No fewer than fifty public institutions in Nigeria, on Tuesday, pledged their support for the implementation of the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) Project.

Dr. Walter Duru delivering a Paper on Duties of Desk Officers during the Roundtable

Rising from a 1-day Roundtable for Desk Officers of Ecosystem Implementing partners of the Nigeria Digital ID4D project, held at Peniel Apartments, Abuja, the stakeholders described the project as timely, reiterating their willingness to participate in its implementation.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, Project Coordinator, Nigeria Digital ID4D project, Musa Odole Solomon, congratulated the desk officers on their nomination by their respective public institutions, reiterating the project’s commitment to working with them.

“Let me start by congratulating you on your nomination as desk officers for the Nigeria Digital ID4D Project. It is a show of the level of confidence the leadership of your respective organisations has in you.”

“This meeting is aimed at explaining the essence of the Nigeria Digital ID4D project, its components, objectives, strategy and expected results, while discussing the roles of the desk officers in the project implementation, among other objectives.”

“The idea of desk officers was to ensure a single point of contact with each of the ecosystem implementing partners, to ensure that our partners do not miss out on any important step in the project implementation.”

“The project is designed, following an ecosystem model, and not limited to any single organisation. It therefore involves different agencies of the government, the private sector and civil society. As desk officers, you are here today because you represent organisations already identified as important ecosystem implementing partners. Our goal is to ensure that no strategic stakeholder is left behind, in this endeavour.”

Also speaking at the event, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Identity Management Commission, Engr. Aliyu Aziz commended the Nigeria Digital ID4D project for its intervention and support.

The NIMC Chief Executive, represented by the Director, Corporate Services of the Commission, Ibrahim Abdullahi, informed the stakeholders that the national database has hit about Ninety-Three (93) million National Identity Number (NIN) enrolments.

“The unified ID system approach, as well as the ecosystem model have had tremendous positive impacts on the enrollment figure. Currently, the National Identity Database has over 90 million (93.5m) records, which is a sharp contrast from just 7 million, when I assumed office in 2015.” he said.

He noted that “the primary aim of the strategic roadmap for digital identification in Nigeria, is to simplify the approach to identification through simple data collection process and a centralized unique identification system for Nigeria and legal residents.”

In his presentation on “Duties of Desk Officers in Nigeria Digital ID4D project Implementation,” the project’s Communications Manager, Dr. Walter Duru described the desk officers as the bridge between their respective public institutions and the project, urging them to take their roles seriously.

Also, in his presentation on “Understanding the Nigeria Digital ID4D Project,” Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for the Project Implementation Unit, Dr. Emmanuel Akogun, highlighted the project development objective to the desk officers, even as he urged them to support the project to succeed.

The project’s Change Manager, Ibrahim Salifu, Data and Integration Architect, Sheriff Balogun, Social Safeguards Officer, Seun Adebayo, Grievance Redress Manager, Atana Okon, Legal Desk Officer, Adetunrayo Alao and Stakeholders Engagement Manager, Helen Nkemakolam-Ekeh, took turns to explain the activities of their respective work streams, while seeking the collaboration of the desk officers.

Olufemi Fabunmi, Director, Database at NIMC, while responding to questions from the desk officers said “NIMC will increase its server capacity to 250million from 100 million after a service upgrade.

Highlights of the event were: paper presentations, remarks, interactive session, questions and answers sessions and agreement on next steps.

The Nigeria Digital ID4D is a project, jointly funded by the World Bank, European Investment Bank, and the French Development Agency.

The Project Development Objective is to increase the number of persons with a National Identity Number (NIN), issued by a robust and inclusive foundational Identity system, that facilitates their access to services.

Dr. Walter Duru delivering a Paper on Duties of Desk Officers during the Roundtable