As challenges to register for National Identification Number (NIN) persist, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Pantami has said he is yet to receive funds approved for the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Prof Pantami made this known on Monday in Abuja as NCC auctioned 3.5GHz spectrum band for deployment of 5G network across Nigeria.
Recall that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had in September approved N25 billion for the upgrade and replacement of the NIMC infrastructure as server downtime continued to mar NIN-SIM card linkage, even as the December 31 deadline draws closer.
Pantami had at the time said the money will also be used for the improvement of novel initiatives that have increased the registration of persons on the National Identity Database (NIDB).
The Minister said that between 2007 and 2020, a 13-year period, the NIMC managed to register a little higher than 40 million NIN but that between 2020, after the NIMC came under his purview, and now, no fewer than 67 million people have registered.
“Let us not forget that as of October last year, 2020 when Mr. President directed me to supervise NIMC, the total enrollment in their database was just a little higher than 40million.
“That 40 million was achieved from 2007 to 2020 which is around thirteen years. But within little more than a year and now we are in December 2021, a little more than a year, the total enrollment as of last week is more than 70 million.
“This has been achieved without releasing one naira to NIMC as at today. There has been an approval granted by the Federal Government of Nigeria but the money is yet to be released to the management. They are yet to receive it, but it has been approved,” Pantami said.
Speaking on the auction of the 3.5GHz spectrum band by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the deployment of 5G in Nigeria, the Communication and Digital Economy Minister urged for transparency.
He said the nation was planning to deploy the technology under the National Policy on Fifth Generation (5G) Networks for Nigeria’s Digital Economy and that the deployment will help address the country’s security challenges.
The technology was largely criticised in 2020 leading to an investigation into its health implications. Pantami, however, said when the general benefits of the 5G is considered, the country will truly stand out as the giant of Africa.
He said, “If 5G is utilized effectively by our security institutions, it will go a long way in addressing many security challenges we have today in Nigeria.
“Firstly, there are many benefits of 5G over 2G, 3G and even 4G particularly, the mutual authentication of its network and 5G network is encrypted.
“So, this will provide an avenue for our security institutions to leverage on the technology and deploy many emerging technologies in the country to handle the security challenges we are being confronted with.
“Today, if you want to address the issue of insecurity, you will need things like robotics, internet of things and artificial intelligence. you will need big data analytics. All these emerging technologies cannot be deployed effectively without 5G, because 5G gives you real time communications.”
He said with real time communications, all the gadgets can be deployed and utilised effectively to handle security challenges in the country.
“This is the approach globally and this the best practice globally, At the top of our agenda for 5G deployment is to support our security institutions, to provide the network so that they can leverage on and address the security challenges head on,” he added.
According to him, there are seven requirements of effective security management which include: command, control, communications, computer, information gathering and intelligence gathering.
Pantami said, “It is because of this we feel that if 5G is deployed in Nigeria, it will support our economic development, not only within the ICT sector alone, but all other sectors will leverage on the key enabler of their success.”
At the time of filing this report, the outcome of the auction of the 3.5GHz spectrum band by the NCC was still being expected.