The topic of a National Identity Management System for the federation which for over 3 years was questioned by a plethora of concerns bordering on fraud and an anticipated slipshod of implementation has finally received endorsement as the Board of the National Identity Management Commission signed an agreement with two private firms - Chams Consortium and One SecureCard Consortium to provide data capture and related services for the programme.

Speaking at the signing of the new deal with representatives of the two consortia, the Chairman of the NIMC Board at the weekend, Prince Uche Secondus, said that government has put everything in place to ensure the sustainability of the project.
He said the planning of the project had taken three years for the agreement to be reached, adding that nothing good comes easy.

Chams Consortium is made up of Chams Plc and Nextzon Communications while One SecureCard Consortium is made up of Interswitch Nigeria Limited, SecureID and Iris Technologies.
Speaking on behalf of the consortia, the Managing Director of Chams Plc, Mr. Demola Aladekomo, noted that for a country the size of Nigeria not to have a robust and viable National Identity Management system was scandalous.
According to him, “for a country with over 150 million people, and immense resources like Nigeria not to have a sound, secure and sustainable identity system that will stand the test of time, is a scandal. Therefore, we are committed towards creating this new beginning that would lead the way in the image and identity management for the people of this country.”

“We are grateful to government for this opportunity; it is going to be a major challenge for us and our partners, and we would require a lot of money to execute this successfully. However, we believe that this ceremony will introduce a breath of new and fresh air in the identity management system for Nigerians,” he added.

The NIMC chairman observed that signing of the contract marks the “beginning of the process to deliver a National Identity Database of 100 million enrollments over the next 30 months.”

He said the board has ensured that there will be no job losses for those who have integrity and the right mindset for the operation of a national identity management system in Nigeria.

“This giant step is a necessary commitment that signifies Federal government’s resolve to partner with the private sector to deliver important social infrastructure that would enable government to deliver on its important responsibilities – securing lives and property, access to consumer credit and a host of other services that would touch the lives of the poor amongst us and improve our image as a nation.”  he said.

According to Secondus, the task ahead would be more challenging - that of sourcing for funds to finance the roll-out plans and instituting the necessary security control and protocol as well as the need for technology transfer.
He assured the consortia of the support and cooperation of the board towards the successful completion of the project.

Secondus observed that in putting the agreement in place, government has learnt from mistakes of the past, and has put everything in place to ensure the sustainability of the project.

“Above all, we have ensured that there will be no job losses for those who have integrity and the right mindset for the operation of a National Identity Management system in Nigeria,” he added.
He nonetheless assured the consortia of the support and cooperation of the Board towards the successful completion of the project.

The Managing Director of Interswitch Nigeria Limited and head of the One SecureCard Consortium Mr. Mitchell Elegbe added that the task of creating the national identity management system is a huge task but having being chosen were committed to deliver an effective, efficient, secure and transparent identity management system.