President Muhammadu Buhari has called for more commitment by citizenry to the ongoing synchronisation of National Identification Number (NIN) with SIM cards across the country.
He made the call on Thursday in Abuja, saying proper identification of all Nigerians and legal residents in the country and ability to conveniently access a data base would provide impetus for more effective planning and security oversight.
“The NIN will cover one of the weaknesses in our security structure. We will be able to easily identify and know the personality of Nigerians. We will identify people easily, including the crooks,’’ he said in a statement signed by Femi Adesina, Senior Special Assistant on Media.
He said; “The National Identification Number is the foundational digital ID for the country; both Nigerian citizens and legal residents are expected to obtain the NIN. It will provide access to government services and will give government useful insights that will enable us to utilize scarce resources in a more efficient way.”
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President Buhari noted that the decision to expand the mandate of the Ministry of Communications has yielded positive results.
“The Digital Economy sector has made significant progress and recorded a number of unprecedented achievements since we expanded the mandate of the Ministry of Communications to include the digital economy mandate.
“The Information and Communications Technology sector was the fastest growing sector in both the fourth quarter of 2020 and the entire year 2020, based on the Report by the National Bureau of Statistics,” the President explained.
According to him, the digital economy sector is providing online options for activities that were before now offline, while also minimising the disruption to activities of both public and private sectors, and reducing cost of meetings.
President Buhari said; “the Federal Government embraced institutionalising online meetings through the approval of the National Policy on Virtual Engagements in Federal Public Institutions.
As a result of this, we now have virtual Federal Executive Council, virtual Council of State and virtual National Economic Council meetings, among others, even though this development was triggered by Covid-19.”
The President promised that his administration was fully committed to the safety of Nigerians and linking the SIM to NIN will significantly enhance security, aid in national planning and budget preparations.