Lepers decry lack of identity, exclusion of NIN Registration

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The forgotten community of lepers lingers in the shadows in Nigeria, a country that boasts of its growing digital economy and the possibility of a cashless world.

People with leprosy are left behind, fighting for their lives as the nation’s technology develops.

Gift Oba explores the devastating effects of this exclusion in this study, examining their day-to-day challenges as they fight the imperceptible obstacles put up by a system that ignores their presence.

Because leprosy patients in Ogun State lose their fingers and are unable to be registered on the National Identification Number (NIN) portal, they suffer from a terrible kind of exclusion and no longer identify as Nigerian natives.

Jimoh Ahmed, a leprosy victim and the chairman of the Integrated Dignity Economic Advancement, an organization that supports leprosy patients in Ogun State, disclosed that some of their members were excluded from the NIN registration process, which led to their phone numbers being disconnected and their bank accounts being flagged.

In an interview with reporters, Ahmed bemoaned the incalculable pain this had caused them.

“I would say people affected with leprosy are no longer Nigerians because whatever we want to do now, they ask for NIN.

“Most of our members do not even have fingers anymore and could not be captured in the NIN office.

“Some of them that have money in the bank cannot collect it because they have flagged their accounts and the banks are always requesting for NIN,” he said.

The National Identity Management Commission, or NIMC, established Nigeria’s National Identification Number, or NIN, in 2012. In order to create, manage, and integrate the current identity database in government institutions, register individuals and legal residents, assign unique national identification numbers, and introduce general multi-purpose cards, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act, 2007 created the NIMC in 2010.

Lepers are essentially removed from society by this elusive document, which is necessary to obtain fundamental services like banking, healthcare, and even the ability to vote.

We Find It Hard To Feed – Patients

Most lepers in Ogun State who live in the colony and nearby villages have lamented the difficulties they have in attempting to support themselves.

Although the state has two colonies—one in Ijebu, Igbo, and the other in the Iberekodo neighborhood of Abeokuta—these people barely make it.

Ahmed emphasized the necessity of reintegrating into society, especially as the country’s economic problems grow, and that they frequently had to rely on the N10,000 naira stipends provided to them by the state government.

He said that they were primarily farmers in the colony, but they are now left with nothing as a result of land invasion.

Ahmed stated, “Even those still residing in the community, the heartache is too much for them. For them to eat is hard.

“The government is giving some stipends which is N10,000. It increased from N3,000 to N10,000 in 2013. From 1999 when Governor Osoba was there, he increased the money from N500 to N1500.

“In 2003, precisely on May 27, 2003, before Governor Daniel entered office, he visited the colony that day; they increased the money from N1500 to N3000 and from N3000 till 2013 before Governor Ibikunle Amosun increased it to N10,000.”

He urged the administration to consider raising their stipends while expressing gratitude for its palliative measures over the holiday season.

“We have been appealing to the government, the present Governor Dapo Abiodun for the increment, just to review the money because the hardship is too much now.

“We are over a hundred persons; some stay in the colony, and other members are still in the community area because we’ve been trying to let the people know that we want to integrate them into the community, and we’re doing it.

“In that community, the first job we do is farming but due to the encroachment of the land, there’s no opportunity for that.

“That is why we’re only appealing to some members to diversify in their own business.

“We’re trying to let them know that they can’t do only farming but there’s no money for us to establish the business.”

“Don’t Enter My Cab” – Ogun drivers to lepers

Transportation has proven to be a significant obstacle for these individuals in Ogun State, despite the nation’s progress.

“Whenever we want to enter a car, when they see our hand or leg, they’ll say ‘don’t come in,'” Ahmed added, emphasizing that most drivers in the state do not want to carry them.

He also lamented that several students who had enrolled had been forced to leave school because they were unable to cope with the humiliation and disgrace of prejudice.

Although the Nigerian Constitution’s Sections 17(1), (2), and 42(1) guarantee equal rights for all Nigerians, lepers have been compelled to dwell on the margins, their voices muffled and their battles disregarded.

We Can Enroll Them Without Fingerprints – NIMC

In response to inquiries from reporters, Kayode Adegoke, Head of the Corporate Communication Unit of NIMC, stated that leprosy patients might be enrolled in NIN.

Adegoke maintained that the commission does not discriminate against anyone, pointing out that everyone has registered even in a number of Northern states.

He stated, “We don’t neglect anyone; we have never deferred anyone. Even in some states in the Northern part of Nigeria, we registered everybody.

“They go to our centres or if they want us to bring the system to them, we can talk to any of our people, if they have centres like leper colony just like we did in Ondo and some other state, we can bring the system to them to register them there, yes we can do that.”

When asked if there was an alternative way to enroll them without the use of fingerprints, Adegoke said, “There are ways; if they don’t have fingers, what we do is that we take their pictures, send it and generate a NIN for them.

“We can enroll them. There is no need for a finger”, he added.


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