The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has decried the low turnout of children for registration into the National Identity Database, leading to the issuance of the National Identification Number (NIN).
The Head, Corporate Communications, NIMC, Mr. Loveday Ogbonna, who raised the awareness, said “the registration for NIN is a lifetime opportunity that will strengthen aid delivery, promote socio-economic inclusion and development in the near future for hundreds of poor people in the country.”
Urging all Nigerians and Legal Residents to take their children/ wards of all ages for enrolment at any of the NIMC Registration Centres nationwide, Mr. Ogbonna said that the recent FEC approval of the Identity Ecosystem will bring into full force the implementation and enforcement of the provisions of the NIMC Act 23, 2007, on the mandatory use of the NIN and the application of appropriate sanctions and penalties on defaulters, by January 1, 2019.
He said, “NIMC has noticed the low turnout of minors for enrolment in all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. We hereby call on all parents and guardians to visit any NIMC office closest to them with their children/ wards to get them registered into the database and have the NIN issued to them free of charge.”
The corporate communications head however noted that it is mandatory for parents or guardians of the minor to have enrolled for the NIN, because the system essentially links the NIN of the minor to that of his/her parent or guardian until the minor attains the 16 years mark.
According to him, it will ensure that the NIN of the minor is linked with that of the parent or guardian, until their biometric features become fully developed, and also help to retain the comprehensive family database, making it easy for government to trace every citizen to a family unit.
Mr. Loveday further explained that upon attaining the age of 16, the child would be required to visit any of the NIMC enrolment centres nationwide to update his/her registration so that the National e-ID Card will be processed and subsequently issued to such individual as prescribed in the NIMC Act 23, 2007.
Adding that the enrollment process consists of the recording of an individual’s demographic data and capture of the 10 fingerprints and head-to shoulder facial picture 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 or double enrollment before the NIN is issued, he cautioned that double enrolment into the National Identity Database (NIDB) for the NIN is a crime and a punishable offence.
