Digital Identity Key to Accessing Social Services – NIMC DG

• Digital Identity Key to Accessing Social Services – NIMC DG

The Director-General, National Identity Management Commission, Aliyu Aziz, has identified digital identity as a critical factor for individuals to access social benefits.

The social benefits and services that can be enjoyed with digital identity, according to him, are subsidies, social safety net, eligibility to vote in elections, agriculture, pension and education, among other entitlements.

The NIMC DG made this known while delivering a keynote address entitled ‘Digital Inclusion: Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies’ at the 27th Annual Conference of the Nigeria Computer Society in Ibadan.

According to Aziz, since public and private sector agencies require proof of identity as a prerequisite for providing services to individuals, failure to prove identity forms a major barrier to accessing social benefits.

“Inability to prove identity is one of the biggest barriers preventing access to benefits, subsidies, an exercise of basic rights as well as claiming entitlements,” he said.

He added, “Without knowing who the people are, no government or private sector will be able to effectively deliver important services such as social safety net, elections, agriculture, pension and education.”

“Identity is a pre-requisite for a country’s economic, social and political progress and development. Good identification works hand-in-hand with greater use of Internet, payments and skills for a vibrant digital economy.”

Describing NIMC’s role in providing digital identification through the enrolment and issuance of a unique identifier National Identification Number, Aziz stated that beyond the term digital inclusion were issues about “quality of life, democracy, exclusion and who gets what, when and under what circumstances.”