• September 23, 2019

    Nigeria’s 1st National Identity Day

    The Federal Republic of Nigeria has approved the recognition and observance of September 16 of every year as National Identity Day. It is the first country to do so.   In recognition of the milestone, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), hosted an event at the International Conference Centre Abuja, FCT. National eAuthentication Limited (NeA), was cordially invited.   The occasion officially marked Nigeria joining the global coalition calling for the recognition of September 16 as International Identity Day. The theme of the Day was “Assured Digital Identity For All”.   The choice of date, 16 September (16.9) was predetermined as it is in recognition of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9 which calls for legal identity for all, including registration of births by 2030.   Notable highlights on the day included: Welcome Remark – Malam Bello I. Gwandu, MFR (Acting Board Chairman) Keynote Address – Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Gida Mustapha Unveiling of the Identity Day Emblem – HE. President C-in-C, Federal Republic of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari Vote of Thanks – Engr.Aliyu A. Aziz, Director General and Chief Executive Officer, NIMC.   NeA therefore honored the invitation and joined NIMC to show its support in acknowledging International Identity Day and Nigeria’s first National Identity Day.  NeA recognizes the importance of Identity Management as a modern tool for national development, social cohesion, proper planning, governance and efficient service delivery.   Given the nature of the Diaspora NIN Enrolment Exercise, NeA is a key stakeholder in the coalition, as NIN plays an important role in empowering individuals in the diaspora to exercise and assert their identity fairly and equitably in a modern society via nea.com.ng/diaspora. Other key stakeholders on the day included NIS, NITDA and customs.     

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  • January 20, 2020

    President Buhari & Chairman of NIDCOM in London

    On Saturday 18  January 2020 members of the Nigerian diaspora in the UK, gathered in London for an interactive session with President Buhari. The President was in the capital for the UK Africa Investment Summit which was due to commence on 20 January 2020. The President used the opportunity to appreciate members of the UK diaspora for making Nigeria proud in their various endeavors, as well as significantly contributing to the nation’s economy. Guests on the day included Anthony JoshuaH, eavy Weight Champion of the World), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission.

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  • June 28, 2019

    With NIN Nigeria Will Get It Right

    Journey from Analog to Digital Technology In September 2003, Dr Felix Babatunde Obada, PhD, FloD, FIBA, FInst PS, FMMI successfully pioneered the entrance of Nigeria into the space industry by facilitating the design and launch of Nigeria’s first Satellite (NigeriaSat-1). NigeriaSat-1 was procured by the Nigerian government and launched in Plesetsk, Russia under a six-nation constellation arrangement put together by Prof Martin Sweeting of the University of Surrey Space Centre, UK; with the help of Prof Turner Isoun and Prof Ajayi Boroffice, then Minister of Science and Technology and Director General of the National Space Research Agency. It was a significant milestone in the embryonic stages of Nigeria’s digital age. The feat featured close collaboration between the University of Surrey, Surrey Space Technology Limited and the Federal Ministry of Science & Technology. NigeriaSat-1 and its successor, NigeriaSat -2 form the global constellation of satellites used for Disaster Monitoring worldwide. The other partners in the international consortium are the UK, China, Algeria, Turkey, Thailand and Vietnam. The primary objective of NigeriaSat-1 was to assist with Nigeria’s demographic planning and agriculture. In the layman’s language it amounted to Nigeria having an ‘eye’ in the orbit. The likes of late Prof Olalere Ajayi and Prof Vincent Olunloyo later helped to expand the scope of the space program with the launch of Nigeria’s Telecommunications Satellite into the Geo-stationary orbit thus, giving the country an ‘ear’ in the orbit. With both ‘eye’ and ‘ear’ in the orbit, Dr Obada began to dream of the day Nigerians will move away from the analog to the digital age. It was clear even at that time to Dr Obada that Nigeria had an overwhelming identity crisis. For example, it was almost impossible for an individual to walk into a bank to take out a loan because we did not know ourselves, and were not therefore considered credit worthy in our own country. This has been due mainly to the challenges around the true identity of individual Nigerians, as well as their traceability and high incidences of fraud and identity theft. It therefore followed that under the continued backdrop of readiness to pursue a period of transformational change in Nigeria that Dr Obada took further steps to constitute a competent Digital Technology Team. The upshot was a synergy of notable IT industry players and Financial Institutions brought together to enlist the support of the Federal Government, for the implementation of eGovernment solutions as a national initiative. Members of the team were: Olu Agunloye, a co-founder Dr (Mrs) C.A.O. Ibru – MD/CEO, Oceanic Bank Ms Faith T. Matthews – ED, Standard Trust Bank Raji Rasaki – Regional Manager, Wema Bank Segun Sopitan – Regional Manager, Oceanic Bank Mrs Florence Seriki (deceased) – CEO, Omaket Computers Wole Ajisebutu – CEO, 21stCentury Technologies Harold Anumihe – Orade Corporation, Nigeria Emmanuel Ekuwem – CEO, Teledon On 18 October 2004, the team was invited to the meeting of the nation’s highest ruling organ chaired by the then President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR. Despite then President having his own roots in agriculture and not technology savvy, he nevertheless proved himself open minded enough to embrace the digital technology […]

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  • April 16, 2019

    NeA NIN Enrolment goes Live in the UK!

