According to our findings, the National Identity Management Commission has achieved only 47.6 percent of the Federal Government’s monthly target of 2.5 million registrations during the first eight months of this year.
Interestingly, despite a slowdown in the rate of enrolments, the count of Nigerians possessing National Identification Numbers has risen to 102.39 million as of August.
Upon analyzing data obtained from the NIMC, we observed a 35.14 percent year-on-year drop in enrolments during the first eight months of the current year. Specifically, by August 28, 2023, a total of 8.36 million individuals had enrolled for NIN this year, in contrast to the 12.89 million who had registered by July 7, 2022.
The monthly average of NIN enrolments throughout the first eight months of 2023 stands at 1.19 million. This data highlights a shortfall in achieving the National Development Plan 2021-2025 target of 2.5 million National Identification Number enrolments per month.
Throughout the year 2022, the commission effectively registered a total of 21.33 million individuals. Notably, the count of NIN enrolments escalated from 72.7 million on January 1, 2022, to 94.03 million by the close of December 31, 2022. The mean monthly NIN enrolment for that year stood at 1.78 million.
Outlined within the strategic plan, the Federal Government articulated its intention to enroll 100 million Nigerians within three years, equating to 2.5 million individuals every month. This imperative arose from the scarcity of comprehensive data within the country, necessitating a concerted effort to rectify this through an extensive registration campaign.
The government unveiled a significant development in this regard: the Nigerian Communications Commission’s integration of SIM Registration Data with the National Identity Number Database. Concurrently, the NIMC has embarked on an ambitious registration campaign to enroll an additional 100 million people over three years. This initiative is designed to facilitate the registration of 2.5 million individuals each month throughout the upcoming three years.
Commenting on the NIN enrolment for the month, NIMC said, “NIMC’s enrolment figures as of August 28, 2023, currently stand at over 102.39 million unique records. The highest cumulative enrolment figure of over 11.17 million was recorded in Lagos State.”
The cumulative count of diasporan enrollments reached 482,670, with a comprehensive analysis highlighting that men (58.15 million) have surpassed women (44.24 million) in enrolling for NIN. Among the leading states for NIN enrollment, Lagos tops the list with 11.17 million, followed by Kano (9.08 million), Kaduna (6.35 million), Ogun (4.32 million), and Oyo (3.97 million).
Conversely, the states with the lowest enrollment figures include Bayelsa (642,233), Ebonyi (818,173), Ekiti (1.01 million), Cross River (1.17 million), and Taraba (1.48 million).
In a recent collaborative event with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, reaffirmed the partnership between the bank and NIMC to ensure the effective introduction and registration of digital national IDs in the nation.
Chaudhuri reiterated their commitment to equipping a substantial portion of the working-age population, at least 148 million individuals, with a digital national ID by mid-2024. He emphasized the potential of harnessing digital technologies for transformative purposes.
He articulated, “Our primary goal in Nigeria is to eradicate poverty, enhance livelihoods, and generate jobs for all Nigerian youth. One of the most promising avenues we see is leveraging digital technologies for transformation. This journey begins with establishing the digital national ID.”
He continued, “Consequently, one of our key partnerships is with NIMC to ensure the successful rollout of the registration process, aiming to provide all 213/220 million Nigerians with a digital national ID. We commence with the working-age population, and our objective is to reach a minimum of 148 million individuals by the middle of the following year.”
Under the Digital Identification for Development project, the World Bank’s International Development Association credit is poised to support the nation’s digital identity initiative with $115 million. This will be complemented by co-financing from the French Agency for Development ($100 million) and the European Investment Bank ($215 million), culminating in a total funding of $430 million.
A recent report indicated that only $35.6 million of this allocated amount had been disbursed for project implementation as of April 30, 2023.
