Minister Pantami taking Nigeria to higher heights – MURIC

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From Left: Pantami and Akintola.

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By BASHIR ADEFAKA

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has received a pat in the back from the Nigerian Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).

The human rights organization commended the minister for his recent innovations which are aimed at making life easier for Nigerians.

MURIC issued the commendation in a message signed by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, and sent to The DEFENDER on Friday, 29th January, 2021.

In a report titled “FG grants licence to MTN, Airtel, other PTOs to register Nigerians for NIN” published in The DEFENDER on Thursday, the Nigerian government was said to be getting ahead of factors militating against easy registration of Nigerians for National Identity Number (NIN) in the country, especially the indiscipline of some of the officials making the process difficult for people through their corruption.  “One of the ways the government has done this may be by its latest decision, whereby it licensed Private Telecommunications Operators (PTOs) to register people, who do not have National Identity Numbers to reduce the large crowds at the offices of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).”

The DEFENDER reported that “effort of the government to make the compulsory NIN registration accessible and easy for citizens have been sabotaged by officials, especially at some of the Local Government Secretariats’ offices of the NIMC in Lagos, Rivers and other parts of Southern Nigeria.

“This sabotage caused the crowds, which are both artificial and real at some of the offices, although officials at some other offices adduced inadequacy of machines and lack of electricity supply that has necessitated the use of generators as reasons for the difficulty experienced by people.

“Our investigations further revealed that lackadaisical attitude of the people, themselves, towards government policies, which was why they still haven’t registered over six years after it started, is another unfortunate cause of the overwhelming crowds leading to the uneasy experience.  Citizens have, however, complained about how amounts from N3,000 to N15,000 were charged for them to be allowed to register and capture at the NIMC outlets,” the report had said.

In his reaction to the government’s decision and many other areas of improvements brought to the ministry by the Communications and Digital Economy minister, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), on Friday, said it was greatly impressed by his positive innovations for the ease of life among citizens.

According to MURIC, “We are greatly impressed by the performance of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. He has proved himself as an uncommon federal minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His ministry is always on one activity or another and most of such programmes and projects are designed to take Nigeria to the next level in a highly competitive digital world.

“Notable among such achievements of his ministry are the 112 toll-free number commissioned on 19th March, 2020 and the virtual federal executive council meeting of 13th May, 2020. A few weeks ago, the ministry introduced a mobile application designed to link the National Identity Number (NIN) to the SIM. This is a great step forward particularly in the fight against crime as it will assist security agencies in identifying criminals at a faster pace.

“Equally noteworthy is the recent permission which Pantami’s ministry gave network providers to register Nigerians for NIN. This is seen as a way of bringing smiles to the faces of Nigerians who have been experiencing difficulties in their efforts to obtain NIN. Many Nigerians have had to spend up to three nights sleeping somewhere close to the NIN registration centres across the country just to obtain the elusive national identity number. There is no doubt that the long queues at the NIN registration centres will soon disappear. Thus Pantami has directly and positively impacted the lives of Nigerians.

“The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy must therefore be celebrated for responding to the needs of the people and for digitalizing the economy at a fast pace. No wonder, therefore, Pantami was declared IT Man of the Year 2019. He has taken Nigeria to higher heights in communications and digital economy.

“It is our considered opinion that while individual citizens and groups reserve the right to interrogate the activities of public officials, such interrogation must be fair, constructive and balanced. It must not be thrashing and bashing all the way. There must be occasions when we take a look at the bright side of the performance of government officials and applaud them when they perform creditably well. This will bring out the best in them on the job. It will also enable them to know that the people appreciate their sacrifices and the tough times they face most of the time.

“MURIC charges critics to give their negative comments a human face. Observations should not be a one way affair all the time. A pianist can use the white keys some of the time and the black keys at other times. But for harmony he must combine both the white and black keys.”


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