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The Founder and President of Anap Foundation, Atedo Peterside, has advocates for the use of a National Identification Number(NIN) as a pre-requisite for collecting government palliatives.
"Asking people to queue up in warehouses for palliatives is wickedness," said Peterside.
Fielding questions from journalists at a public forum, Peterside said: "
He said, “What is it that we need to do for the majority of Nigeria’s 200 million population, they are not direct beneficiaries of state capture, indeed they are the victims. If you look at the way we are distributing the so-called palliatives, how can you send 100,000 bags of rice and beans to Kano which has 10-15 million hungry people, and you say you are doing something? In all honesty, even the methods we have put in place to try and put in safety nets are unserious and show that there is no intention that any assistance gets to the poorest of the poor.”
“Unlike in 2012, when the financial technology sector was not well developed, even in 2019, more so in 2024, we have the instrument to renew a National Identity Card, which is a payment-enabled instrument, every Nigerian has a National Identification Number, if the government is serious, they could actually issue this card to every Nigerian, all of them have their NIN, but for whatever reason, the government always fall short of giving them that card.
“If you give them that card, then you do not need to ask people to queue up for anything, you can program the payment, rather than telling people to come and queue up in a warehouse, and they kill themselves, that is wickedness, it is callous because you have the instrument and you do not want to use it because it is too transparent.”
