Got your number: Privacy concerns hobble Nigeria’s digital ID push

Pantami has issued a directive mandating citizens to link their mobile numbers to their identity numbers by Oct 31, 2021, or risk being blocked from accessing telecommunications services. — Photo by Olumide Bamgbelu on Unsplash

LAGOS: Joining several other countries, including Kenya, Uganda and India, Nigeria's government is in the process of rolling out a digital identity system to enable easier access to public and private services.

But, like those and other digital ID projects around the world, Nigeria’s initiative has been dogged by privacy concerns, with citizens and rights groups saying the country’s lack of data protection leaves their personal information open to abuse.