Mr. Chris Onyemenam - DG/CEO, National Identity Management Commission, Abuja Nigeria.

The Director General, National Identity Management Commission, Chris Onyemenam has assured that the implementation of the proposed new unified National Identity Management System (NIMS) will form part of the social infrastructure to foster good governance in the country.

Onyemenam made this observation today in Lagos at the 7th edition of the annual Records and Information Management Awareness Workshop and Exhibition (RIMAW 2011) organised by the RIMA Foundation.

In a keynote, “A Social Infrastructure for Good Governance and Promotion of National Image” he told attendees at the forum that the project will also promote the principle of good governance that include accountability, transparency, efficiency, vision and rule of law, among others.

“How can we get people to be accountable? The only way you can get them to do this is when you know them. That is why the issue of identity is very key in this process”, Onyemenam adds.

According to the NIMC chief, “our national image is affected by the actions of its citizen and government, and our economical and political environment” adding that NIMS will help to positively project Nigeria’s image.

“One area where this programme will be very useful for the nation is national security management since all citizens data are expected to be captured. All Nigerians and legal residents will be in a single accessible database.”

According to him, “NIMS is enrol once and be identified for life. It is one person, one unique number.”
According to him, the N30 billion earmarked for the programme will be utilized over a three-year phase while the pilot scheme of the system has already commenced.

He adds that the new card system is upgraded with chips and this makes it different from the previous system.

The new integrated data system would capture all Nigerians from the ages of 16 and above and would also reduce cost of data processing and storage by different sectors in the country especially among banks, he adds.

He said the project is running in conjunction with different agencies of government that currently keep their own separate identity data including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), among others.

NIMS was established by the NIMC Act No. 23 of 2007 with mandate to establish, own, operate, maintain and manage the National Identity Database in Nigeria, register persons covered by the Act, assign a unique National Identity Number (NIN) and issue General Multi-Purpose Cards (GMPC) to those registered individuals. It is also to harmonize and integrate existing identification databases in Nigeria.