The minister of state for health, Dr Olorunnimbe Mamora, on Monday gave an indication that the ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment which is charaterised by large crowds at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) offices nationwide may be suspended due to COVID-19 risks.
The minister who gave the hint while featuring as guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme urged the NIMC management to go back to the drawing board and re-order the enrolment process to avoid large crowds at its centres.
He said the federal government has a duty to ensure Nigerians are protected at all times.
“I don’t feel good looking at the picture where people are gathered in multitude; it’s like a super spreader event which we don’t like. But I’m also aware that the relevant ministry which is the communications and digital economy is looking at this.
“My understanding is that the whole process may be suspended so as to reorder the whole process in terms of management of the crowd because it was never intended that it would become a rowdy process like that.”
“We have a duty as government to ensure that people are protected; we also have a duty to ensure people comply within the limit of what is good for the society at large,” he said.
It would be recalled that the government through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had ordered telecommunications companies to deactivate telephone lines of subscribers who fail to link their phones to their NIN.
