ABUJA – The Federal Government has advised Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to abide by the guidelines on the alignment of data capture, identification verification and authentication.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. Ayim Pius Ayim, gave the advice at a workshop organised by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for MDAs in Abuja on Tuesday.
Ayim warned MDAs affected by the harmonisation to guide against sabotage, saying: “this workshop is not for you to analyse why the policy cannot work or why more time is needed.
“It is not for you to justify the need for your MDAs to have its own separate process or database.
“Far from all these, the workshop is for you to quickly determine how your MDA can achieve the objective of streamlining activities of MDAs in identity management.
“It is for you to optimise the use of scarce government resources and establish a single secure, reliable, accessible and scalable National Identity Management System (NIMS),’’ Ayim said.
Represented by Mr Ferdinand Agu, the Special Assistant to the President in the Office of the SGF, Ayim said the integration of diverse data capture process and ubiquitous database in the MDAs was overdue.
He advised the concerned MDAs to abide by the circular issued on May 28 with Ref. No. 59803/VII/87 on the guidelines on the implementation of the presidential directive.
“When President Goodluck Jonathan on Oct. 17, 2013 gave the directive for all eligible Nigerians to be enrolled by Dec. 31, 2014, he meant it.
“I enjoin you all to do all you can to ensure compliance in doing so we must also ensure the complete elimination of duplicated processes and further wastage of resources. [eap_ad_2] “Government investment should be consolidated in the most optimal manner by that deadline,’’ he said.
He said the deployment and management of a system of identity data capturing had been a major national challenge.
Ayim said until recently, the multiplication of identity databases by different MDAs was a welcome idea since they served the purposes of managing particular demography unique to the agencies.
He, however, said that over time, these databases had become overlapping and burdensome to government.
Ayim said in a changing world, systems evolve daily and Nigeria as a global player had no choice but to use identity management as a reliable tool for accelerating socio-economic development.
Earlier, NIMC’s Director-General, Mr Chris Onyemenam, said printing of the national identity cards had been concluded and waiting for lunch by Jonathan.
He said the cards would be issued to Nigerians as soon as the formal lunch was conducted.
Onyemenam said the harmonisation of the NIMS would reduce the cost of governance, enhance the security of Nigerians as well as enhance government service delivery.
He said the harmonisation would also facilitate the common identity needs of government and private sector, and planning with regards to budget and population.
He said the process would also preserve individual identity and privacy, link identity and payment application and serve as a potential revenue generation for government.
Also, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications Technology, Dr Tunji Olaopa, pledged the ministry’s support for the actualisation of the harmonisation process. (NAN)[eap_ad_3]