Lagos State Government (LASG) in strategic partnership with SecureID Nigeria Limited, a leading provider of digital solutions certified by Visa, MasterCard, and Verve has begun the issuance of Lagos State Resident Identity cards, which are complaint with global standards.
The distribution of the resident cards to residents of the state who had been registered in the ongoing registration, the State Government revealed is to aid planning, budgeting and determination of the number of persons that are to be provided for. SecureID won the contract to deliver 13 million resident cards and provide personalisation solutions for residents in Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria with a population people. Speaking with BusinessDay, Jennifer Agbasi, project coordinator, SecureID Nigeria Limited explained that the Resident Identity Cards enhances sense of belonging and by deploying the cards, the State Government is further enhancing identity management.
The Lagos State Resident Card, which is a wallet-sized card, contains cardholder’s biodata such as facial image and signature as well as security features to ensure residents’ information are not compromised. According to Agbasi “SecureID is proud to cooperate with the Lagos State Government in the delivery of the first State Resident Card. Identity management is a critical issue in economic and socio -political well-being of any nation.
A nation that cannot boast of knowing her citizens are devoid of peace, economic stability and would not be able to provide adequate security for its citizenries.” Olayinka Fashola, general manager, Lagos State Residents’ Registration Agency (LASRRA), Olayinka fashola , who re-emphasised the importance of accurate data for planning purposes, said the registration was for all residents of Lagos who had lived six months and above in the state.
She stated that to make the exercise simpler and less stressful, the agency had also created an online platform www.lagosresidents.gov.ng where residents could register online before taking the print-out to their nearest registration centres in the state. “We have a long way to go. We have given out 2, 500 cards until we get a substantial amount of cards issued. I do not watnt to count my chickens before they are hatched but I believe that with Secure ID, we shall go a long way at registering more residents in the state,” Fashola added.
A peep into the entire exercise suggest that the registration which began last year has not recorded impressive response from residents in the state as less than 3 million of the estimated 20 million population have so far been registered.
The Lagos State Resident Card provides residents with an enhanced sense of belonging, protection of identity and ease of accessing government services. It also provides a safe and precise means of personal authentication and identification for the state residents as well as develop a unique ID number for each resident linking them to their bio-data.
Ben Uzor & Alexander Chiejina
