BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
Vice President Kashim Shettima has taken a firm stance to resolve Nigeria's poor geographical identity to attract more investment and address insecurity in the country.
This will be achieved by making locations more identifiable through the establishment of Digital Addressing System.
Already, the VP has ratified a framework for the actualisation of Nigeria’s vision to build a digital and modern addressing system for the country.
Under the new arrangement, the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation will serve as Secretariat for greater efficiency and coordination, while other agencies will synergise efforts to achieve set objectives.
The decision was formalised at a meeting of National Addressing Council ,NAC, in Abuja, attended by key members and stakeholders in the public and private sectors.
He said: "Under the Renewed Hope Agenda, our duty is to build institutions that match the energy and mobility of our 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."
The Vice President, who is also the Chairman of NAC, insisted that every Nigerian household and legitimate enterprise should be located within a trusted national framework, cautioning that geographical location must never become a sentence of invisibility.
"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 infrasrutcure.
"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 added.
Shettima noted that the task before the Council is to build a national addressing system worthy of the scale and ambition of the nation, adding that addressing system must serve the village as effectively as the metropolis.
He said: “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.”
The Secretariat of the council is expected to guide technical implementation, systems integration, interoperability and standards.
NIMC has an essential responsibility in addressing individual verification and authentication, while CAC must support verification of business addresses.
In addition, NIPOST will oversee the postcode administration and postal infrastructure, just as the success of the national assignment will determine accurately addressed locations.
The States and Local Government Areas, LGAs, working through the NGF and ALGON must drive implementation at the community level through the local addressing and proof of address.
Also, National Information Technology Development Agency ,NITDA, Nigeria Data Protection Commission ,NDPC, Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, NCC and the OPS must collaborate for the success of the national assignment.
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh appreciated the Vice President for his leadership in steering the Council from the point of crisis management to the point of synergy, collaboration and harmonious coordination among relevant agencies.
The Director-General, National Identity Management Commission ,NIMC, Dr Abisoye Coker stated that the initial challenge confronting the successful execution of the initiative was the lack of coordination and disagreement among the agencies, appreciating the Vice President for ensuring harmonisation of all parties involved in the process.
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