………As he launches the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecoms Sector and Revised National Digital Identity Policy for SIM card Registration
President Buhari has launched the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in Nigerian Telecoms Sector and Revised National Identity Policy for SIM cards registration.
Speaking during the ceremony on Thursday in Abuja, President Buhari called on Nigerians to fully participate in the ongoing synchronisation of the National Identification Number (NIN) with SIM cards across the country as it will provide a digital framework for improving security and strengthening of the economy.
He said the National Policy for Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector is in line with this administration’s commitment towards ensuring that Nigerians become active participants in the different sectors of the economy, including the telecommunications sector.
“The NIN will cover one of the weaknesses in our security structure. We will be able to easily identify and know the personality of Nigerians. We will identify people easily, including the crooks,’’ President Buhari said.
“The National Identification Number is the foundational digital ID for the country; both Nigerian citizens and legal residents are expected to obtain the NIN. It will provide access to government services and will give government useful insights that will enable us to utilize scarce resources in a more efficient way,’’ he added.
President Buhari noted that the first National SIM policy was launched in February 2020, and the revised policies were in full alignment with the objectives of the administration in the areas of economic development, security and anti-corruption.
“The Digital Economy sector has made significant progress and recorded a number of unprecedented achievements since we expanded the mandate of the Ministry of Communications to include the digital economy mandate.
“The Information and Communications Technology sector was the fastest growing sector in both the fourth quarter of 2020 and the entire year 2020, based on the Report by the National Bureau of Statistics.
“The sector’s 14.70 per cent double-digit growth rate played a principal role in supporting our country to exit the recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth rate of the sector exceeded four times the next fastest-growing sector of Q4 2020, the ICT sector which had a growth rate of 3.42 per cent. This is truly commendable,’’ the President added.
The President said there had been many futile attempts to promote the use of digital identity in the past: “Previous attempts have been unsuccessful due to a number of reasons, including sabotage. Our focused approach shows that this administration is dedicated to ensuring that we derive the benefits of a secure and robust digital identity system.’’
He assured that his administration was fully committed to the safety of Nigerians and linking the SIM to NIN will significantly enhance security, aid in national planning and budget preparations.
In his remarks, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Pantami appreciated the President for the continuous support to the telecoms sector, including regulators and operators, thanking him for the keen interest in ensuring that the security sector gets a boost with more information on Nigerians and legal residents.
Pantami noted that the NIN Registration had recorded a huge success with 54 million Nigerians already captured in the process, adding, within six months over 12 million enrolled.
He reiterated that it was now possible to have virtual ID cards that can be used in various transactions, assuring that the NIN and SIM card registration for Nigerians and legal residents will cover 99.9 per cent.
“National digital identity will accelerate economic planning and development. It will promote digital inclusion, digital financial services and other value-added services across the nation. It will also improve our effectiveness in dealing with cybercrime, particularly in the area of digital forensics, crime tracking and identification. The Policy lays a foundation for using the NIN to support the development and security of the mobile ecosystem of Nigeria, Pantami said.
He reiterated that his Ministry also introduced a lot of innovative products and services to improve the ease with which citizens and residents can obtain and utilize their NINs.
“For example, we have introduced enhanced NIN slips, made provision for use of Mobile IDs, released android solutions, integrated touchless biometric solutions that conform to COVID-19 guidelines and made provision for tokenization. A number of these are leading solutions, not just in West Africa but across the entire African continent. The Security Identity Alliance is one of the global bodies that have attested to the uniqueness of our innovation.
He concluded by saying that the tokenization and the implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) will ensure that all records in Nigeria’s National Identity Database are secure and fully conform to international best practice on privacy as a robust digital identity programme is critical to a secure and sustainable digital economy.
