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Some years after the failed national identity ID card project carried out by the Obasanjo government, the Jonathan administration recently signed another multi-million naira ID card contract with Chams and OneSecureCard consortia to carry out a new national identity management system. This act is meant to represent a departure from the previous ID card system and all its known inadequacies. The National ID card project, before now, has been marred with issues of openness and accountability in its administration but regrettably, none of the accused persons or companies has been prosecuted.
The panacea to this challenge, according to the government of the day, is to embark on the same project all over again. The signing of the contract marked the fourth time that a Nigerian government would make attempt to issue national ID cards to Nigerians. As good as the intention of the previous governments might be, the conduct of the exercise has consistently resulted into a big failure. The national ID card scheme is now a viable way of embezzling public funds through the use of consulting firms.
The current effort should not end up in similar fate. It is quite understandable that Nigeria needs a good record of citizenship and reliable database for development purposes. But such reasons should not be used to siphon taxpayers’ money and the sweats of the gullible populace to the private accounts of few politicians. The contract was reportedly signed by the Board of the National Identity Management Committee (NIMC) and the companies. The Chairman of the Board, Prince Uche Secondus, has also reassured Nigerians that the project has a high sustainability potential. According to him, the new scheme is the beginning of the process to deliver a National Identity Database of 100 million enrolments over the next 30 months.
The Obasanjo military administration was the first to introduce the National ID card project to Nigeria. The project faced several administrative lapses and fraudulent practices until it was revived in 2003. The 2003 failure marked the biggest ID card scandal in the country as the project was said to have been inflated to the tune of 120 million dollars. The scam indicted SAGEM, a French electronics company, which allegedly bribed some government officials to win the contract. Apart from SAGEM, three former ministers and a former PDP chieftain were said to be involved in the fraud but are yet to be prosecuted.
Nigerians are eager to see a durable National ID Card with machine-readable features such as biometric data capture. The new scheme should be effectively managed and the distribution of the new cards should be done competently. The public should b enlightened adequately about the new programme so as to avoid public apathy towards it. The new project should also be devoid of political, ethnic and religious sentiments to ensure its functionality.
