NIMC Self Service App: A Review After Six Months of Daily Use

I’ve had the NIMC self-service app since its launch in September last year and I’ve in six months, studied the app and will be releasing what I think in the next paragraphs. The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is the organization in charge of Nigeria’s national identity management systems. The commission is tasked with creating, operating, and managing the country’s national ID card database, and assigning national identification numbers, amongst others.

A little rundown of the NIMC…

• A national identity card system was initially conceived in 1977, during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s rule as the head of state, but due to some reasons, it didn’t actualize.
• In 2003, during President Ọbasanjọ’s tenure as the president, a new scheme was initiated and 54 million people registered. The scheme, which was managed by the Directorate of National Civic Registration (DNCR) failed to meet official expectations.
•  The NIMC was established by the NIMC Act No. 23 of 2007 and it came into effect in came into effect in 2010, during the tenure of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. It began enrollment exercise the same year.
• In 2013, the National Identity Management Commission started issuing a multipurpose card to Nigerians aged 16 and above.
• In 2023, the commission unveiled the NIMC self-service app, a mobile application for Nigerians to enroll for digital identification and the national identification number (NIN).

My Review of the NIMC self-service app

The NIMC self-service app is available on the Android Playstore and iOS app store, but for this review, I’d be using the iOS app (I believe they’d have the same features).

Features of the NIMC self-service app:

1. Digital ID card: This is probably the most important section, showing your ID card in a digital form. You can decide to view it in Basic (name and digital ID number) or Full form (name, date of birth, nationality, gender, and digital ID number).
2. Virtual NIN: The Virtual NIN is a representation of your actual NIN and can be used for verifications in selected organizations. It is a one-time token that can only be used by the organization or enterprise that it is issued, and valid for only 72 hours.
3. ID scan: This section features a barcode scanner for users to scan their ID cards. You’ll need to grant the app access to your camera to access the ID card scanner.
4. Security PIN: The security PIN is a One-time PIN (OTP) that enables you to access the NIMC web app. It is valid for 6o seconds, after which a new PIN will be generated.
5. Print NIN slip: This section is for users to easily generate higher-quality ID cards for printing. There’s a N1,000 service charge.
6. Linked numbers: This is to view the numbers linked to your NIN.
7. View Credit: You can view your credits here, and also fund your account.

My review of the NIMC self-service app

1. User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX): For the design, I think the developers did a very good job. The app’s color matches our national color, and navigating it is quite easy, even for a first-timer. I give the UI/UX design team their flowers.
2. Performance: So far, I’ve not had any issues using the app, I’ve tested all the features, including paying for the NIN printing and everything went smoothly. I, however, noticed that when you click on the ‘View Credit’ section, it brings up an error ‘Could not find record with Error: connect ETIMEDOUT‘. If this isn’t intentional, the developers should check it out.
3. Functionality: The app has all the functions I think we need, from viewing NIN, to printing the slip to virtual NIN (this is what I love most). Which of these features do you love most and what features do you think would make sense if added to the app?
4. Compatibility: The iOS app works quite fine, I’d be updating this content as soon as I test the Android version of the app.
5. Security: Security-wise, the app is okay if I’m to say, the app has passwords so intruders won’t have unauthorized access to your information.
6. Support: There’s a live chat for users to contact support should the need arise. I didn’t have any need to reach out to them, so I wouldn’t know how fast they reply to enquiries, but if you’ve attempted contacting them, kindly drop your experience as a comment.

Conclusion:

The NIMC tech team no doubt outdid themselves in this app and deserve some accolades. If you’ve used the NIMC self service app, kindly drop us a comment on your view of the app, and suggestions on what can be done to improve it.