The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has revealed that the number of individuals enrolled for the National Identification Number (NIN) has surged to 101m. This indicates an increment of 1m registrations in the preceding month, as the aggregate enrolment figure stood at 100m by the end of May.
However, analysts say that Nigeria may not be able to meet up with UN deadline on data capture of its citizens.
According to NIMC, Lagos State has recorded 11m enrolments, while Kano State closely follows with 8.9m registrations. Over the past six months, the commission added 5,935,362 NINs. The figure stood at 95,077,917 as of January 2023. The male population in the NIN database stands at 57.3m (57%), while the female population is 43.7m (43%).
As of April 30, 2023, the World Bank has disbursed US$35.6m out of the total project financing, which includes an International Development Association (IDA) credit of US$115m, co-financing of US$100m from the French Agency for Development, and US$215m from the European Investment Bank.
“While this indicates financial support, the main concern lies in the achievement of the outlined targets. Analysts believe that despite a consistent monthly increase in enrolments, Nigeria may face challenges in meeting the World Bank’s targets.
“With only a year remaining before the June 2024 deadline, Nigeria would need to register and issue NIN to an additional 47m people. However, based on the average of 1m monthly enrolments recorded over the past year, it seems highly unlikely to reach the target of 148m NIN by June 2024”.