NIN from hell

BY ALIYU MUSTAPHA

The recently announced policy of linking each and every sim card registered with a NIN (National Identity Number) is a welcome development, not because it will help secure the citizens from the uncontrollable orgy of violence that is consuming the nation slowly, but because it seems to be the only way Government can have a distinct census data in the absence of a genuine physically conducted national census.

Don’t get me wrong. This could be a good thing, but what I totally disagree with is the manner and approach of enactment. For more than 7 years, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has only managed to enroll just over 40 million Nigerians on its register. Compare that with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) voter’s register that is hovering above 80 million Nigerians. Now, this isn’t totally NIMC’s fault. Besides the huge differences in budgets between how much INEC spends updating the voter’s register every 4 years and how much NIMC’s annual budget is, but also Nigerians have refused to attach any significance to the NIN, which explains the outright refusal of fellow citizens to enroll. Nigerians are a unique and difficult people.

This type of policy should start with government incentives that would encourage people, especially those in rural areas that lack identity in one way or the other. Most of these people have no bank accounts, as such no BVN’s, they own no cars or motorcycles, which means no driving licenses, no voter’s card because democracy brings them no benefits, no international passports because that is only for the elites that are rich enough to travel abroad, thereby making it difficult for government to know of their existence and possibly plan for them. The government ought to start easily with a policy that encourages people not discourages or disenfranchise them. For years, each successive Federal Government of Nigeria talked about universal health coverage for all citizens and universal basic studies for children below the age of 16 (school-going age). Why not start that universal health care plan with the announcement that any individual seeking medical care at government hospitals is entitled to such and such care, free of charge, provided that individual presents his verified NIN to the health institutions. I mean, women that are pregnant can easily fall into these categories right from conceiving, the antenatal care needed, the various scans, medical advices, supplements, the childbirth delivery hospital charges, and the various immunizations the child would need growing up should be free if the pregnant parents present their valid NINs. Immediately after birth, the health institution alerts the National Population Commission (NPC) which prepares a birth certificate for the child, still using the parents’ NINs as a starting point. Same with education, the child should present his parents or guardian’s NINs for his/her education in government institutions to be free. During the final year of secondary school education, children will present their own NINs during WAEC/NECO/JAMB registrations because they would be above 16years which is the minimum age for enrollment on the register. Think about how much data government can mine from simple policies of this nature? The government could start producing family trees and hereditary lineages, and updated census figures, people can no longer present fake education certificates, or change their dates of births because different institutions have their identities at different stages of their lives, all of which are easily verifiable by the government institutions and the private sector alike.

No. NO! We here in Nigeria only solve problems with a fireman approach. This isn’t only a character of the people but also of the whole institutions of governments, at all levels.

The recently announced policy of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) that Telecom networks should stop registering new sim cards is a typical example of such a fireman’s approach to solving a problem. Quench everything and all things in the name of putting out a fire. Now NCC’s stoppage of sim registration is nothing but pulling down the whole house in an attempt to eradicate rat infestation. Why stop new sim cards registrations? Totally stopping the growth and to some extent activities in the only sector of the Nigerian economy that bridges the divide and diversity of this country. GSM networks, as they are typically called locally, are the only sector of the economy in which the rich, the poor, the working class, the unemployed, the elite ruling and the masses being ruled are tied down, enjoying the services whether good or bad. It begs the question, who and who are involved in this abrupt policymaking? A simple instruction that no sim card should be registered without a NIN is simple and sufficient enough. I mean what of the 40million Nigerians that have enrolled and have the NINs on hand? Does life stop for them also? Does government encourage people to key into such projects in the future? The next time government comes with a policy of such nature, why should Nigerians endeavor to register at the beginning if it will afford them no advantages or privileges since a point will come when the government will stop everyone regardless of status? These are part of the reasons why most Nigerians do not register till the time such deadlines exist. We saw it with BVN policy, with Voter’s register and now we are seeing it with NIN. I mean the government should try as much as possible to make life easier for those that key into their policies earlier and not harder by treating each and every one of us the same. Some of us have our NINs since 2014, but 7 years later we are stopped from accessing services because some people have refused to do their parts. Why?

