In this analysis, IFEDAYO OGUNYEMI takes a cursory look at the National Identification Number (NIN) enrollment data from 2011 to date.
Over 80.7 million Nigerians have been enrolled nationwide on Nigeria’s national identity database as of April 23, 2022, the National Identity Number (NIN) enrollment data from the National Identification Management Commission (NIMC) has shown.
Analysis of the data showed that 35,284,961 women representing 44 percent and 45,419,723 million men representing 56 per cent have been captured across all 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and in the diaspora after almost eleven years of compulsory NIN enrolment. The formal enrolment on this database started on August 3, 2011, in Abuja.
The NIN, controlled and moderated by the NIMC, is a unique eleven-digit number which identifies Nigerians using biometric data and other details in the national identity database.
The commission was established by the NIMC Act No. 23 of 2007 to establish, own, operate, maintain and manage the National Identity Database in Nigeria, register persons covered by the Act, assign a unique NIN and issue General Multi-Purpose Cards (GMPC) to those who are citizens of Nigeria as well as others legally residing within the country. The NIMC database and national ID registration was kickstarted to, among others, enhance the work of security agencies in the country, according to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
An interrogation of periodic data released to the media by NIMC showed that there was a steady increase in the number of NIN enrolments from October 20, 2019, when over 37 million Nigerians had enrolled, up to January 1, 2021, when the agency said it enrolled 46.4 million Nigerians.
The analysis showed that in the space of that 15 months, NIMC enrolled about 9,433,639 persons on its database.
In the same January, the FG said about 47.8 million NINs were collected by mobile operators to be linked with their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) in line with its directive in December 2020 to all telecommunication providers to link the about 300 million SIMs owned by Nigerians at that time to each person’s unique NIN.
The directive, according to the government, was made to curtail the rising spread of kidnapping for ransom in some parts of the country and facilitate the tracking down of suspects.
However, the directive caused a huge spike in the number of NIN enrolments as people converged on the various NIMC centres around that period and subsequently such that the number of NINs collected by mobile operators for linkage to SIM cards grew to 56.18 million by February 2, 2021. This was further buttressed by the Director-General of the NIMC, Aliyu Aziz, in an interview with ThisDay published on February 11, 2021.
Aziz said: “The Commission is on course to meet the target of enrolling all Nigerians and legal residents within timeframe subject to availability of funds and the ongoing pandemic easing out. So far, we are making progress in these respects. As at February 1, 2021, the total enrollment and successfully generated NIN is 56.18 million. You, of course, know that in late December 2020, we reported a figure of 43 million NINs issued. So, we have added an additional 13 million records between December 2020 and February 2021.”
But the agency, in its enrolment data update published on its website, said it has only issued 48,211,748 NINs by March 1, 2021, with over 5.7 million enrolments recorded cumulatively in Lagos State and 8,643 captured records in the diaspora. Going by this analysis, the NIMC publicly failed to account for about 7,968,252 NIN records.
After the meeting of the Ministerial Task Force on the NIN-SIM data linkage held on Thursday, April 1, 2021, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, whose ministry now oversees NIMC since 2020, was quoted to have said over 51 million people have been assigned NINs.
While buttressing the figures credited to Pantami, the NIMC periodic updates published on the same day also showed that a total of 2,676,767 were enrolled in March 2021, adding that the figure was the highest so far recorded in the year so far. This statement runs contrary to comments by NIMC DG who stated that 13 million NINs records were generated between December 2020 and February 2021.
From that February, it took the NIMC about four months before NIN enrolment figures could hit the 56 million mark again according to its June 2021 data update.
The yearly enrolment figure for the 12 months in the year 2021 stood between 28 million, according to the NIMC and over 35 million with the addition of the allegedly missing 7.9 million records (as shown in earlier paragraphs).
Efforts to reach the Head of Corporate Communications at the NIMC, Kayode Adegoke, on the overall performance of NIMC and NIN enrolments proved abortive. Repeated calls placed to his telephone number failed as his line was engaged. He also failed to respond to an SMS sent to him by our reporter. Calls also placed to the NIMC customer care lines provided on its website did not go through.
But a lawyer and digital rights advocate, Bukola Oyaleke, while noting that it may not be safe yet to conclude that NIMC lost over 7.9 million NIN records, said that the alleged loss of data, if found to be true, shows that the country lacks the culture of proper record keeping which will negatively affect the country’s credibility, integrity and image at the international level.
“It re-affirms the age-long problem inherent in Africa generally, and in Nigeria in particular as it borders on the issue of lack of proper record-keeping,” he said while citing instances of loss of records in the health and judiciary sectors in times past.
“If we, as a country through the NIN enrolment exercise cannot keep proper records of our activities and the persons that have registered thus far in the process, how do we want these donors to have confidence in the system and the policy that would further encourage the donors to do more in supporting and or partnering with the government,” he added.
NB: The earlier version of this reports wrongfully described the NIN as a unique ten-digit number instead of an eleven-digit number. The error is deeply regretted.
• This report was produced under the Dataphyte Data and Development Reporting Fellowship 2022.
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