NATIONAL Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Nasarawa state, on Thursday said it enrolled 359,000 residents in the state into the national database from 2013 till date.
The state’s Coordinator of the Commission, Mr Shuaib Ajanaku, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia.
Ajanaku said out the 359,000 enrolled so far, nearly 100,000 residents were enrolled in the state in 2018 alone, adding that enrollment into the national database in the state compared to other states has been “slow and tedious.”
“Enrollment in the state has been a bit challenging if you compare the state with other states, especially states within the north-central zone.
“Although, we are making progress because as at last year, we enrolled about 100,000 persons and from 2013 when we started operations in Nasarawa state, we enrolled a total of 359,000 residents.
“Going by the census figure, we have about 2 million people in Nasarawa state. So if we have just enrolled less than 400,000 out of 2 million.
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“It shows we still have a long way to go but we will continue to do our best to see that everyone is enrolled,” he said.
According to him, Lafia local government area stands out as the LGA with the most enrollees, followed by Karu LGA, then Keffi and Nasarawa LGAs.
He said that to boost the number of enrollees in the state, the commission had sensitised the residents of the state to the importance of being enrolled and having the National Identity Number (NIN).
“We are working hard to sensitise the people. We have been on the radio and the television to sensitise the people and let them know the importance of this project.
“We have also paid advocacy visits to traditional rulers and other community leaders to appeal to them to help speak to their people to get enrolled,” he said.
He expressed the hope that more people will embrace the exercise in 2019 because, according to him, having a NIN has been made compulsory to access public services across the country.
“If you want to obtain or renew a driver licence, to obtain an international passport or renew it, you must have NIN.
“To open accounts, you must have your NIN. A lot of other transactions are being affected like people going on pilgrimage must have NIN. So it has become imperative for every Nigerian to have a NIN,” he said.
Ajanaku emphasized the importance of being enrolled first, as according to him, that is the most important step in the process.
“People lay emphasis on the card but the enrollment is more important at this stage than the card. The card will come quite alright but you must enrol first and be given a number.
“It is that number that is most important. Every Nigerian enrolled will have a unique number,” he said.
The NIMC Coordinator blamed poor power supply for the slow and low enrollment process, adding that without adequate power supply, the systems used in carrying out the capturing of data of persons are shut down.
Ajanaku also appealed for a stronger partnership and support from the Nasarawa state government in helping the commission to enrol all residents of the state.
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