There are indications that the Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in Rivers State is operating under paucity of funds, which has affected its timely service delivery.
One of its major action tracks is the establishment, operation, maintenance and management of the National Identity Management System (NIMCS), which is currently carrying on the registration of citizens and legal residents.
BusinessDay gathers in the Rivers State that most NIMCs centres located in the local government areas enrolling citizens and legal residents for the National Identification Card are operating in stress mainly due to epileptic power supply to power their computerised data systems.
In some centres like in Okrika, Eleme, Tai, Oyigbo, Khana and Obio-Akpor local government areas that experience power outages depend on some individuals who voluntarily provide stipends for fuel to power, improvised generators at the centres to ensure that people are registered.
A cross-section of those who have registered in their various centres in 2013, 2014, 2015, till date complained that they are yet to be issued with their National Identity (Smart) cards due to paucity of funds for the organisation to print them out.
Most of the enrolment centres in the states are experiencing low turnout or response of people they attribute to weak public enlightenment campaign and mobilisation.
A senior personnel of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Rivers State, who pleaded anonymity, said, ‘’It is a peculiar attitude of typical Rivers men, women and youths that when we carry pubic enlightenment campaigns either on health, election voter’s registration, the national identity registration exercise and other Federal Government programmes to their domains, they would expect us to grease their palms and as well entertain them.”
An Eleme community chief, Gomba Oluka, who also spoke with our correspondent, attested that, though the NIMs centre located at the Eleme civic centre was also contending with low turnout of people for the enrolment, but that the officials there were very effective and committed to the service delivery despite the general challenges militating against the apex authority.
Dependable sources at the NIMC co-coordinating office in Port Harcourt along the Port Harcourt – Aba Road confirmed that the major constraint of the commission was paucity of funds. The director-general/CEO of the agency recently admitted some of this in his recent television interview on the activities of the commission.
He said: ‘’We experienced delay in printing the smart biometric identification cards due to paucity of funds but by the special grace of God the commission has begun to turn out cards for the enrolled members of the public to come forward for collection.”
On issue of low turnout, our source also attributed it to what some eligible Rivers people would benefit in return from the exercise, pointing out adequate public enlightenment had been embarked upon through publicity, press briefing, conferences, road shows, and even the local government area councils mandated by government also replicated the same efforts in their various localities.
BusinessDay gathers further that in the last five years, the NIMC has captured over 20 million Nigerian citizens and legal residents who have enrolled under the system. The system comprises a national identity, also known as a Central Identity Repository or Register – (CIDR), a chip-based, secure identity card, and a network of access and means to irrefutably prove or assert the identity of an individual.
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