The National Orientation Agency (NOA) on Thursday said the on-going National Identity Card registration exercise would promote national planning and socio-economic growth.
Mr Adeyemi Olusegun, the Kwara State Director of NOA, made the assertion during a sensitisation seminar in collaboration with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in Omu-Aran, Kwara.
He said the collaboration was informed by the need to enlighten Nigerians on the importance of the registration exercise toward nation building.
Olusegun also disclosed that the registration for the national identity card had been made compulsory for children of two years and above.
He expressed optimism that the sensitisation would spread information on the exercise at grassroots level.
The NOA boss urged those who had registered and were awaiting their permanent cards to exercise patience, saying the cards would be made available in due course.
He said the card, apart from being used for administrative purposes, could also be used to make financial transactions, especially the automated Teller Machine.
Mrs Comfort Ajibade, NOA Assistant Director, Irepodun Local Government, in a remark, expressed satisfaction with the level of registration in the area.
She said the collaboration was in line with the mandate of the agency of keeping the society informed toward the nation’s growth, progress and development.
Ajibade said the collaboration was a directive from the agency’s headquarters in Abuja as a way of boosting NIMC national assignment, especially at the grassroots.
Mr Tope Jimoh, the council’s NIMC Supervisor, while enumerating the importance of the registration exercise, said its usage transcended all critical sectors.
He described the collaboration with NOA as unprecedented, encouraging and timely.
Alhaji Issa Abdulsalam, a community leader in Omu-Aran, pledged for the support of the community toward achieving the desired objectives of the exercise.