Editorial
Need To Harmonise Biometric Data
Early last month, the Nigerian Police
Force introduced the Digital
Biometric Central Motor Registration (BCMR).
Announcing the replacement of the analogue Central Motor Registration (CMR) with the Digital BCMR which kicked off about mid last month, the Force spokesman, CSP Frank Mba said the prevailing security challenges have made the scheme imperative.
The new technology, Mba explained, would tackle terrorism, car theft, kidnapping and other acts of criminality in the country.
Expectedly, the announcement elicited reactions from Nigerians. While the directive to Nigerians to submit themselves for auto-mobile bio-metrics has tended to trivialize and even expose the lack of order in information management in Nigeria, many Nigerians have raised serious objections that should have been attended to. This is moreso as the essential personal data can get into wrong hands and compromise the peace of everyone.
The Tide is aware of the argument in some quarters that apart from one or two of such exercises, the driving force for nearly every agency calling for bio-metrics is the pecuniary benefit in it. This, we hope, is out of it.
Unpleasant as our fondness for multiple registration in this country is, the problem still remains that we do not have an authentic data pool that contains information on all Nigerians.
Apart from the apparent lack of adequate public enlightenment on the scheme before its commencement, Nigerians cannot understand why they should be subjected to such biometrics for virtually everything from National Identification Card to Drivers Licence, SIM registration, International Passport, Voters card, Number plate registration, employers registration, just name it. Even so, more banks and agencies still ask for the same thing.
To many, if the police has not decided to lay mines for motorists to extort them in the guise of the BCMR, they (police) could liaise with such traffic management agencies as the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to get the needed data to check criminality.
Beyond that however, The Tide thinks that owing to the sensitive nature of the information so volunteered under the BCMR, there ought to have been the harmonization of this data to serve every germane national purpose and not everyone to have his bio-data scattered across many platforms.
As it is, the Federal Government must intervene and stop the auto-mobile biometric capture as it stands to achieve no significant purpose. If the police need the bio-data of anyone, it should access same from a central point.
By now, the Ministry of Interior, the National Planning Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics should have a way forward so as to protect the information of millions of Nigerians and for their safety.
For proper national planning, a dependable data base is most imperative. With such information bank, basic facts like the country’s exact population, unemployed workforce, list of the productive youth, birth and death rates and indeed actual ages of various Nigerians would not be issues for conjecture.
In fact, were such dependable data base in existence, members of the Nigerian Junior National team, the Eaglets would not bring on the nation the shame of claiming ages other than theirs and cause avoidable embarrassment to the nation.
It is perhaps, for the lack of such dependable data base that such easy age-falsification in public service and sports has become a norm, individual states population figures still questionable and national projections subject to individuals’ guesses.
The new biometric policy requirement should, ordinarily be a welcome development only that it adds to the near frequent and annoying duplication of such personal information and this makes a mockery of our seriousness in developing a dependable national data bank. Rather than compound the situation, relevant authorities should strive to harmonize existing data and only update as and when necessary.
Editorial
Making Rivers’ Seaports Work
When Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, received the Board and Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), led by its Chairman, Senator Adeyeye Adedayo Clement, his message was unmistakable: Rivers’ seaports remain underutilised, and Nigeria is poorer for it. The governor’s lament was a sad reminder of how neglect and centralisation continue to choke the nation’s economic arteries.
The governor, in his remarks at Government House, Port Harcourt, expressed concern that the twin seaports — the NPA in Port Harcourt and the Onne Seaport — have not been operating at their full potential. He underscored that seaports are vital engines of national development, pointing out that no prosperous nation thrives without efficient ports and airports. His position aligns with global realities that maritime trade remains the backbone of industrial expansion and international commerce.
Indeed, the case of Rivers State is peculiar. It hosts two major ports strategically located along the Bonny River axis, yet cargo throughput has remained dismally low compared to Lagos. According to NPA’s 2023 statistics, Lagos ports (Apapa and Tin Can Island) handled over 75 per cent of Nigeria’s container traffic, while Onne managed less than 10 per cent. Such a lopsided distribution is neither efficient nor sustainable.
Governor Fubara rightly observed that the full capacity operation of Onne Port would be transformative. The area’s vast land mass and industrial potential make it ideal for ancillary businesses — warehousing, logistics, ship repair, and manufacturing. A revitalised Onne would attract investors, create jobs, and stimulate economic growth, not only in Rivers State but across the Niger Delta.
The multiplier effect cannot be overstated. The port’s expansion would boost clearing and forwarding services, strengthen local transport networks, and revitalise the moribund manufacturing sector. It would also expand opportunities for youth employment — a pressing concern in a state where unemployment reportedly hovers around 32 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Yet, the challenge lies not in capacity but in policy. For years, Nigeria’s maritime economy has been suffocated by excessive centralisation. Successive governments have prioritised Lagos at the expense of other viable ports, creating a traffic nightmare and logistical bottlenecks that cost importers and exporters billions annually. The governor’s call, therefore, is a plea for fairness and pragmatism.
Making Lagos the exclusive maritime gateway is counter productive. Congestion at Tin Can Island and Apapa has become legendary — ships often wait weeks to berth, while truck queues stretch for kilometres. The result is avoidable demurrage, product delays, and business frustration. A more decentralised port system would spread economic opportunities and reduce the burden on Lagos’ overstretched infrastructure.
Importers continue to face severe difficulties clearing goods in Lagos, with bureaucratic delays and poor road networks compounding their woes. The World Bank’s Doing Business Report estimates that Nigerian ports experience average clearance times of 20 days — compared to just 5 days in neighbouring Ghana. Such inefficiency undermines competitiveness and discourages foreign investment.
Worse still, goods transported from Lagos to other regions are often lost to accidents or criminal attacks along the nation’s perilous highways. Reports from the Federal Road Safety Corps indicate that over 5,000 road crashes involving heavy-duty trucks occurred in 2023, many en route from Lagos. By contrast, activating seaports in Rivers, Warri, and Calabar would shorten cargo routes and save lives.
The economic rationale is clear: making all seaports operational will create jobs, enhance trade efficiency, and boost national revenue. It will also help diversify economic activity away from the overburdened South West, spreading prosperity more evenly across the federation.
Decentralisation is both an economic strategy and an act of national renewal. When Onne, Warri, and Calabar ports operate optimally, hinterland states benefit through increased trade and infrastructure development. The federal purse, too, gains through taxes, duties, and improved productivity.
Tin Can Island, already bursting at the seams, exemplifies the perils of over-centralisation. Ships face berthing delays, containers stack up, and port users lose valuable hours navigating chaos. The result is higher operational costs and lower competitiveness. Allowing states like Rivers to fully harness their maritime assets would reverse this trend.
Compelling all importers to use Lagos ports is an anachronistic policy that stifles innovation and local enterprise. Nigeria cannot achieve its industrial ambitions by chaining its logistics system to one congested city. The path to prosperity lies in empowering every state to develop and utilise its natural advantages — and for Rivers, that means functional seaports.
Fubara’s call should not go unheeded. The Federal Government must embrace decentralisation as a strategic necessity for national growth. Making Rivers’ seaports work is not just about reviving dormant infrastructure; it is about unlocking the full maritime potential of a nation yearning for balance, productivity, and shared prosperity.
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