THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
In pursuant of its strategic objectives and core values, Nigerians in Diaspora Organization Europe (NIDOE) has finalized arrangements to commence the pre-enrolment of Nigerians in Europe in the National Identity Database.
The pre-enrolment is to ensure that all Diaspora Nigerians are well documented in the National Identity Management System (NIMS) of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has the mandate to carry out the enrolment of citizens and legal residents as provided for in the Act establishing it, create and operate a National Identity Database, issue unique National Identification Numbers to qualified citizens and legal residents.
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr Mohammed Babandede, announced in August 2017 that from 1 January 2018, anybody without a National Identification Number (NIN) issued by the NIMC would not be able to procure Nigerian passport. The condition applies to both first-time applicants and those renewing their expired passport.
Even though the regulation has not yet been universally applied in Nigerian missions abroad, it will soon come into effect, according to reliable sources in official circles.
This is why it’s important for every Nigerian, both home and abroad, to get their NIN!
The pre-enrolment to be carried out by NIDOE is to ensure that Nigerians in Diaspora do not repeat the frustrating experience of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) registration, where some Nigerians had to travel to Nigeria or outside their base to beat the BVN registration deadline in order not to lose their deposits in Nigerian banks.
Generally, the pre-enrolment exercise will enable the NIMC to register all Nigerians outside the shores of the country as is the standard practice in many countries, providing the much needed data for Diaspora voting, economic data for developmental planning and pooling the huge Diaspora human resources.
To achieve this objective, NIDOE is partnering with NIMC‘s specialists in information management services and database management to facilitate NIMC Diaspora population data capture. Data obtained through the pre-enrolment exercise are EU privacy laws and GDPR compliant.
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This partnership further portrays the commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensuring that the data of all Nigerians, irrespective of country of residence does not filter beyond Nigeria and Nigerian authorities.
In the meantime, NIDOE will commence a road show across Europe to sensitize and mobilize the Nigerian community in Europe to take advantage of the Diaspora pre-enrolment to avail them the opportunity of getting a National Identity Number (NIN).
The pilot pre-enrolment will be officially flagged off during the Diaspora Global Development Conference in London, UK from 26 -28 July 2018 by Hon. Rita Orji, the Chairperson, House Committee on Diaspora Affairs. Venue is the CEME Conference Centre, Marsh Way, Rainham, Essex RM13 8EU.
In its quest to foster and promote Diaspora participation in the Nigeria project, NIDO is recognized by the Federal Government as a rallying ground for all Nigerians in the Diaspora, promoting their interests through advocacy and networking.
For further information, visit www.nidoeurope.org
