Nigeria is a complex society, socially, economically and politically. It is not difficult to note that nearly 50 years since independence the country has failed time and time again to make any sort of positive progress and many of its citizens continue to languish in poverty.

 

Lack of enthusiasm, failed leadership, corruption, mismanagement and a lack of dynamism, nationalism and patriotism continues to fail the largest black nation on earth; it is safe to say many black people the world over no longer see Nigeria as a beacon of hope for blacks but one of constant embarrassment and resentment.

 

Nigerians are not the easiest people to govern; passive and willing to allow mediocre leaders they may be, but the activities and conduct of its citizens cannot be easily kept within the law. Desperate citizens and an institutionalized corrupt arm of government means almost every policy fails before it even starts. 

 

A new social engineering order must be established, one that works. Too many failed attempts are no excuse, we need to get it right and keep it that way!

 

Countless amounts of money spent on planning and consultation only for these plans to become useless and waste. The government pays civil and private organisations to plan the nation’s future but due to lack of simple priorities grasp and misappropriation of expertise means people are working aimlessly to achieve nothing.

It is no longer news that many western countries are working round the clock to ensure the largest black nation on earth fails, but why do we allow them the privilege?

 

The recent census where the Nigerian Government along with some foreign corrupt companies spent million of dollars (criminally) to count Nigerians with no success was one of such efforts. Nigeria is such a lucrative place to do business for many “white collar” criminal western based companies who continue to flaunt local and international laws to help Nigeria fail in all aspects of it activities.

 

A failed Nigeria is a large failed section of the black race, one that can be continuously exploited for its natural resources and its people used for cheap labour. Cut of the head of black people by tarnishing the reputation of the biggest nation among them and you have disunity, disorganisation and many opportunities for abuse.

 

To manage a nation one must first have an enabled society, a society with a road map and a plan that will lead to benefits for the citizens and the nation. It is fair to say despite government claims to have goals and objectives it is not hard to notice that stumbling blocks in the form of corruption, mismanagement, tribalism, religious extremism, ethnic wrangling, mediocre leadership and a failed unpatriotic citizenry continue to be Nigeria s biggest enemies.

 

What will it take for example to have a database of Nigerian citizens, a database that will help manage the population, one that can be used to assist terrorism prevention, illegal employment and immigration,  prevent crime, enable growth, assist planning, collect statistics and help management?

  

What is a biometric database?

In many developed societies birth and death records are recorded in a national database; such a database allows for control and monitoring of citizenship related data and services, immigration status, current employment state, age, social services and health information.

A biometric form of database includes the use of things like fingerprint technology and retinal scan to prevent multiple identity and inaccurate records.

 

Why does Nigeria need one?

I suppose the question asked by anyone afraid of privacy intrusion and data protection violations due to the use of biometrics are “Can we not record Nigerians without taking finger prints?” The answer is no we cannot, Nigeria is too complex and corrupt and as such requires the best system for accuracy.

 

The current state of crime in Nigeria means excesses and uncontrolled issuance of national documents by fraudsters and corrupt government officials requires us to have a system that will prevent double identities, multiple applications and abuse of the services.

 

Nigeria is badly in need of citizenship identification, recognition and accountability. Nigeria’s porous borders, corrupt police, customs and immigration officials mean we cannot control migration and crime effectively.

A lack of credible census figures means revenue is not managed prudently and not dispersed according to demography. A near accurate count will mean better allocation and planning. A biometric database of citizen is automatically a census exercise and one that will be around for a long time.

  

How can the exercise be conducted?

A meeting of all state governors, local government chairmen and councillors will ensure all sections within the Nigerian state are represented in a meeting where Government will mandate the collection of every citizen’s information. It is the responsibility of the ward councillors at primary level to ensure all citizens register themselves or they will not be allowed to conduct most known activities affecting their daily lives.

 

All government workers can be mandated to register at their ministries and parastatals. Private sector employers can be enforced via strict government guidelines and if not these individuals can be forced via other key day to day services. The average citizen cannot sell their cattle, take a bus, use the post office, apply for phone services, electricity, apply for jobs, or even visit the hospital without an ID card obtained from their nearest ward or local government offices where biometric information will have be taken to issue the cards.

 

The military and Para-military can of course do theirs easier by simply conducting the exercise on pay day. Ghost workers in all sections of public and private sections of Nigeria will be eradicated.

 

What benefit will accrue from the exercise?

 

Every individual born in the Nigerian state has a distinct accent and affiliation with a section of Nigeria, those with no common language understanding and tribal links to a part of Nigeria must provide people who will vouch for their nationality; this will ensure only Nigerians and future born Nigerians are registered and issued with ID cards. For identification purposes citizens must carry on their person the cards which of course they need to conduct daily activities, like many in the western world do. This will ensure citizen identification.