Social Security number in the U.S. gurantees social safety net by Government. What does this mean? Govt issues this number to applicants to keep track of their lifetime earnings & years of productivity/labor. This way, retirement or social disability income is easily processed...
...with verification of your contributions to social security and eligibility. This is not a stand alone policy but is harmonized with your source of income (employer’s accounting department) for easy account to IRS. Suffice to say Social Security works with work...
There must be an enabling environment for people to get jobs so as to be able to contribute their social security wages. Be it directly by government or by private sector benefitting from the enabling environment created by Government. So what exactly does the NIN represent?
It is certainly not a Social Security number because there is not social safety net in Nigeria. There is no harmony in the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Nigeria. Biometric registrations are replicated everywhere for commercial gains. This is deliberate.
The system don’t care about the people and have no intention to benefit them or grant any soul inclusion. This is why nothing is built to last and data management is always unsustainable. Could it then be a national identification scheme? This too is false.
A genuine national identification program will not exclude anyone economically. Already with the subscription plan and entry fee of the NIN, above the reach of 70% of Nigerians living under extreme poverty—under $1 a day has socially stratified the target systemically.
Even the dwindling middle class are strategically exempted because it takes a whole day to fully register for the scheme due to sundry technicalities & extortion. With the compulsion attached to it despite the lack of transparency/accountability, it’ll fail like others before it.
The question remains, What is the benefit of the NIN registration to Nigerians aside from the forlorn hope in the wait to receive the actual card which would have expired before delivery? What is the Worth of being a Nigerian? Is citizenship now a Subscription that expires?! 🤔
