Director General of NIMC, Mr. Chris Onyemenam

Amaka Eze

Residents of Lagos have applauded the successful roll-out of the National Identity Management System (NIMC), pilot enrollment process in the state.
The pilot process of the exercise, earlier billed to commenced before the end of August 2012, had been postponed for logistics and technical reasons.

When THISDAY visited the NIMC Office in Alausa Ikeja, Lagos, where the pilot enrollment process was taking place, a huge crowd of Lagosians were seen trying to get their National Identity Number (NIN).

The Lagos state Coordinator, NIMC, Mr. Durojaiye Adelani, told THISDAY that the Pilot process witnessed a huge turnout of people.
Adelani said: “We were able to register over 400 people and generated their NIN's within two days of rolling out the process in the state.”
He added: “As you can see, we have a very good and positive turnout. People are eager to get enrolled and obtain their NIN immediately after. Those who registered told their friends and relatives who also came and get registered. We have been very busy since the roll-out process,” he said.

Adelani added that full roll-out of the enrollment process will start immediately after issues identified during the pilot process had been fixed, and approval received from the Director General.

A staff of the Nigerian Civil Defense, Mr. Adeyinka Salako, who spoke to THISDAY, after he got his NIN cheerfully stated that he is now a true Nigerian because his data has entered into the NIMC database.

He said, “Since the old National Identity Card will no longer hold water after the new one has been issued to us, I am proud to be among the first set of Nigerians to get enrolled.”

Also, a lady, Mrs. Ikenna Chiyeaka, commended the commission for successfully carrying out the exercise in Lagos, stating, “It is a good thing that the process of generating a single database for the nation has stated in one of the nation’s biggest city, Lagos.”

She added, “We hope that the process will be sustained, and the data well managed to avoid waste, which is getting synonymous to Nigerians”.
The Director General of NIMC, Mr. Chris Onyemenam, in a chat with THISDAY, disclosed that the commission has also concluded plans for a nationwide roll-out in March 2013.

The NIMC boss stated that to ensure a hitch free exercise, applicants can access the enrollment form by logging on to the NIMC pre-registration portal, to register their bio-data and secure a date for finger prints and photo capture.