The persistence challenges of server downtime and power outage have denied many Nigerians the opportunity to register for their National Identification Number (NIN) or link their subscriber identity module (SIM) to the platform.
These challenges have denied over 100 million potential Nigerians the chance to link their SIM to NIN, hence, could not use their SIM cards at all or are restricted to certain services.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) revealed that 140 million Nigerians are yet to get NINs, as only about 71 million unique identity numbers were issued with about three to four SIMs linked to a NIN.
The major challenges confronting the process (as observed in the registration centres in Lagos and Ogun States) are: frequent server downtime and power outage which many people said have frustrated them after several attempts. Those who spoke with our correspondent said the attendants keep asking them to check back on the excuse that the systems were down or that they don’t have power supply
Aside the two neighbouring states, there were similar reports in most States of the federation. A staff of NIMC who asked not to be named said server downtown has been a major issue, not just to NIMC but to other corporate organisations.
For instance, officials at Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos were unable to register residents due to network issue. According to one of the officials, he was unable to login to the server since 9:00am that day (on 12th of January, 2022) till afternoon when our correspondent visited while diverting people to go to other LGAs for their NIN registration.
At NIMC office in Ikeja, Lagos, many Nigerians were told to come back the next day at 7.30am, as there was no electricity
Another official of the commission who spoke with LEADERSHIP at the commission’s office in Ogun State said those who came as early as 7:30am to 1:00pm were attended to, because there was light. “We have attended to more than 200 people today,” he said, adding “We could not attend to those who came after 1:00pm, because by then, we have turned off the generator and as you can see, there is no light and we are not expecting light till the next day,” he said, while appealing to the crowds to come before 8:00am the following day.
Some of the NIN registration outlets visited by LEADERSHIP, also encountered the challenge of login into NIMC’s server to register Nigerians. For instance, an owner of one of the NIN registration outlets in Lagos, Mr Johnson Okanlawon, told LEADERSHIP that sometimes, it takes six to seven hours for him to be able to register one person.
“Sometimes, the network will work perfectly well, but other times, we may find it difficult to register one person because of their server,” he explained.
More worrisome to Okanlawon is the fact that some Nigerians who registered about four months ago still find it difficult to link their SIM to NIN, because their NINs have not by captured by NIMC database.
“When we encounter such issue, we normally place a call across to NIMC workers, to help resolve the issue. Sometimes, they will work on the server and within few hours, it will start working, but other times, it may take two days. That is the major issue we are facing even this year,” he added.
LEADERSHIP investigation showed that the observed factors have slowed down the process, leading to the extension of deadline of SIM-NIN linkage by NIMC for the ninth time since the commission announced compulsory registration and linkage in December 2020.
When contacted to speak on the measures put in place by the commission to tackle these challenges, the head of corporate communication units at NIMC, failed to respond to the questions up until the time of filing this report yesterday.
He however said the commission has always tried to resolve the issue as soon as possible whenever it occurs.
On the security of its database, the commission, through a press statement, made available to LEADERSHIP, stated that, its servers are not breached but are fully optimised at the highest international security levels as the custodian of the most important national database for Nigeria.
The director-general of NIMC, Engr. Aliyu Aziz, who disclosed this said, as the custodian of the foundational identity database for Africa’s most populous nation, NIMC has gone to great lengths to ensure the nation’s database is adequately secured and protected especially given the spate of cyber-attacks on networks across the world.
“Over the years, through painstaking efforts, NIMC has built a robust and credible system for Nigeria’s identity database. The Commission and its infrastructure are certified to the ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management System Standard which are revalidated annually.
“NIMC has ensured maximum security of its systems and database because of the critical nature of the identity data which the Commission collects, manages and maintains as critical assets for the country,” he pointed out.
Assuring the public that the commission will continue to uphold the highest ethical standards in data security on behalf of the federal government and ensure compliance with data protection and privacy regulations, he said NIMC does not use nor store information on the AWS cloud platform or any public cloud despite the usefulness of the NIMC Mobile App available to the public for accessing their NIN on the go.
The NIMC DG further stated that the NIMC MobileID application has no database within the app, nor does it store information in flat files, saying, the commission has made this app available to the public to reduce and eliminate any delay or challenges in accessing one’s NIN.
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