How NIMC app is killing us quietly

The introduction of Mobile Web Services (MWS), a new innovation of personal identity tokens and services, developed and managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is still a cause for concern two years after.  Following several complaints about the app and the commission’s claim that it has been upgraded to address most of the […]

The introduction of Mobile Web Services (MWS), a new innovation of personal identity tokens and services, developed and managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is still a cause for concern two years after. 

Following several complaints about the app and the commission’s claim that it has been upgraded to address most of the errors as of 2021, users still experience hiccups ranging from error of NIN not linked, login errors, unable to print-out user improved NIN slip after making payment to modifications not updating on user’s profile. 

It is a shame for the commission to keep mute and not do anything to resolve these challenges even after claims of several patches and upgrades of the app. 

The download function of the app is a great flaw. After making payment and clicking to download the premium slip, there is no progress bar or notification informing of the download status. A user neither sees the downloaded PDF file on his mobile download folder as described on the NIMC website, FAQ. And once you leave the final page of payment, which is also the download page, the page cannot be re-visited to re-attempt the download. The worst is that there is no refund of payment despite not being able to download the document. 

The more worrying issue is that there is no subscriber support mechanism whatsoever. You get no response from anyone via the chat, email or contact. It should be noted that 85 per cent of the reviews of the app on Google play store are negative.  

I have no doubt that the developers of the NIMC app and related technologies have good intention, but I urge the developers to step up and acknowledge the limitations of the technology before they are widely adopted. 

When things like this do not work or an agent representing the government debits people without services rendered, then the government is supporting the defrauding of its people. This speaks volumes of digital identity management in Nigeria.  

Ahmed Abdulrahman wrote from Kaduna