By Abdallah el-Kurebe, Editor
Of the population of 5,000,000, the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, says it only registered 11 percent (550,000) in Sokoto, since it started operation in the state, the coordinator, Engr Garba Balarabe revealed.
Estaished with the mandate to maintain data base, register Nigerians, issue general multipurpose card and unique identity cards, NIMC says the response of people in the state is discouraging.
According to the coordinator, the Commission registered on nine percent of the population in 2018, with an additional two percent this year.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Newsdiaryonline Friday, Balarabe said: “The response of the people of Sokoto State to registration is not encouraging. We were able to register only 9 percent of the people of the state in 2018. This is quite minimal and not encouraging.
“In 2019 at this stage, we have only registered 11 percent of this population, two percent increase from last year.
Going by this record, it shows that we are far left behind in Sokoto State,” Balarabe said.
He called on the state government to take up ownership of sensitisation campaigns to enlighten the people about the importance of the registration.
“Government should embrace this as important and enlighten their people to come out enmasse and register. We have centres in local government areas,” he said.
According to Balarabe, registration was now done for children from zero years, and only 5,000 children were registered.
“We now register children from zero years. We have so far registered only about 5,000.”
He said the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s requirement for national identification number would propel people, especially students to get registered.
“With JAMB’s requirement for production of National Identification Number, NIN, we are glad that people will take this serious. We will collaborate with Parents Teachers Association, PTA, etc to sensitise parents on this.”
The coordinator added that ID Cards have lifespan of four years and that the first batch of cards that were issued to Nigerians had expired and needed to be renewed.
“The first batch of cards have expired and only one person in Sokoto has come for renewal. Replacement of lost card cost N5,000 while renewal is N3,000,” he explained.
