Okowa: Only 20% of Nigerians have registered with NIMC

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State says national identity card registration would provide appropriate population data for effective national planning.

The governor stated this while speaking at a function to mark the maiden National Identity Day in Asaba, the state capital, on Monday, September 16, 2019.

“It is not just enough to have a day set aside; it is about the passion and commitment of everybody involved to ensure that it works for us,” the governor said.

“Proper documentation will facilitate all kinds of planning, because the greatest challenge we have as a nation is planning. We can only do properly when we have the figures right; most times, we use projections because various demography needed for planning are not in place.”

The governor noted that data collection would also help the country tackle its security challenge.

“Security challenges will be curbed by the time we are able to have Nigerians properly registered and documented. This is because from the statistics, we have just about 20 per cent of Nigerians registered with NIMC, which is still a very far cry from what we deserve.

“So, I hope that this recognition and this day will ensure that we put everything in place so that when we celebrate the second anniversary, we will be talking about registration figure that is encouraging.”

The States NIMC Coordinator, Henrietta Okolo, said that over 36 million Nigerians have been registered nationwide with about one million persons registered in Delta state.