Government officials from the Nigeria Immigration Service and Federal Road Safety Corp have warned Nigerians that irregular or wrong data presented during registration is a threat to the security of the country.
Civil Society Organisations have also called on agencies collecting identities of Nigerians to be efficient and transparent in their processes.
They said these at the sixth series of Regulatory Conversations by Convention on Business Integrity themed ‘National Identity Number: Matters Arising and Implications for Nation Building’ in Lagos on Thursday.
Panelists at the event said the success of the National Identity Number project being coordinated by the National Identification Management Commission was important for revenue sharing and clearing discrepancies in population figures.
The panelists were made up of Special Assistant to the Comptroller-General on Standards and Compliance, NIS, Amos Okpu; Lagos State Sector Commander, FRSC, Hyginus Omeje; Managing Editor, Premium Times, Mr Idris Akinbajo; Executive Director, Citizens ConnectNG; Ms. Francesca Kanayo-Chiedu; Lagos State Coordinator, Education Rights Campaign, Yusuf Omomewa; and Deputy Director, Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr Ike Adinde.
Okpu said one of the challenges encountered by agencies collecting citizen’s data was inconsistency in names and date of birth, which had led to the detention and deportation of Nigerians during international trips.
According to him, poor quality of data has affected the reputation of the country.
He said, “Part of the problems we experience as Nigerians with international travel is because of inconsistent information we submit when applying for identity documents like passports.
“We are supporting NIMC because if the identity of Nigerians is verified, our national security issues would be resolved by 70 per cent.”
Adinde called for improved data management strategy as a unique identity was crucial for decision making by the government.
In his address, the CEO, Integrity/Convention on Business Integrity, Mr Soji Apampa, said though the NIN initiative was crucial to the security and welfare of all Nigerians, it had been ongoing for about 20 years and reportedly gulped $334m with no measurable success.
Omeje explained that the FRSC had achieved some level of harmonisation between driving licence registration and vehicle registration.
The panelists highlighted some of the challenges affecting the successful issuance of NIN to Nigerians, saying non-accountability, lack of transparency, inadequate planning to handle large number of registrations, and capacity to deal with unintended and deliberate corruption were impediments to the success the initiative.
source: punch
