Since the commencement of linking of sim cards with the National Indentification Number, NIN started, there had been a notable drop in the number of calls by fraudsters to unsuspecting phone users.
The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Pantami who disclosed this in Umuahia on the occasion of the 2023 World National Identify Day celebration, commended Abia State for keying into the NIMC eco-system and taking the lead on the NIMC eco-system adoption in Nigeria.
According to him, “The issue of Kidnappers’ calls has actually reduced with respect to ransom by phones”, noting “The sanitation of the existing system cannot be done overnight. It’s an ongoing process” and regretted the public outcry that faced the blocking of unregistered sim cards which slowed down efforts towards sanitizing Nigeria’s telecom system.
“419 calls which we normally get most of the time has actually reduced because, most of the numbers are now attached to the NIN. It needs a little bit more time before the entire system will be completely sanitized. But a tremendous impact has been made so far”.
Represented by his Director, Research and Development at the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA Dr Collins Agu, Prof. Pantami assured Abia State the assistance of the federal government in achieving the aims of digital economy, stating “Abia took the lead on NIMC eco-system adoption so much that they even created special unit on NIMC matters. Abia has strong activities going on in NIMC”.
Earlier in her address, the Special Adviser to the Governor on NIMC, Digital Economy, Ecosystem and other related Matters, Princess Chidinma-Apugo Osoagbaka, said that Abia has recorded tremendous progress on NIMC eco-system, adding “Abia is the first state to create the office of Special Adviser on NIMC, Digital Economy and Eco-system in Nigeria”.
Princess Osoagbaka who disclosed that over 80 million Nigerians have been enrolled in the on-going NIN registration, assured on the preparedness of her office to actualize the intention of the state Government towards digital economy, noting that world economy is being driven by the power of digitalization.
According to her, “My aim is to enroll all Abians on NIMC before the end of Ikpeazu’s administration”, and urged Abians who had not enrolled to do so without delay.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Documentation and Strategic Communication, Ugochukwu Emezue extolled the virtues of the state governor, Okezie Ikpeazu for partnering with NIMC “to ease that issue of people spending time on long queues and domesticating the exercise at the rural communities to ensure that more Abians register.
In his remark, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu represented by his Deputy, Sir Ude Oko Chukwu, said the benefits of NIN registration were enormous, and urged Abians to get enrolled.