The Director General, National Identity
Management Commission (NIMC), Mr. Chris ‘E
Onyemenam solicited the cooperation of the
State Security Service (SSS) in ensuring
that global best practice and all security
issues are well covered in the process of
establishing the proposed National Identity
Database in accordance with section 14 of
the NIMC Act NO. 23 of 2007.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to the
Director General of the State Security
Service (DGSS) Mr. A.A Gadzama, in Abuja,
Mr. Onyemenam noted that the Commission is
currently working out the framework for the
security protocol and appealed to the SSS to
assist in ensuring that the security policy
for the database meets national security
objectives.
He noted that the establishment of NIMC
which is government’s major reform
instrument in the Identity Sector,
represents a paradigm shift from the
historical focus on identity card issuance
to national identity management for
effective identity assurance processes which
will ensure that the verification processes
will utilize one or all of the important
factors namely identity token (ID Card) the
unique identification number (Pin number)
and the Biometrics (Finger print/face).
He stressed that with the creation of the
National Identity database and the related
Information Technology infrastructure,
various government and private sector
institutions will be assured of having a
secured and reliable means of authenticating
the identity of persons they are dealing
with.
In his remarks the DGSS who has a slot in
the Commissions Board membership expressed
appreciation for the visit and the level of
preparation by NIMC so far. He said he was
happy that at last there is a Commission
dedicated solely to issues of identity
management and pledged his support for the
Commission while serving as its Board
member.
The Director Technical Services also stated
that it is a laudable project in view of the
fact that a General Multipurpose Identity
Device will make transactions a lot easier
for Nigerians stating that identity
management is a standard practice worldwide
and enjoined the Commission to maintain a
secure database while pledging their full
support to the Commission.
He also noted that networking between NIMC
and DSS will help curb fraud within and
outside Nigeria thereby boosting Nigeria’s
image internationally while another member
of the DSS team suggested that apart from
taking thumb prints, palm prints should be
included for effective identification.
Responding to the issue of producing a
secured Database raised by the DGSS team,
Engr. Aliyu A. Aziz the Director Identity
Database Department of NIMC said the
commission inherited a secured database
system and is in the process of forming a
security policy team to solidify it with the
support of stakeholders.
Hadiza E. Obaluyi
Corporate Communications Unit NIMC |
