Lagos State government in collaboration with the National Social Safety-Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) has embarked on a three-day training of field personnel for update of the National Social Register (NSR) employing the National Identification Number (NIN) for efficient delivery of social intervention purposes.
The exercise tagged ‘Training on the integration of the NIN with the NSR update’ commenced at the weekend, held at the Dover Hotel, Ikeja.
According to the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Mrs Olayinka Ojo, the register would “allow a unique identity to be assigned to beneficiaries on the Register to ensure social inclusion and transparency.”
Mrs Ojo, noting that the Lagos State Single Social Register (LASSR) has 688, 759 Poor and Vulnerable households and 2,681,507 individuals as at February, 2025, stated the primary goals of the training exercises.
“The primary objectives of this training include but are not limited to certifying the trainees who are the front-end enrolment partners with NIMC in facilitating NIN enrolment and verification; align with the federal government’s goal of linking intervention beneficiaries to their unique identities, reducing double dipping, and promoting transparency.
She added, “To promote digitalization and integration through enhanced identity management.”
The Permanent Secretary said Lagos being a sub-national is strategically positioned for this initiative which would ensure “credibility to the Register, promote transparency, accountability, facilitate beneficiaries access to interventions and enhance tracking of both vulnerable households and government expenditure in the social protection space.”
The State Coordinator, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Lagos, Mr Olumide Aremu, stated that the Agency was not new to sharing data with other government parastatals and corporate bodies just as he stressed the impact of data harmonization for tracking and impact of interventions.
His words, “This helps the government to analyze and track the exact impact of programmes on the citizens. It will enable the government to go back and see what we are not doing right, what are we doing right, what are the exact benefits of the government programme – is it getting to the right people, what are the impacts of all these processes so that they can improve on it?
“This is not the first time there has been integration. We had with the banks and with immigration, which is still ongoing, with BVN and NIN.”
He noted the uniqueness of the exercise being for the vulnerable, getting to the grassroots for data collection, while he assured that the process would be seamless with logistics of systems under constant checks and readiness of all the centres in all the local governments and LCDAs for easier integration.
In her remark, National Coordinator, National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), Mrs Funmi Olotu, titled ‘harnessing the power of data for Social Inclusion’, emphasized the importance of engaging NIN enrollment instruments in collecting accurate records for efficient delivery of social intervention to the populaces.
Represented by Dr. Daniel Amba, Manager of the National Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) said, “The use of NIMC devices for enrollment, Kobo Collect for data collection, and the subsequent updating of household information will ensure that we capture the correct data and provide the necessary support to those who need it most.
“The State Social Register (SSR) plays a vital role in our social safety-net programs, serving as a single, unified database for targeting and interventions. By integrating the NIN into the social single register (SSR), we will enhance the accuracy and efficiency of our targeting mechanisms, ensuring that the most vulnerable households receive the support they need,” she said.
