Today, 16th September Nigeria commemorate the National Identity Day in order to raise awareness on the Importance of Digital Identity to drive economic growth. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami is representing His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari at the Event.
Nigeria is the first country in the world to commemorate 16th September as National Identity Day to raise awareness on the Importance of Digital Identity to drive economic growth. The Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, Nigeria noted that “to create an awareness on the importance of National Identity for Sustainable National Development, the Federal Government of Nigeria is hosting the 3rd National Identity Day with the theme: “Identity, a tool for sustainable Digital Economy and National Security” taking place at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The representative of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) delivered the remarks of Mr President during the 3rd National Identity Day.
His Excellency, President Buhari, commended the effort of all Stakeholders in the Digital Economy Sector. He urged all Stakeholders to redouble their efforts and commitments to having a harmonized National Identity Database for Nigeria. The President reiterated the importance of National Identity as a tool for Sustainable National Development.
Similarly, he called for an enhanced synergy between the various data collection institutions such as the National Population Commission and National Identity Management Commission and commended NIMC on its enhanced efficiency within the last 11 months under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy; and the launched and unveiled 3 indigenous innovative solutions developed to enhance Digital Identity enrollment in Nigeria. The solutions include (s); Improved NIMC MobileID Application; Tokenization Solution and Contactless Enrolment Solution.
In an interview, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami said, “digital identification can be an important catalyst for various development initiatives in the continent such as impacting on trade, governance, social protection, financial inclusion, domestic resource mobilisation, as well as security and human rights.” Last year, Nigeria declared Sept. 16 as the National Identity Day and also formally adopted 16.9 as the National Identity Day, following the approval of the federal government under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
