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Bolaji, a leper, has been unable to get enroled for NIN as her fingerprints cannot be captured
Sodiq Ojuroungbe
National Identity Management Commission require citizens to present their biometric data, including fingerprint scans, as part of the NIN enrolment process. SODIQ OJUROUNGBE writes on how the journey to obtain a digital identity has become frustrating for lepers and other Nigerians living with disabilities.
For over two years, all efforts made by 73-year-old John Ojoawo to obtain his National Identity Number have been futile. Every trip made to the enrollment centre leaves him spent, perplexed and downcast.
The septuagenarian, who has lived with leprosy for the greater part of his life believes that not having a digital identity compounded his challenges, majorly among them being discrimination and the inability to be reintegrated into society.
Life at the leper colony located in the Elega area of Abeokuta, Ogun State, he told PUNCH Healthwise, has been difficult; since he was ostracised from his family and community.
The huge burden of leprosy stigma weighs on him heavily and denies him the ability to find menial jobs for survival.
Despite a successful treatment regimen, he lives with physical disabilities that include the loss of his two hands.
When NIMC began the process of registering all citizens for the NIN, Ojoawo told our correspondent that he tried to get the digital number but could not, even when NIMC brought the registration centre to the lepers’ colony.
Without a NIN, the 73-year-old man has been unable to open a bank account and access many other essential services in Nigeria.
After trying and failing to get his NIN multiple times, he finally resorted to using his son’s bank account for financial transactions.
As he sat in his room at the colony, recounting his many struggles to PUNCH Healthwise, he painfully recalled how a commercial bank returned his money when they were unable to capture his fingerprint during registration after several attempts
“I don’t have a NIN. I was the one belonging to my child because the system couldn’t capture my fingerprint. It was easy for some others because leprosy affects people in different ways.
“Some become bald in their hands like mine, and we that are affected like this, except if the government finds another way, there’s no way we can get NIN enrolment because the machine can’t detect our fingers,” the elderly man said in smattering English.
Ojoawo’s experience is not isolated as findings by PUNCH Healthwise revealed that there are many persons living with disabilities in Nigeria who have been unable to obtain their NIN.
It was gathered that the challenges they face are not limited to the NIN enrollment process alone because they also struggle to access other government services, such as banking, tax payment, and obtaining international passports, among others.
The World Health Organisation described leprosy, which is also known as Hansen’s disease, as a chronic infectious disease caused by a type of bacteria known as Mycobacterium leprae.
The WHO explained that the disease, which predominantly affects the skin and peripheral nerves, may cause progressive and permanent disabilities if left untreated.
According to the global health body, the disease is transmitted through droplets from the nose and mouth. Prolonged close contact over months with someone with untreated leprosy is also what it takes to become infected with the disease.
Digital identity debut
In response to repeated kidnappings for ransom and the inability of security authorities to identify and trace abductors via their mobile lines, the Federal Government mandated that all Subscriber Identification Modules be linked with NIMC.
The government said the synchronisation would help the government identify crooks and provide a digital framework for improving security and strengthening the economy.
In a statement credited to the Nigerian Communications Commission on December 15, 2020, the government directed telecommunication providers to disconnect all SIMs without a NIN attached by December 30, 2020. The deadlines were reviewed multiple times.
Since the directive by NCC in December 2020, millions of Nigerians thronged NIMC offices and enrolment centres across the country, waiting long hours just to register and get the identity number.
NIMC, in 2020, set a target of capturing all Nigerians in its database between 2023 and 2024 after the Federal Government secured a World Bank credit facility of $430 million for the NIMC under the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project.
The project seeks to increase the number of persons enrolled for NIN from 36.894 million on October 11, 2019, to 148 million by June 1, 2024.
Part of the target is also to enrol 65 million women and girls and 50 million children under the age of 16 by before the date.
The project also mandates the NIMC, as part of its intermediate results indicators, to periodically consult with beneficiaries, stakeholders, marginalised groups, and the government.
In February 2021, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, announced the FG’s plan to replace the Bank Verification Numbers with NIN.
It further mandated using the NIN for transactions, including opening bank accounts, voter registration, and payment of tax, among others.
According to NIMC, NIN consists of 11 non-intelligible numbers randomly chosen and assigned to an individual after enrolment into the National Identity Database.
The NIMC Act 2007 provides for the establishment of the NIMC, its functions, powers, establishment of the National Identity Database, assignment of the National Identification Number as well as issuance of token General Multi-purpose cards.
PWDs suffer exclusion
Section 27 of the NIMC Act stipulates that to partake and enjoy government services without NIN is an offence, punishable by fine or imprisonment.
