…says ‘ll benefit Nigerians in the Diaspora

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – AS data remains cardinal in socio-economic development, a firm, Barnksforte Technology Limited, Wednesday, hailed the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, over the launch of a Self-Service application to ease accessibility and efficient service delivery on enrollment for National Identity Number, NIN, and others online realtime.

The commendation was made by the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Barnksforte Technology Limited, Dayo Bankole.

Bankole who described the launch of the Self-Service application on at the weekend by NIMC and Minister of Interior as a major milestone said it will ensure seamless National Identity Number, NIN, enrollment for Nigerians and those in the Diaspora.

Meanwhile, he commended President Bola Tinubu for making the right choice by appointing the Minister and Acting DG respectively to lead the Agencies on National Identity Management.

While speaking with journalists, he explained that the self-service mobile application was developed in partnership with Barnksforte Technologies Limited, a local ICT company, in accordance with National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Data Protection laws.

According to him, the application was designed with strict adherence to the provisions of NITDA Regulation on data protection and data privacy in Nigeria, following the business requirements of NIMC.

He also said that the application is seamless, minimal cost for using the self-service, and adding that “it is cost effective compared to foreign technologies”, and also the application has four self-service modules; self-service NIN enrollment, modification of data and validation as well as digital identity generation.

Meanwhile, he said the application is designed by Barnksforte Technologies Limited, one of NIMC’s technical partners, with a long standing relationship.

The CEO also said the application would be available on Google Play Store and IOS App Store once it is rolled out.

“The Self-Service NIN Enrolment is limited to Nigerians in the Diaspora, to enable them self-enroll for NIN from the comfort of their homes.

“On modification of data, it is a global service that allows for modification of data of a Nigerian with NIN and it includes names, date of birth, address, and phone number modifications.

“In the same vein, validation is a global service that allows for validation of data for Nigerians with NIN by recapturing their facial and fingerprint biometrics to eliminate the challenge of missing biometrics and it is essential for standardization.

“Lastly, is the digital Identity generation, which is also a global service and it allows for conversion of NIN into a digital ID or QR Code and can be presented to third party vendors when one’s NIN is required for day-to-day transactions.

“This eliminates the exposure of NIN to the public and it contains the owner’s bio data, finger and facial biometrics”, he said.

He said the self service application was one of the two modules of NIMC’s Contactless System, a cutting-edge technology enabled on mobile devices to support seamless enrollment of Nigerians into the National Identity Database with no limitation, in addition to other NIMC’s services.

According to him, while the agent based solution is for Nigerians within the country, the self service mobile application was designed for Nigerians in the Diaspora.

“The solution consists of a module which NIMC’s enrollment partners through their agents enroll Nigerians for NIN all over the country and another module, the NIMC Self-Service Mobile Application, which was launched on September 16, and the contactless system was adopted by NIMC for portability and flexibility.

“It is deployed on mobile devices for registration and verification is flexible, so, it is an all-in-one solution.

“Also, the solution supports enrollment in remote areas without internet access and electricity, meaning data can be captured in offline mode.

“It equally uses contactless biometrics to ensures optimum hygiene and non duplication of finger biometrics, while minimizing the money spent on maintaining contact or traditional based biometric which requires a computer, traditional scanner and other external hardware,”he said.

The National Identity Management Commission had launched a self-service solution that allows Nigerians to register for the National Identification Number from the comfort of their homes using smartphones.

Speaking at the grand celebration marking the 5th National Identity Day, in Abuja, it’s Acting Director General/CEO, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, emphasized the transformative power of identity, highlighting its role in unlocking access to essential services.