From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isah Pantami disclosed on Friday that he received death threats over the implementation of the National Identity Number (NIN) and SIM registration.
Pantami, who lauded the growth recorded in the NIN registration exercise, said about 90 million Nigerians have been captured in the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) data base so far.
The minister spoke at the fourth Identity Day commemoration, organised by NIMC in Abuja.
According to him, “We can only get our digital economy right when we continue to improve and encourage our citizens to enroll in our national data base.
“When we commenced the process, many people turned against me. My life was threatened because of the introduction of NIN and sim registration on BBC radio and many more and I resisted believing that no body can control my life in this world only Almighty God. We resisted and now the process is working. Sometimes I can sleep for one month without speaking to NIMC and there is no any problem. Today, most of our citizens that were fighting are now silent.
“Looking back from three years ago, the National Identity Management Commission had managed under challenging conditions, to achieve an enrollment figure of nearly 90 million enrollments for the country.
“By the time I took supervision of NIMC, the total number of registration centres were not up to 1000 but today, we have over 50000.
“Today our national data base is on auto drive. We have established over 19 national policies and all of them are being implemented. This has never happened in the history of Nigeria.”
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In his address, NIMC Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Engr Aliyu Aziz, said for this year’s Identity Day commemoration, NIMC is partnering with the traditional rulers and traditional institutions all over the nation to raise awareness on the need for NIN registration and usage.
“We want to use this opportunity and platform to appeal for the active participation of the traditional institutions in drumming up support for Government programmes and in this case the National Identification project. Identification is a tool for empowerment and greater use of digital ID can help bring the much-needed governance and coordination in development and service delivery.
“Without sounding immodest, NIMC has made great strides on so many fronts in the last three years. From just over 1,000 enrolment centres and 2,000 enrolment devices across the country, NIMC in partnership with its licensed enrolment partners now has over 15,000 enrolment centres and over 29,000 enrolment devices deployed nationwide. This is one of the reasons enrolments have increased tremendously with over 89 million NINs generated successfully. On the international level, NIMC today has diaspora enrolment centres in over 40 countries, with more centres and countries scheduled to be added in the coming months. This gives Nigerians in the Diaspora opportunities to enrol and have their national identity even while outside the shores of Nigeria.
“The more government knows the accurate number of its population and the right demographics, the better the government is placed to plan well for infrastructure, social welfare, and economic development for the country,” he said.