Nearly half a million diasporans register for NIN according to National Identity Management Commission

AS many as 427,962 Nigerians living in the diaspora have obtained their National Identification Number (NIN) thanks to an aggressive drive by organisations like the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (Canuk).

 

Nigerian law makes it compulsory for everyone who wants to acquire an international passport to obtain a NIN, which has spurred the need for diasporans to step up to the plate. In the UK, Canuk has been highly proactive, organising roadshows and getting registered agents to visit the different nooks and crannies of the country.

 

According to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), as of May 27 this year, 427,962 diasporans were registered, with 249,163 being male and 178,799 being females. When NIMC launched the service, it said the exercise was aimed at capturing Nigerians living outside the country into the National Identity Database, ensuring they benefitted from the owning NINs.

A NIMC spokesman said, “Nigerians abroad, however, also have the choice of enrolling for free whenever they travel back to Nigeria, provided they have valid passports. Where, however, their passports have expired, they must obtain their NINs as a prerequisite for renewal of their Nigerian international passports or in order to acquire new passports.”

 

He added that the service is available in 77 foreign countries, with 40 of these countries being African, nine in Asia/Middle East, 23 in Europe/Oceania and five are in the Americas region. Meanwhile, NIMC has now captured over 100m Nigerians into its database, with the highest cumulative enrolment figure of over 10.9m recorded in Lagos State.

 

So far, 43.28m females and 56.75m males have NINs. Nationwide, the top five states with NIN enrolments are Lagos with 10.92m, Kano with 8.84m, Kaduna with 6.19m, Ogun with 4.19m and Oyo with 3.89m.

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