From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The federal government has launched three innovations that will further improve the ease of National Identity Number enrollment (NIN) and NIN-Sim verification for Nigerians.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami made the disclosure on Thursday at the National Identity Day ceremony organised by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in Abuja.
Pantami who spoke on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari while mentioning that NIN enrolment had reached 63million, listed the new initiative to include; the NIN Mobile Application, tokenization solution and a Contactless Android Biometric Enrolment System.
The Minister said the mobile app will permit users to enrol for NIN without having to physically visit any telecom company, adding that it will also enable users to download the improved NIN slips and use mobile IDs as a valid and secure means of identification.
He said the tokenization solution is in line with the efforts of the Federal Government to enhance data privacy and data security of citizens and legal residents. He said the solution prevents verifiers and third parties from storing raw NIN of users, but rather provides a time-bound virtual NIN that is specific to the verifying entities.
According to him, there will be a transition from the current raw NIN verification approach to one that uses tokenised virtual NINs, in line with the Revised National Digital Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration.
Pantami further disclosed that to circumvent the challenges that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, a contactless Android biometric enrolment system had been developed to enable Nigerians and legal residents to obtain NINs after providing their biometrics through a process that is swift and contactless. He noted that the new initiative would also aid in enrolling users that are in remote areas and where there are power and networking constraints.
“All 3 innovative solutions being launched today are novel, not just in Nigeria, but also across the African continent and this is a reflection of the commitment of Mr President to promote indigenous solutions that will also stand out globally.” Pantami Stated.
Also in his address, NIMC Director General, Aliyu Azeez said there had been a gap in enrollment of children of school age. He said that the Commission was working with the National Population Commission to create a system where children can be captured when they are born.