nigerians are on at least two or three different databases. 

There is the INEC database of voters, complete with biometrics. With more than 140 million active lines, the telcos seem to have the largest biometric database as a result of the KYC (Know Your Customer) exercise ordered by the industry regulator, NCC, a few years ago. There is also the passport database of the Immigration Service, and the National Drivers License  of the Federal Road Safety Commission. Readers will also know that BVN is another biometric database of bank customers. 

In addition, JAMB, WAEC, NECO and the various tertiary institutions operate similar databases. Harmonising these for the purpose of NIN should not be rocket science. I think a software to do this can be written and I’m sure Nigeria has more than enough software engineers who can do this. Enough of the anguish Nigerians are going through because of NIN.

*Adekoya is a commentator on public issues