    March 2019 saw the official launch of National eAuthentication Limited’s NIN enrolment services in the UK. The launch was held at our partner OIS’s offices on London’s Fleet Street. Amongst other valued attendees,present on the day, was the Nigerian High Commissioner UK -His Excellency Ambassador George Adesola Ogunlade, CFR, CON. The Director General & CEO of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engineer Aliyu A Aziz and the Executive Vice Chairman of National eAuthentication Limited Dr Felix Obada, PhD, FloD, FIBA, FInst PS, FMMI.

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  • February 6, 2019

    PRESS RELEASE: National eAuthentication Limited To Commence NIN Registration for Nigerians, Globally in 2019

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has pre-licensed National eAuthentication Limited (NeA), as an agent to register Nigerians both in the country and the Diaspora, for the National Identification Number (NIN). NIMC, established to, amongst other things, create, manage and regulate a reliable and sustainable National Identity Management System (NIMS) and infrastructure for Nigeria; register all individuals covered by the NIMC Act; assign a unique NIN and General Multi-Purpose Cards to registered individuals, is collaborating with NeA in a public-private partnership to deliver on these responsibilities. National e-Authentication  is a public-private partnership initiative involving key MDA’s in the identification, identity management and security sectors designed to address document and product falsification, forgery, faking, counterfeiting and theft. The absence of a credible, authentication platform has compelled governments at various levels in Nigeria, employers of labour, institutions of higher learning, embassies, banks and other financial institutions, foreign investors, etc. to expend huge resources, apply time-consuming and rigorous measure to verify and authenticate certificates and documents presented by applicants to secure employment or admissions into institutions of higher learning; support visa or loan applications; pure favors, honors, position or titles. NIN is the unique number which identifies an individual for life and death, issued by NIMC after enrolment. It is used to match an individual with their biometric data and other details in the National Identity Database (NIDB). Individuals enroll through the recording of their demographic data and capture of the ten (10) fingerprints, head-to-shoulder facial picture and the digital signature. It consists of 11 non-intelligible numbers randomly chosen and assigned to an individual at the completion of enrolment into the National Identity Database. NIN helps to tie all records about a person in Nigeria’s national database and is used to check the identity verified. All citizens and legal residents in Nigeria, from age zero (birth) and above are eligible to enroll for their NIN. NIN, once issued to a person cannot be used again, (that is, it cannot be re-issued to another person even if the previous person is dead). NIN is set to be used for all transactions in Nigeria requiring identity verification. Henceforth, Nigerians will be using NIN for obtaining e-ID card; travel (international passport application, acquisition and renewal); opening personal bank accounts; getting and renewing driver’s license; obtaining Permanent voter’s card; participating in the National Health Insurance Scheme; payment of taxes; transactions related to contributory pension scheme; access to welfare and other relevant services from the Nigerian Government(s); transactions with social security implications; land transactions subject to the Land Use Act  and any other transactions NIMC may so prescribe and list in the Federal Government Gazette. With NIMC’s core values emphasizing Transparency, Promptness, Integrity, Excellence and  Professionalism and National eAuthentication Limited’s, private sector efficiency, Nigerians can be best assured of a convenient and successful NIN registration and car issuance  processes. Dada Ajai-Ikhile, G.M Marketing & Business Development.

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  • July 26, 2018

    Aziz: National Identity Number, a Crucial Tool for Citizens, Government

    Director-general of the National Identity Management Commission, Aliyu Abubakar Aziz, speaks on the importance of the national identity number and why all Nigerians should enrol in the scheme, in this interview. Emma Okonji provides the excerpts: Why is NIMC pushing the National Identification Number (NIN) now more than the national ID card itself? The focus of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for the next three to five years is on the National Identification Number and not on the National e-ID Card. We want to make the NIN understandable, acceptable, applicable and appreciated by Nigerians, as an important and intrinsic aspect of their entire life, rather than a physical card, which can be discarded while the number is for life. Before now, we were focused on the card but after the country went into recession, we decided to emulate other developed countries like the United States, which issues the Social Security Number; the United Kingdom, with the National Insurance Number; and India where they recently enrolled about 1.4 billion people and issued them the Aadhaar. In all these cases, the emphasis – or perhaps I should say the only thing in focus, is the number. However, this does not mean that we won’t issue the cards, because it is there in our Act (NIMC Act, 2007), that we should issue a general multipurpose card to all registered Nigerians. Therefore, we recently gazetted some regulations that will ensure participation of private partners in the card personalisation services in order to handle the printing of the outstanding cards, but funding is a challenge. Also, the intention of the Commission is to develop the identity ecosystem with all data-collecting government agencies and licenced private agencies, in order to capture additional 50 million records by the end of 2018. What advantages does having the NIN confer on a citizen? The NIN bequeaths citizens with a lot of privileges and benefits. Like most modern economies where the national identity number is a national token that gives citizens access to government social interventions, the NIN also grants citizens certain rights as regards financial access, credit facilities, among others. Mind you, in the case of the US, UK and India that i mentioned earlier, like other advanced economies, a citizen can’t access any social services such as health, insurance and so on, without the requisite social security number. The number is indispensable. So, here in Nigeria, the NIN facilitates interactions between citizens, the government and private sector institutions thereby promoting socio-economic and political development. Since citizens enjoy a “one-person-one-identity,” for life, the NIN therefore enhances citizens’ participation in the political process, enables citizens to exercise their rights, facilitates management of subsidies and safety net payments, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) management and facilitates service delivery in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). It also enhances the work of law enforcement agencies like public safety, policing, national security and border protection, and eliminates ghost and multiple identities. It also enhances the ability of citizens to assert their identity, have access to credit from financial institutions, protects citizens from identity theft – an antidote to identity theft driven frauds, which expands […]

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