Still on Nigeria’s National Identity Crisis
By Hanniel Noboh
In the modern world, a national identity card is more than a piece of plastic—it is proof of citizenship, a foundation for security, and a cornerstone for economic and social planning. In Nigeria, it has taken on even greater importance as the key to integrating individuals into the nation’s data ecosystem through the National Identification Number (NIN).
Successive governments, through the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), have launched schemes to provide both the NIN and an accompanying card. Yet, decades later, Nigeria still struggles without this fundamental tool of governance. As The Guardian editorial of August 22, 2025, aptly titled “Towards a permanent identification card” described, this persistent failure is nothing short of a “national embarrassment.”
Billions of naira have been poured into the General Multipurpose Card (GMPC) and similar projects, with little to show. Citizens remain frustrated—holding slips of paper instead of durable identity cards, while enduring endless promises of reform. Personally, it was only after reading the editorial that I realized I had never possessed a true national identity card, only a flimsy NIN slip vulnerable to wear and tear.
But the real crisis goes deeper than the card itself. As the editorial rightly noted, our failure is not an inability to print plastic, but an unwillingness to build a single, authoritative, and integrated national database. Agencies like the FRSC, INEC, and the banks already hold vast and verified datasets of Nigerians. Yet, instead of harmonizing these, we duplicate efforts, waste scarce resources, and fuel corruption through bloated contracts.
The solution is clear: integration, not replication. The NIN provides the foundation, but political will is required to make NIMC the central custodian of all identity data. This would save billions, strengthen national security through verifiable identities, and provide accurate data for economic planning. It would also finally make the NIN meaningful for everyday Nigerians.
The Presidency and the National Assembly must therefore legislate a mandatory data harmonization framework, enshrining the NIN as the foundational ID for all government services. NIMC must be fully funded and empowered, not as a card-printing bureau, but as a world-class digital identity agency with robust cybersecurity and integration capacity.
Providing physical cards is useful, but the real goal should be enabling Nigerians to securely use their NIN for all services—from accessing loans to claiming pensions—instantly, and even digitally. Linking NIN to SIM cards and bank accounts was a step in this direction; now, we must complete the journey.
Nigeria has the brainpower, infrastructure, and need to make this vision real. What is lacking is decisive leadership to connect the dots. The journey to a functional identity system is not another enrolment queue; it is a simple walk from the data centres of our existing agencies to the servers of NIMC. The technology exists, the data is there, and the urgency is undeniable.
Until Nigeria takes this decisive step, we will remain trapped in the cycle of chasing plastic while neglecting the digital identity system that our citizens truly need.
Hanniel Noboh is a Mass Communication student at Nile University and an intern at PRNigeria. She can be reached via [email protected]