Nigeria to invest N30b in national identity management system

The Director-General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr Chris Onyemenam, said on Sunday that the Nigerian Government has approved 30.066 billion Naira for a new national identity management system.

Onyemenamsaid: “The approval is intended to accelerate the roll-out of the backend of the national identity management system.”

He explained that about five billion Naira of that amount was already part of the 2011 Appropriation Act.

Onyemenam said the remaining part of the money would be part of the 2012 and

Mr Chris Onyemenam

2013 fiscal year budget proposals.

This, he said, would be subject to review, stressing that it was a laudable project that would go a long way to sanitise the identification system.

Onyemenam said that government’s approval of fund could be well taken to mean an interest in helping to implement a project that had transformational potential.

He noted that the Nigerian President ‘s position was to transform the nation’s economy for the citizenry both in terms of attitudinal disposition, employment creation, creation of economic opportunities and also creation of conducive environment.

The new strategies

While explaining the new strategies of the commission, Onyemenam said that the new cards to be issued would have facilities that could be verifiable unlike the former one that had no verification facility.

He added that the expected identity card would be like a smart card with a database that would be readable, when slotted into any card acceptable device or reader.

The Director-General said that this would be a new way of confirming the identity of individuals that has not happened in the past.

“It is in this sense that we are saying there’s a shift away from the old way of doing things to the new way of doing things,” Onyemenam said.

“The new way of doing things is the new paradigm and that is what we mean when we say we are moving from a focus on identity card issuance to identity management system,” he added.

Onyemenam also assured Nigerians of the commission’s commitment to ensuring effective identity management system.

NP/Adekusibe/Williams