Rationale behind the newly introduced identification requirement for writing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which recently directed all prospective candidates for the 2020 edition to obtain National Identification Number (NIN), has been further explained by the Acting-Director-General of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Hadiza Dagabana.
She offered the explanation in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
Dagabana, who informed that registration for NIN had already started at the Primary School level of education across the country, said making NIN a criterion for all examinations in the country would help to stop impersonation and other forms of malpractices.
“The only way you can identify a person sitting for JAMB examination, is with his identification number issued by JAMB.
“The communication is before you go and register for JAMB make sure you have your national identification number (NIN) because that is what will identify you.
“And you know the beauty of that is the moment JAMB and all other educational stakeholders meet and decide to use NIN that means from that period up to the time you get any certificate in your life that NIN will be attached to you.
“So, if you get your ID that is what will tie you to all the things you do in life.
“For those categories of persons under 16 we tie their enrollment because their biometrics is not yet fully formed with the identity of their parent or guardian.
“It is only that when you fully reach 16 years, you come back and your finger prints are taken.
“But any Identity card you get from day one is your ID for life.”