My life
as a recent graduate, done with my national youth service year, and now
waiting to get that dream job, can
be tasking a bit. I’m young and savvy; I like to move around a lot, not
bogged down at one point for too long. There’s this volatility
about this phase of life for most young people. The irony is, security
is the most pressing issue for my country at this given time, and I have
to be
cautious of where I go, and when I’m on the move. I have heard of
stories of young men, full of life, gunned down by militant fire, or by
the
Nigerian military, mistaken for the “enemy”.
It got
to its height, when I went clubbing one fateful Friday evening. At a
checkpoint, the policemen asked for my ID. My
only valid one was my International Passport, which I do not carry
around often, and didn’t have on me that night; and that was the
beginning of
a long night for me, which ended in me not leaving that post, till
around 2:30am. I was angst, spoke all the English I knew, but they were
not going
to let me move an inch, without confirming my identity, else, they
threatened that they will call in the SARS, and have me whisked away for
interrogation as a suspected militant.
In the end, I got away with it, albeit late in the night, because I ended up begging them and parting with some money
(against my will), but the next day, I went to the NIMC office in Jos to get registered for my National Identity Card.
Well, this could happen to you as regards identity or any other records someday, and to stop it from happening means you should get registered for your National Identification Number (NIN). This is issued by the National Identity Management Commission under the Ministry of Interior. The NIN collates your vital records and stores it up in one unified database which can then be used subsequently by federal authorities.
The
National Identification Number (NIN) is a set of numbers assigned to an
individual upon successful enrollment.
Enrollment consists of the recording of an individual’s demographic data
and capture of the ten (10) fingerprints, head-to-shoulder facial
picture and digital signature, which are all used to cross-check
existing data in the National Identity Database to confirm that there is
no previous
entry of the same data. Once this (de-duplication) process is completed
the data is then stored with a unique NIN that was assigned to it. The
NIN
once issued to a person cannot be used again, (that is, it cannot be
issued to another person even if the previous person is dead). It is the
NIN that
helps to tie all records about a person in the database and is used to
check the identity verified.
Its
importance can’t be overemphasized in this age of identity theft and
fraud. It is to this light that the NIMC
has rolled out a nationwide campaign for citizens to get registered. To
encourage this, Nigerians especially the young and upwardly mobile folks
would
be earning gifts over the course of one month, for registering and
showing evidence that they have truly registered. This would be ongoing
on Facebook
and twitter, where citizens would also be engaged in sensitization and
educating campaigns, to stimulate civil indulgence and participation in
the
exercise.
Click on www.nimc.gov.ng for all you need to know about the National Identification
Number (NIN) issued by National Identity Management Commission.
We can deepen the #NIMCnin conversation on Facebook. Click www.facebook.com/nimc.ng
We can deepen the #NIMCnin conversation on Twitter. Click www.twitter.com/nimc_ng
Click www.ninenrol.gov.ng to be welcomed to the National Identification Number (NIN) pre-registration portal of National Identity Management Commission.
At a glance, click www.nimc.gov.ng/reports/enrolment_process.pdf to view the National Identity Number enrolment process workflow.
You can join my conversation on facebook regards #NIMCnin. Click www.facebook.com/KoloKennethK and like
You can join my conversation on twitter regards #NIMCnin. Click www.twitter.com/KoloKennethK and follow
