The Federal Government (FG) has announced the introduction of digital tokens to replace the National Identification Number (NIN) slip.
This was disclosed in Abuja at a stakeholder’s workshop on NIN Tokenization Solution organized by the National Identity Management Commission. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami who was represented by the Director-General of NIMC, Aliyu Abubakar disclosed that the implementation of the digital tokens would begin on January 1, 2022.
He said, “One of the benefits of the virtual NIN is to ensure no third party may carry out any verification, hiding behind a proxy (and without the knowledge of the NIMC, being the Custodian of Identity).
“And also generated Token or Virtual NIN is unintelligent, completely random with no correlation to the NIN and cannot be reverse engineered, even by a Quantum Computer. The NIN holder is the only exclusive issuer of NIN and cannot be delegated.”
According to reports, some of the requirements for tokenization include a NIN issued by NIMC, a mobile number registered in Nigeria which is linked to the person’s NIN.
Abubakar said, “We must continue to reinforce the need for every Nigerian to have a digital identity, irrespective of social class or economic status, improve access to all and ensure continuous protection of privacy and data of our citizens and other enrolees.
“We must sustain the momentum by creating continuous awareness programs and sensitizing of the public.”
NIMC said the tokenization would be disseminated in several local dialects to improve understanding.
