NOA, NIMC Launch Joint Committee to Drive Nationwide Ward-Level NIN Enrolment

By Hamza Lawan Ahmad, Dutse

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have inaugurated a joint committee to intensify public enlightenment and grassroots mobilisation aimed at expanding access to the National Identification Number (NIN) across Nigeria.

The inauguration, held at the NOA headquarters in Abuja, marks a strategic move to deepen identity inclusion through ward-level enrolment nationwide.

Delivering the opening address, the Director-General of NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, represented by the Director of Media and Communication, Mallam Bala Musa, commended NIMC for its commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s identity management system. He described the NIN as a critical tool for national planning, security coordination, social protection programmes, and financial inclusion.

The DG emphasized that beyond operational rollout, the success of the ward-level enrolment initiative would depend heavily on effective public engagement, awareness creation, and trust-building at the grassroots level.

He noted that NOA’s extensive communication network—spanning over 200 radio stations, major television networks, social media platforms, the AI chatbot CLHEEAN, and 818 offices nationwide—positions the agency to deliver inclusive, culturally sensitive, and accessible sensitisation messages, particularly to underserved and rural communities. He added that the agency would proactively address misconceptions that may arise during the exercise.

In her remarks, NIMC’s Team Lead and Director of Operations, Mrs. Uche Chigbo, disclosed that the Commission is set to decentralize enrolment activities from local government areas to the ward level, with a target of achieving 95 percent national coverage by the end of the year.

She announced that the ward-level enrolment exercise will commence on February 16, with licensed partners engaged to support the implementation.

According to her, the intensive phase of the exercise will span six weeks, with five days allocated to each ward across the country to ensure broad demographic coverage.

Members of the joint committee from NOA include Mallam Bala Musa, Director of Media and Communication; Mrs. Adaline Waye, Director of Community Outreach and Development; and Mrs. Sherifat Adegbesan, Special Assistant to the DG on Intergovernmental Affairs.

From NIMC, committee members include Mrs. Uche Chigbo, Director of Operations; James Bura Mamza, Deputy Director and Territorial Director, North Central; Mr. Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications; Amen Peter Odia, Head of Protocol; and Ayodele Babalola, Technical Adviser to the Director-General of NIMC.

The collaboration underscores the Federal Government’s renewed drive to ensure every Nigerian is captured in the national identity database, paving the way for improved service delivery and inclusive governance.