Criminals Opposed To NIN Registration Are After Me – Minister Pantami
The Nigerian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, has said that those who accused him of having links to extremism are the criminals and other entrenched interests who are afraid of losing out in the ongoing linking of the National Identity Number to telephone SIMs.
In an interview, the minister said that based preliminary investigation had shown that, many people are not happy with what he has been doing – “linking National Identification Number with SIM. Because a situation will come that all the people using SIM to commit crime will not be able to do that.”
He stressed that the allegations against him are being peddled by forces that are against the federal government policy of compulsory national identity registration for all Nigerians and those residing in the country.
“I have no doubt about this. It has to do with the National Identification Number. Do you know one thing? This policy was started in 2011, it was not successful. Why? It was fought.”
Pantami said that the issue of linking NIN with SIMs had been on since 2018 during when there were meetings between government and mobile network operators.
“And it was actually announced that the deadline was January 2018. It is there online, I will share it with you if you like. By January 2018, it was not implemented, because there are forces against it. There are forces!
“Now they have started coming with the news that people are coming from neighbouring countries to register. What they fail to understand is that the National Identification Number is not only for Nigerians; anybody in Nigeria can obtain it. Section 16 and 17 of the Act mention the registrable people in the country – citizens, legal residents, legal permanent residents, and legal residents for a minimum of two years.
“So, it is not only for citizens. And it is also important to know that this is not just an indication that they are citizens of Nigeria. It is rather an indication that you presented your biometric data, so government has control over your data. And that data of NIMC (National Identity Management Commission), nobody has an access to it in any way he likes. Getting access to it illegally is 10 years in prison. It is there in the law. But people will like to discredit it, because they don’t like it.
“As long as it is implemented by government, it will go a long way in reducing crime and based on the statistics we have been seeing now, it’s really encouraging.
“As government, our priority is the protection of lives and property of our citizens. Security is our priority as a government – whether in agric, digital economy, education or in health, in whatever. President Muhammadu Buahari is so passionate about security, and he directed me to do that because he knows I try to persevere despite challenges and do what is right in the interest of our citizens and humanity.”
Pantami said that despite the attacks on him, he would remain focused on his job.
“You know as a government appointee, and at this level, if you say you are going to be intimidated by everything, then you cannot do the work. You cannot do the work. I was with the Minister of Foreign Affairs this week, on April 12. I was with the minister. I was with the ambassadors of the U.K., the U.S., South Korea, and many other countries.
“We had an official meeting with them. We explained to them, even the wisdom behind the National Identity Number. One of the representatives of the development agencies said ‘your work is excellent, but you should be patient, you will encounter many attacks’. This was said to me in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He said ‘you answered all our issues convincingly based on the wisdom and usage of NIN number, because criminals do not like it, criminals do not like it’.
“Even this issue that we are talking about, based on our findings, preliminary investigation, many people are not happy with what we have been doing – linking National Identification Number with SIM. Because a situation will come that all the people using SIM to commit crime will not be able to do that.
“If they do that government will be able to intercept them easily. This is what they don’t want to happen. And this is a mandate given to me by President Muhammadu Buhari. He personally signed the letter that ‘you are mandated to do that’.
Source: PREMIUM TIMES.
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Islamophobia: Pantami And Hypocrisy Of His Detractors, By Fredrick Nwabufo
Profiling. Targeting. Scapegoating. In Nigeria, you are more likely to effectuate wry remarks and suspicious stares if you are the prototypical Muslim with full-bred beard, a ‘’decimal point’’ on your forehead – a sign of your devotion to Almighty Allah, and apparelled in modest trousers that stand aloof from the ankle than if you are a Bible-wielding evangelist piercing the dawn quietude of a drowsy neighbourhood with screams and shrieks of ‘’repentance’’.
We live in a country that is autochthonously Christianised. Our ways are Christian. It is commonplace to profile Muslims who hold strong beliefs as ‘’extremists’’ but not Christians who arrogantly profess their beliefs anywhere and everywhere, even commanding obeisance to their faith. I have never heard any Christian described as an extremist – even when some church leaders make galling and inflammatory statements.
In the build-up to the 2015 presidential election, Bishop Oyedepo vowed to open the floodgates of hell on the opponents of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Is this not an incendiary statement – by a man of god? This pastor also physically assaulted a penitent who came to his church for deliverance. But it was excused because he is a Christian leader. Christians are not extremists even when their actions vouchsafe this fact – but any Muslim can be summarily tagged an ‘’extremist?’’ When a Christian leader makes extremist comments, we call it ‘’holy anger’’. It is hypocrisy.
In 2017, the DSS attempted to arrest Pastor Johnson Suleman after he publicly said he asked his security guards to kill any Fulani intruder around his church. He also threatened the government after state agents swooped in on a hotel he took residence in Ekiti. In addition, Pastor Enenche and others in the same phylum have made ungodly threats that border on bigotry and extremism. But they were all palliated – because they are Christian leaders. It is hypocrisy.
Our society is subliminally attuned to certain precepts and ways that are predominantly Christian. Any otherness sets off an alarm. It is societal conditioning. Our society has been conditioned to readily see some people in one divide as ‘’extremists’’ and others in another category as ‘’devotees’’. A conditioning in hypocrisy.
The avalanche of attacks – both sponsored and taxied – against Isa Ibrahim Pantami, minister of communication and digital economy, accents some Nigerians’ atavism and aboriginal hypocrisy. I would not want to dwell on the contents of some videos and abstracts rippling on social media because they have been politically ammunitioned for not kosher ends.
Pantami’s only offence could be that he is a Sheikh heading a vital government ministry. Yes, some bigoted interests find his being a Sheikh in a sensitive public office exasperating. They cannot stand the fact that a notable Muslim leader is the superintendent of a key ministry. But Pantami is not just any Sheikh. He is a technocrat who knows his onions. He is not fish out of water at the ministry of communications. He trained as a computer scientist, obtaining a PhD from Robert Gordon University in Scotland. He bagged sterling credentials from Ivy-league schools like Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also attended Cambridge in the UK. But bigotry clouds the mind of those who see him as a Sheikh who has no business in the communications ministry.
As a matter of fact, the kindler of the current social media blitz against the minister is beyond “what he said or did not say in the past’’. Some interests in the communications industry who perceive him as impervious to inducement, a non-conformist and a strong character are working in the shadows. Pantami has taken some hard-line-decisions against the industry vultures that are desperate to draw blood. The controversy is a smokescreen to exact vengeance. Nigerians should not unwarily cavort on the playground of this horde.
The truth is for every of Pantami’s detractor, the cause for grouse are interests not being served. The minister is not playing ball, hence, veiled daggers drawn.
Those calling for Pantami’s resignation do not mean well for Nigeria. I believe he should be judged by his stewardship at the ministry of communications — not by his faith. If the social media blitzkrieg against the minister is because of his performance at the ministry, that will be a different matter. But it is not. Pantami is perhaps one of the most resourceful and responsive communications ministers Nigeria has ever had.
Again, the minister should be judged according to his work at the ministry. And he has done a good job of that.
I will not join the multitude to commit murder.