By 
The National Identification Number (NIN) slip is a legal means of identification for Nigerians, the Director-General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr Aliyu Aziz has said in an interview in Abuja with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Aziz urged government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to begin to accept the NIN as a government-guaranteed form of identification. He said the process of issuance of the NIN slip was digitally secured.
“There is always a misconception by many enrollees that the general multipurpose card is what entails identification of an individual.
“Government and non-governmental agencies as well as service providers should recognise and accept the NIN slip as means of identification in the absence of the card,” said Aziz as he commended the public for the acceptance of the National Identity Management Systems Project. NIMC currently has about 33 million NIN enrollees in its database.
He said there would be an exceptional increase of enrollment when the Digital Identity Ecosystem commenced in January 2019.
“The Digital Identity Ecosystem is a sustainable system where any of the data collecting government agencies or licensed private agencies can enroll and capture data from citizens and legal residents and send to the NIMC back-end.
“Having an ecosystem that is sustainable will not interfere with the functions of other agencies; rather it will make the data collection process easier.
“As other data collecting agencies will rely on the NIN as the primary means of identification, putting an end to duplication of functions.
“And it will bring an increase in enrolment centres nationwide making the process easier and more accessible,” Aziz said.
NIN makes a citizen to be identified for life. Aziz advised the general public to leverage on the ecosystem for registration when it fully commences in January 2019.
