Some Nigerians have called on the federal government to unify its proposed three new national identity cards, slated for launch in May this year.

They gave the advice in separate interviews on Sunday in Abuja.

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) recently announced plans to provide multipurpose identity cards for about 104 million citizens nationwide.

The three new national identity cards include a bank-enabled national ID card, a social intervention card, and an optional ECOWAS national biometric identity card.

A businesswoman, Toyosi Olawale, said identity cards should be unified into one as it was done in developed countries.

“It makes it easier and avoids duplication of identity. It will also be easier to carry. Too many identity cards may be easily stolen or misplaced,” she said.

Abubakar Salami, a lecturer, emphasised the need for the government to focus its attention on how to perfect the bank verification number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN) before introducing another multipurpose identity card.

“These proposed three new national identity cards will create confusion for Nigerians,” Mr Salami said.

Also, Nanko Paul, a student at the University of Abuja, urged the federal government not to complicate things for Nigerians, saying the government should rather perfect the existing cards than introduce new ones.

Adeshina Sodiya, former president of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), also appealed to NIMC to seek experts’ advice before introducing the proposed multipurpose identity cards for Nigerians.

He said there should be a strategic workshop for critical analysis before the introduction of the multipurpose cards.

He said there was a need for NIMC to get it right for the betterment of the country.

“Now, we have many existing cards, platforms, and resources for financial transactions. How will the new cards be able to compete with them?

“We were also told that the new NIN cards will also be used for social investment programmes. How would vulnerable Nigerians be able to handle and manage it? The issue of privacy also comes into play. These questions need to be addressed,” Mr Sodiya said.

He said the success of NIN cards would largely depend on how relevant organisations work together, adding that the e-naira introduced was not really accepted.

Ayodele Babalola, the technical adviser on media and communications to the NIMC director-general, revealed that the proposed three new cards would address various needs of the Nigerian populace.

“The new IDs are a collaborative effort between NIMC, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS), aimed at fostering service delivery in a cost-effective and competitive manner,” he said.
(NAN)