News Investigators/ The National Addressing Council (NAC) has ratified the preliminary framework for the actualisation of Nigeria’s vision to build a digitised and modern addressing system for the country.
The decision was taken during the meeting with critical members of the council and stakeholders in the public and private sectors, chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that under the new arrangement, the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation will serve as secretariat for greater efficiency and coordination.
Other agencies will synergise efforts to achieve set objectives.
Shettima assured that under the Renewed Hope Agenda, President Bola Tinubu’s administration would build institutions that match the energy and mobility of the Nigerian people.
“We must build a system that locate every community, support enterprise without barriers and stregthen government without compromising privacy.
“Our objective should be simple for Nigerians to understand. Wherever a citizen lives, wherever a business operates, wherever help is required, Nigeria should find the address.
“This is the standard before us and I am confident that the council will deliver,” Shettima said while addressing the council.
He said that the task before the council was to build a national addressing system worthy of the scale and ambition of the nation.
The vice president maintained that the addressing system must serve the village as effectively as the metropolis.
“Address is more than just a description of where a person lives or where a business operates.
“It is a point of connection between the citizen and the state; between the enterprise and opportunity; between identity and service.
“A country that cannot consistently locate its people and businesses carries an avoidable weakness into planning, commerce, security and social protection.”
Shettima warned that while geography must never become a sentence of invisibility, every Nigerian household and every legitimate enterprise should be located within a trusted national framework.
“The strength of a modern addressing system lies in its ability to speak to other public systems.
“Our digital addressing framework must connect intelligently with other digital identity, government databases and wider digital public infrastructure.
“When a verified identity can be linked securely to a verified address, the gains extend across financial inclusion, social interventions, logistics, planning and emergency response,” he said.
On the mandate of members of the council, Shettima said that the ambition required institutional discipline.
“The Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation is to serve as secretariat of the council.
“It must guide technical implementation, systems integration, interoperability and standards.
“The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has an essential responsibility in addressing individual verification and authentication, while CAC must support verification of business addresses. NIPOST remains indispensable for postcode administration and postal infrastructure.”
The vice president noted that the success of programme would also be decided where Nigerians live.
“States and Local Governments Areas are working through the Nigerian Governors Forum, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), must drive implementation at the community level through the local addressing and proof of address,” Shettima said.
He said the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the Nigeria Data Protection Commission(NCPC), the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Organised Private Sector must bring their mandates to bear.
He stressed that no institution could own a system whose usefulness depended on participation across the federation.
Earlier, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said addressing the process was fundamental and quite foundational to Nigeria’s economic revolution.
Tunji-Ojo noted that the process was also about the foundation of harnessing the talent of the average Nigerian entrepreneur.
The minister expressed confidence that news of the addressing process would restore confidence of foreign investors in Nigeria.
“I think also that if the news of this initiative goes out, there will be a lot of incidents in terms of investors, knowing fully well that it’s no more business as usual but business unusual.
“I want to encourage all members of Council; let’s give our best to this,” the Minister said.
On his part, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Kingsley Udeh (SAN), thanked the vice president for the leadership demonstrated in steering the sheep of the council.
“Before now, it was sort of crisis management but with coordination, we are now working as one nation and one people focused on doing this very critical assignment that should have been done decades ago.
“Standardising address, proof of address and digital address, your Excellency and members of Council, let me say that the onerous role you vested on me, I will discharge with discipline, sense of purpose and unity,” the Minister stated.
Also, the Director-General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker, said the initial challenge confronting the successful execution of the initiative was the lack of coordination and disagreement among the agencies.
Mrs Coker thanked the vice president, whose office, she said, was able to ensure harmonisation of all parties involved in the process.
Also, the President of ALGON, Bello Lawal, said the addressing initiative would improve national security, improve citizen identification, and deepen financial inclusion.
Mr Lawal also said the the initiative would change planning and revenue generation at the local level and ensure that every Nigerian was accounted for within their local communities.
NAN