Prof Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy has urged security institutions to use the database for the National Identification Number and the Subscriber Identity Module in tackling insecurity in Nigeria.
The appeal was made by the Minister during the Fourth National Identity Day celebration in Abuja on Friday.
He lamented the poor utilization of the database by security forces in the country.
Pantami said, “We are pleading with our security institutions to make use of this database. It is not our work to do the security work. Our own work is to support them. The database is available for NIN and SIM. But from the information available at my disposal, the utilization has been highly insignificant.”
Also speaking at the event was the Director General of the National Identity Management Commission, Aliyu Aziz, who stressed the need for an efficient identification system.
He said, “Identification is a tool for empowerment and greater use of digital ID can help bring the much-needed governance and coordination in development and service delivery.”
Aziz further noted that NIMC was partnering with the traditional rulers and traditional institutions all over the nation to raise awareness on the need for NIN registration and usage.
He also said that NIMC had over 15,000 enrolment centres and over 29,000 enrolment devices deployed nationwide.
Aziz added that on the international level, NIMC had diaspora enrolment centres in over 40 countries, with more centres and countries scheduled to be added in the coming months.
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