Right now, individuals lose access and ownership of phone numbers when the sim cards fail to register on the network for a period of 90days. The network providers deregister such phone numbers and have the right to reissue the numbers to different individuals. I will like to ask the Minister of Communication & Digital Economy (nothing honorable about this policy), NCC, NIMC, and all those involved in enacting this policy, after successfully linking my NIN to my phone numbers, will the phone numbers forever be tied to my NIN and never reusable by any other individual in the event I relocate from the country or die permanently?

These same government officials trying to attach individual identities to sim cards are oblivious to the fact that businesses also own phone numbers and by extension, businesses own sim cards that are attached to the name and identities of their businesses. How then do such businesses register their sims? In the event the person whose NIN is attached to the sim dies, how do such businesses recover the ownership of such phone numbers seeing as this policy only attaches sim cards to individuals? Do businesses then have to forfeit the phone numbers, their signage, adverts, peripherals, and documents not to talk about their online (internet) identities and so on? Business owners all over will have to spend so much time and money running around changing phone numbers, alerting their customers, printing new signboards and adverts, and office documents to reflect the change. Then, they have to prepare themselves to do it all over again in the event the new individual whose NIN is linked to the new phone number dies and the sim cards get lost or damaged. Imagine that? Yes, all sim cards should be registered but not just tied to individuals, as businesses also have ownership of sim cards. Businesses should be able to register their own phone lines using their CAC’s (Corporate Affairs Commission) registration number and then the NINs of the individual directors of said company. Just like how Banks open accounts for businesses, they avoid tying it down to one individual but the business as an entity of its own. That way, in the event of death, or change of ownership, or split, such businesses can still retain their phone numbers and do not have to go through different aches that are synonymous with starting all over, wasting valuable time and resources.

This is a government that prides itself shouting EASE of DOING BUSINESS. If the Vice President isn’t aware, there is no single ease in doing business in Nigeria and you people keep adding to it daily with your incomprehensible policies. I just had to say it. In this pandemic, the same period we have the Presidential Committee on Covid19 threatening us with a fresh lockdown if we don’t behave, we have the same government coming up with a policy that makes thousands of people gather at NIN enrollment centers trying to get registered. We on the streets are used to having governments that give with one hand and retake with the other. This is where we are!

All said, NIN has the potential to revolutionize the Government’s interactions with Nigerians, if the government officials can get off their high horses and design a framework that will stand the test of time. A policy that makes it somewhat mandatory for citizens to present NIN to get offered some free services like health care and education. Henceforth, no student should gain admission into tertiary institutions without NIN. This way forgery of certification and qualifications can be eliminated. NIN also has the potential to eradicate duplicity and waste in governance. With NIN, no citizens should have to register again with tax authorities for tax identification number that serves no purpose which NIN is incapable of, no Government agency or commission should henceforth call on Nigerians to register with biometrics when a simple collating of NINs will suffice, no need for INEC to spend billions updating voters register every 4 years when that money and resources could go a long way in strengthening NIMCs infrastructure, equipment, and staff. The 2023 election should use NIN instead of voter card. INEC should design their verification process around NIN. Most Nigerians already have a smartphone to present their NIN-QRcodes for verification or a printed copy. Driving license and international passports are documents that expire and so they can be harmonized, besides not every citizen needs or owns one. Those should be the only 2 ID cards that should have their own different identification numbers. Just like how CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) is adamant about exporters using NXP for proceeds repatriation, Customs should also demand that every single cargo coming into Nigeria should have the importers NIN. Whether air freight, sea freight or through international postal carriers. Ha! This is how NIN will improve security. No consignment of fake drugs, weapons, army camouflage and other harmful drugs can find their way into the country because fake identities are used by the importers. I mean there is so much NIN can help the government achieve but only, and only if they are ready and willing to see to it.

Aliyu Atiku Mustapha is a Nigerian trying to survive.