Islamic group pledges to offer support to NIMC on NIN enrollment

The International Centre for Islamic Culture and Education (ICICE) has expressed its readiness to support the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in its enrollment of citizens through its facilities and resources.

A statement issued by Mrs Ummukhursum Sani, NIMC’s Information Officer quoted Dr Kabir Usman, Director-General, ICICE, as saying this when he visited the Director-General, NIMC, Mr Aliyu Aziz on Friday in Abuja.

Usman said that the decision was to help the commission achieve its mandate of ensuring that all Nigerian citizens and legal residents were enrolled into the National Identity Database and issued the unique National Identification Number (NIN).

He commended NIMC for the successes it had so far recorded in spite of the myriad of challenges it had been facing.

Usman described the commission as a critical stakeholder in the country’s quest to achieve its developmental goals.

“The ICICE does not only focus on Islamic activities, but also reaches out to other religions through its inter-faith dialogue and trainings, among other activities.

“It also introduces art and craft skills development to the less-privileged youth and engages in poverty alleviation activities in communities through its outreach programmes,” he said.

“There is no way we can do any planning as a country without the national identity database because it is paramount to national security and development.

“There is therefore the need for us to key in and give support to NIMC as part of our contribution to national development,” he said.

Usman called on civil society organisations and religious groups to support and collaborate with NIMC to ensure that every Nigerian and legal resident was enrolled and issued unique identification.

Responding, the NIMC director-general expressed appreciation to the leadership of the ICICE for acknowledging the importance of the commission to national development.

He assured them of his commission’s readiness to leverage on the opportunities offered by the ICICE to enrol more Nigerians and legal residents,

He called on other organisations to support NIMC in achieving its mandate.

Aziz also advised Nigerians to obtain their NIN as the mandatory use of the NIN had commenced.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Immigration Services, Pension Commission, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), among others have made NIN mandatory for accessing their services,” he said.