BusinessDay... the voice of business: New National ID promises basket of benefits

New National ID promises basket of benefits
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Bill OKONEDO on 16 October, 2007 12:00:00
 
A new National Identity Card Scheme is underway for Nigeria. The new National
Identity Card, which will also serve as a voter’s card and health insurance
scheme card, is expected to facilitate electronic payments among others. It will
replace the existing national identity card which serves the singular purpose of
personal identification, and which industry watchers say is flawed, even in that
purpose , because there are no serial numbers to it , making it difficult to
authenticate.
The new card will be biometric – meaning that it will bear the name,
photograph and finger print of the holder, among other vital information, which
shall also be contained in a central electronic database from which it can
vetted, authenticated or voided in a flash, so that it cannot be faked .
Nigerians who are in employment and up to the age of 18 years will pay N1,000
for the new national identity when it is eventually issued, while unemployed
persons and minors (persons under the age of 18 years) will obtain the card free
of charge.
The scheme, to be implemented by the Federal Government would be a public
private partnership (PPP) scheme, Business Day gathered. The PPP method was one
of the decisions taken by a special committee set up by last year, by government
to work towards the implementation of the scheme.
The committee led by Nasir El-Rufai, former Minister for the Federal Capital
Territory, stipulated that the new card to be issued would be a general
multipurpose card to be used for identification, voting, health insurance among
other transactions.
One of the decisions taken by the committee is that government would no longer
fund the project. This, we gathered informed the decision that employed adults
would pay for their cards.
Business Day further gathered that two firms have been selected to handle the
project. They are the Chams Consortium and the Iris Consortium. The two
consortia were chosen from 36 firms which submitted bids for the job. The
bidders included Smartswitch of South Africa, Sonda from Chile,the Iris
Consortium and the Chams Consortium.
The Chams Consortium consists of Chams Nigeria Ltd, Supercard Nigeria Ltd,
Nextzon and PAC Solicitors, while the Iris Consortium comprises Interswitch
Nigeria Limited, Image Technologies Nigeria Ltd, Telnet Nigeria Ltd and Iris
Corporation of Malaysia
A contract award ducument indicated that the firms would develop a special
identification scheme and implement it and after a while, hand it over to
government.
In the letter of selection to the awardees, the government stated that the
scheme would be implemented as a build, Transfer and Operate agreement.
It read, "The partnership which is subject to a Build, Transfer and Operate
Agreement, would cover areas of conceptualisation, design, development,
execution and management of the front end Operations’ of the proposed systems.
The secretariat of the Implementation Committee will arrange for the proper
documentation of and subsequent execution of the agreement."
The new card is expected to help the planning process of government and
busunesses, as it will make available accurate information about individuals and
groups and make them more trackable. The national educational system for
instance, knows at any given time, how many Nigerians are of school age in the
different categiries and can adequately plan for them.
Importantly, the new card will bring about a flow of vital information and the
setting up of a mutually beneficial relationship between the citicenry and the
healthcarer system. The healthcare system receives vital information,
identification and assurance while the card holder receives access to assured
and reliable healthcare.
Very importantly, the new card is set to empower Nigerians to vote their
candidates into power, as it will go a long way to eliminatingor minimising the
ghost voter.The card ensures that a person coming forward to register as a voter
would provide information , fingerprint , photograph and address and increases
the possibility of cross –checks. Besides this, if properly conducted, the new
ID card scheme would eliminate the electoral malpractices, especially multiple
registration and multiple voting.
Also, as Nigeria progresses along the digital highway, crime will inevitably
shift by some measure from the ‘smash-and- grab’ to the
‘track-and-clone’. The biometric card is designed to resist this type of
onslaught.
The biometric information stored on the card is also stored in a central
database, which acts as a check.
A fraudster trying to make a financial transaction would have his data checked
and the transaction would fail if the data did not correspond.
This would make it difficult to commit identity theft, discourage such acts and
facilitate the arrest of culprits.
The cards would also thwart the practice of making false claims and
applications such as Nigerians applying for multiple Nigerian Travel Passports,
using various fake names. It would also check the fraudulent practice of
unqualified foreigners obtaining Nigerian Travel Passports. It would further
check the influx of illegal immigrants and stop those who infiltrate from
obtaining certain social and other services and benefits which they are not
entitled to.
The card will make it easier for Nigerians to prove their identity and
eliminate the need for other cards. That single card is valid and sufficient,
since it bears incontrovertible biometric data on the bearer. The bearer will
also be able to identify himself , even when he or she is not carrying the card,
once he presents his finger print or face, which image can then be cross-checked
from the central data base.
The new card will make it easier for the holder to replace lost or stolen
documents as the persons identity can easily be checked against the data in the
central register.
The new National ID card also helps protect the citizen’s privacy, as only
routine information about the holder will be displayed on the card, while more
detailed information is stored in the central data base and is only made
available to accredited user organisations.
The new National ID is also of immense benefit to businesses as it offers a
secure and reliable way to check customer identity. It would help employers
check the identity of job applicants. It would also provide the basis for a
convenient and secure access control system.
Industry watchers say it is commandable that the project involves external
agencies which would have much to lose if it is not professionally conducted.
They advise however that the project be subjected to external audits to ensure
that best practices are deployed and that it serves the best interests of the
generality of Nigerians.