NIMC wants media to help educate public on identity management

The Director General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr. Aliyu Aziz has appealed to the media to help educate Nigerians on the essence of identity management in the country through their reports.

Aziz made the appeal in a statement issued by Mr Loveday Ogbonna, Head of Corporate Communications, NIMC, on Thursday in Abuja, while visiting the Group Managing Director, Leadership Newspapers, Mr. Abdul Gombe in his office.

Aziz was quoted as saying that NIMC has the primary mandate to create a National Identity Database, issue the National Identification Number (NIN), and provide General Multipurpose Card (GMPC) to all Nigerians and Legal Residents.

He said that the commission also harmonise and integrate disparate data into the database.

He noted that it was the role of the media to educate and sensitise the general public on the importance of identity management, as against card issuance which was obtainable in the past.

“If the government or private sector does not know the true identity of the people they are dealing with, they will not be able to effectively deliver important services such as social safety net, agriculture, pension, security, education, among others.

“Identity management is therefore a pre-requisite for a country’s social, economic, political progress and development, and the media must play their role by educating and informing Nigerians on the essence of identity management as well as the importance and benefits of the NIN,’’ he said.

Aziz said that the NIN was used to populate the central database in the country.

The director general said that as all identity capturing agencies and private sectors work towards commencing the identity ecosystem in January 2019 as approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the media should rise up to their responsibility.

He said that the media should work with the Commission, so that they could jointly create awareness on the digital identity ecosystem.

Earlier, the Group Managing Director, Leadership Newspapers, Mr. Abdul Gombe, said that the media has a role and was ready to partner with the Commission as the watchdog of the society.

“There is a new wind of change in NIMC, and there is no other way to educate the public on this new development than through the media.

“The resources of Leadership Newspaper are therefore at the disposal of the Commission to work with anytime, any day,” he said.