Opinion
By Emeka Omeihe
THE Senate recently passed for a second reading, a bill which seeks to allow all persons residing in Nigeria, the right to obtain the National Identity Number, NIN. But the move failed to take into account the guiding principles for the issuance of such identity numbers across the world.
Titled, “ National Identity Management Commission(Repeal and enactment) Bill 2024 (SB.472), the amendment seeks to “expand the scope of registrable persons by broadening the eligibility criteria for registration under the Nigerian ID system to ensure inclusivity and universal coverage” If it scales through, the bill will allow all persons resident in Nigeria to obtain the NIN and utilise it as a recognised form of identification.
When its sponsor, deputy senate president, Barau Jibrin tabled his lead arguments, his colleagues shared his views after which the bill was passed for a second reading. Nobody saw anything wrong with some of the clauses in the bill. Neither was any objection raised on inherent loopholes that may render the whole essence of NIN registration worthless.
Specifically, part V1(17) of the bill provides that,“ Every citizen and resident of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be entitled to obtain the National Identification Number by undergoing the process of enrolment in accordance with the Act”
Part V1 (18) further complicated matters when it stated that “the commission shall take special measures to enrol, and issue National Identification Numbers to such persons who do not have any permanent place of residence and such other categories of individuals as may be specified by regulations”.
These clauses are utterly at variance with section 16 of the NIMC Act No.23 of 2007 which defined registrable persons as Nigerian citizens, permanent residents and foreigners legally resident in the country for a period of two years or more. The clash of the two clauses with the stipulations of the Act establishing the NIMC on those qualified for registration, raises suspicion on the real motive the bill is meant to serve. A cloud of doubt now surrounds the real intent of that amendment bill.
A piece of legislation that throws open the doors of this country to all manners of residents to obtain the NIN, is an open invitation to anarchy. Curiously, the senate would also want the NIN to serve as national identity. That amounts to a contradiction of sorts.
Why issue national identity numbers to people with no legal status to stay in the country? How national is an identity number that does not discriminate between citizens; those legally permitted to reside in the country on the one hand and illegal immigrants on the other? It would seem that piece of legislation was either put together in a hurry or meant to serve some hidden agenda.
It will entail the issuance of the NIN to just any person who finds himself within the shores of this country. No country does that. It remains to be imagined why Jibrin thinks unrestrained access to the NIN by all manner of persons will best serve our national interest especially now.
The absurdity of the two clauses is further illustrated by the provision requiring NIMC to issue NIN to people who do not have any permanent place of residence in the country. That would entail arming people with no fixed addresses with the NIN. Really?
It is either such people are ghosts, live inside the forests or some other obscure criminal hideouts. Every law abiding citizen or foreigner should have a place of residence to be identified with. A country grappling with multidimensional insecurity that has stretched the energies of the security agencies to elastic limits, can only allow that at its peril.
Within the last decade or so, Nigeria has come to confront the insurgency of the Boko Haram and ISWAP, an arm of IS. It is also at battle with the terrorism of the herdsmen, constantly placed at the doorsteps of foreign herders from the Sahel region.
The arms and ammunitions used in these terrorists onslaughts are usually blamed on the influx of foreign nationals aided by the porosity of our borders. There is also the phenomenon of banditry which has become difficult to separate from the terrorism of the herdsmen or Boko Haram insurgency. These are extant debilitating challenges to national security. This reality should inform strict adherence to NIN registration ensuring that only people allowed residence by the laws establishing the NIMC get registered.
Unfortunately, that is not the signals we get from the proposed amendment to the NIMC Act of 2007. The amendment bill in part, seeks to throw open access to NIN registration to people who have no business with that piece of document. And if one may ask, of what value is the proposal to empower all residents including the illegal ones; ones that have no identifiable places of abode with the NIN? Does such a measure not amount to a clear invitation to danger?
These questions are raised because of the peculiar place of the country within the sub-region. Nigeria shares borders with other African countries. It does not only share cultural affinity and language with these neighbours, there are common traces of family and blood relationships across borders. There is high level of mobility and influx of people from these countries into our shores. The large size of the country and the economic advantages it offers, make it attractive to its neighbours.
The scenario is bound to be catastrophic when every and anybody that finds his way into the shores of this country is easily armed with the NIN. Then also, the NIN would have become a worthless piece of document. That is the manifest danger thrown up by sections of the bill that recommend unrestrained access to NIN registration by foreigners.
Those contentious clauses miserably mock the general rules guiding the establishment of National Identification Numbers or Social Security numbers. According to Wikipedia, a national identity number, or national insurance number is issued by the governments of many countries as a means of tracking their citizens, permanent residents and temporary residents for the purposes of work, taxation governments benefits etc.
In the United States of America US, the Social Security Number (SSN) is a nine- digit number issued to its citizens, permanent residents and temporary (working) residents. It identifies individuals for the purpose of social security but it is now used to track individuals for taxation. It is also required for the opening of bank accounts and applying for drivers’ licence. The SSN has become a de facto national identification number despite the fact that it was not originally meant for that purpose.
There is no legal requirement in the United Kingdom UK to obtain or carry any identification document. But some form of identification is required for many things like renting an apartment. A national insurance number is used to administer state benefits.
South African national identity card is known as a Smart ID Card. It is issued to South African citizens or permanent residence permit holders who are 16 years or older. People, including spouses and children who are working for the South African government or one of its statutory bodies outside South Africa also qualify to receive that country’s identity document.
In effect, the general principle is for national identification numbers to be issued to citizens, permanent resident permit holders and others legally permitted to reside within a country. The senate will be hard put to show evidence of countries that issue national identity numbers just to any foreigner who happens to set foot within their shores.
Even then, what is the urgency in amending the Act setting up the NIMC especially when the proposed amendment deviates substantially from the norms guiding the issuance of national identity numbers? For a country contending with existential socio-economic and security challenges, the least expected of its lawmaker is the enactment of legislations with prospects of drifting the county further to the precipice.
The amendment bill should not be allowed to see the light of the day. Not only does it deviate from the standard norms guiding the issuance of national identity numbers, it is loaded with frightening prospects of compromising the security of this country.
It will be counterproductive to issue the NIN to the band of marauders, terrorists and faceless foreign criminals taking advantage of the forests to levy war on the rest of us. People living within our shores without traceable places of residence or addresses should be profiled for what they are-security risks.
(First published in The Nation Newspapers Monday, 29/7/24)
29th July, 2024.
C.E.
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