Despite being a compulsory document to enjoy digital public infrastructure in the country, PUNCH Healthwise gathered many people with disabilities, especially those without fingers have been denied participation in having the unique digital identity.
For PWDs, the challenges of NIN enrollment are even greater. Many people with disabilities, including people with leprosy, have difficulty getting to an enrollment centre due to mobility issues.
Though NIMC opened temporary registration centres in many of the leper’s colonies across the country, including where Ojoawo lives, people without fingerprints were unable to obtain digital identity numbers.
A digital expert, Oladele Igbagboyemi said having a NIN is essential to accessing many services in Nigeria.
According to him, people cannot open a bank account, which translates to the inability to save money or access financial services.
He also pointed out that they cannot register a SIM card, which makes it difficult to communicate and stay connected to friends, loved ones or business associates.
“They can’t obtain an international passport, which makes it impossible to travel or move around the country with ease. In addition, without a NIN, people can’t participate in the National Health Insurance Scheme, which provides access to healthcare. This lack of access to essential services and opportunities has a profound impact on the lives of people like Ojoawo,” he lamented.
Some of the people living with leprosy who spoke with PUNCH Healthwise, expressed displeasure that they were not considered eligible for the NIN because they do not have fingers, despite having a birth certificate and other documents that proved their identities.
Titus Olatoregun, who also lives in the same Elega leprosy colony, said he lost hope in the digitalisation process because several efforts to get enrolled were not successful due to the inability to detect his fingerprints.
He said dejectedly, “I feel like I am less human and don’t even exist in this country. Without a NIN, I can’t open a bank account, or apply for a loan.
“I am stuck in this place; unable to move forward in life all because I don’t have fingers.
“I am a Nigerian, just like everyone else. I deserve to have a NIN just like anyone. It feels like the system is designed to exclude people like me living with disabilities.
“It is not my fault that I don’t have fingers. I just want to be treated like everyone else.”
Also, a 54-year-old woman who identified herself simply as Bolaji, said anytime those with leprosy get to the enrolment centre at the Akomoje area of Abeokuta, they usually meet a large crowd and the officials would tell them they can only register an allotted number daily.
She said, “We have gone there about five times, yet we couldn’t get it done. It has been over eight months since my information was entered into the system but I have not collected my slip. I can’t do anything without it because they said I need my NIN to be able to open a bank account, among other things. I asked them if I could do it again elsewhere but they said no.
“Officials in my back said I can’t open an account unless I provide my NIN. I even asked them if it was possible to make use of my child’s NIN, but they said it must be my own.”
Speaking on the predicament of residents, the secretary of the colony, Folrunsho Lukman said, “Those with bad fingers tried to register but some were unsuccessful, while others scaled through. I have my NIN. The NIMC brought the system here to register us and it was very easy.
“I also have a bank account, we also have a way we did it that made it very easy. We met with the bank and told them we have a large number of members that want to register and they came to do an online registration for us but we later had to finish the registration at their office.
“It is only some of our members who were unable to get their NIN and apply for bank accounts. We hope something can be done to capture them.”
Promoting digital inclusion
According to the WHO, in 2018, about 29 million of the 195 million people who comprise Nigeria’s national population were living with a disability.
The global organisation indicated that persons with disabilities lack access to basic services and that attitudinal barriers represent a major impediment to their socioeconomic inclusion.
It noted that inclusive policies are either nonexistent, weak or inadequately implemented.
Corroborating WHO, human rights advocates say that the requirement for fingerprint scans to obtain NIN is promoting digital exclusion for people without thumbs.
While lamenting that the inability to access digital identity schemes is like shutting people without thumbs out of the digital world, the stakeholders insisted that fingerprint scans are discriminatory and violate the rights of such people.
A digital rights advocate, Tunde Adegbola said, “NIN is supposed to be a way for everyone to access government services and participate in the digital economy. But for people with no thumbs, it is an obstacle that is impossible to overcome. It is a form of discrimination and a human rights violation.”
He, however, urged the FG to find alternative ways to issue NIN to people without thumbs, noting that biometric data like iris scans or facial recognition could be used instead of fingerprint scans.
Supporting his stance, Oladele, a digital expert earlier cited, said the FG has not shown commitment or urgency to finding a solution to the problem.
“It is disappointing that the government has not acted fast to address this issue. People without thumbs are being excluded from the digital world and denied access to basic services. This is a clear violation of their human rights,” he lamented.
“This report is produced under the DPI Africa Journalism Fellowship Programme of the Media Foundation for West Africa and Co-Develop.”
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