The use of National Identification card in Nigeria is suddenly becoming a National issue. On Monday August 5, the Director of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), in Ekiti state, Mr. Gbenga Ifayefunmi revealed that it has become compulsory for Nigerians who wish to obtain international passport and driver’s license to have National Identity card.

This new development is as a result of new executive order signed by president Muhammed Buhari, compelling the use of National IDs for government related businesses. Every Nigerian has thus, been urged to enroll through NIMC centers and enjoy the unique advantage that its social security number offers – it ranges from education to healthcare to every government related engagement.  The new change in policy means that individual data can be updated and changes can be made on issued cards.

The Director General of NIMC, Mr. Aliyu Aziz, explained that the National Identity card can only be issued to Nigerians registered into the national identity system and legal residents who have attained the age of 16 years and above, but the National Identification Number (NIN) is assignable to Nigerians alone. This move by the FG is in a bid to enroll Nigerians into the National Identity Database (NIDB), which is recently established to register the legitimacy and authenticity of the citizenry. So far, it has been a welcome development though it’s coming later than it should and there are challenges.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), an estimated 2 million people have been forced by armed conflicts to flee their homes. Many of them are internally displaced while others sought refuge in neighboring countries. This figure is a destabilizing factor in FG’s bid to develop a national identity database owing to the fact that some regions in Nigeria, mainly in the North don’t have the stability for such data collection.

The majority of this Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are scattered across neighboring countries like Chad and Niger Republic who have common culture with Northern Nigeria -Talk of names and language and style of grooming. This means, the people in this geo-zone can move freely and integrate without hindrances, and that’s a challenge.

In April 2018, president Muhammed Buhari stated that the insecurity in the Northeast is worsening because of the Libyan impact. He claimed that following the uprising that usurped the former military dictator, Muammar Gadhafi, his armed militia scattered across Africa, and thus have infiltrated the Northeast region and it has resulted in the escalation of criminal activities. Buhari’s statement only confirmed the challenge: if people from Libya, bright in color and easily distinguished among other Africans, could easily infiltrate Nigeria, owing to our porous borders, what about those whose have dark skin? And the Fulanis that spread across the West African region?

It would only take a Hausa or Fulani name and a Local Government Area (LGA) to justify it. And that will be all, you are a Nigerian whose record could be found in the National Identification Database. Although Aziz said that identification and data collection will be done through the help of traditional rulers and village chiefs, the loopholes are so wide to be covered.

Free movement and integration can justify any story of origin that natives cannot relate with. For instance, if someone who came from Niger republic claim to be an indigene of a village in Sokoto state, and he lives in Kano, it will be difficult to refute such a claim. The number of Nigeriens who live in Lagos is high, and you could hardly see anyone of them admitting that he is not a Nigerian. There is always a Northern state to lay claim on, and excusably so because they know the nooks and crannies.

Nevertheless, the recent change in the policy of NIMC that includes the registration of infants and those below the age of 16, will yield productive and protective result in the future –developing the ever needed national identity database. However, the exercise is likely going to gift undue citizenship to many foreigners as a result of integration loopholes.

Trying to beat the early morning city traffic to work, you wake up hours earlier in order to get yourself prepared for the days work. You get yourself dressed up probably after having a few bites from breakfast. Eventually, after overcoming the hurdles along the way, you make it to your workplace just on time. 

You probably look at your timepiece, and it’s just a few minutes before  8.00 am. Then you have a sigh of relief as you gradually walk down to your work space. Scenes like this are common to millions around the country and globe.

Punctuality is desired in almost any well structured organizations. It says a lot about the organization and also a lot about the individuals. The punctual are always considered serious and organized as against the late comers who many may feel are carefree and lazy. 

In the process of enforcing punctuality, many organizations have made the basis of their appraisal to include early coming, leading to a system where the emphasis shifts from efficiency and results to time clocking. Once the time has been clocked, any other thing that happens is secondary. This kind of system is seen in many government-owned or run institutions. Workers strive to come early, and nothing else like work matters.

In 2014, the Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos had this to say about what it feels like to play in both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

“The mentality here at Madrid is different than at Bayern,” Kroos was quoted as saying by Sport Bild.

“When training started at 10:30 at Bayern, everybody would be ready to go at 10:30. Things are a bit different here. I got used to it pretty quickly, though. Everything is a bit more relaxed and loose.”

And considering what has happened in Real Madrid where things are loose and relaxed, in this period, is remarkable in stark contrast with what has happened in Bayern Munich, in the same period. Real Madrid won three Champion League titles consecutively and four in the last six years. They remain the only team in modern  Champions league history to achieve such a feat. Is it mere coincidence? How come a team that apparently doesn’t take punctuality so seriously become the most successful team in the history of European football?

Results Matter

Organizations built around results are more successful in the long run under certain conditions. This does not imply that a result oriented organization should not or cannot be time conscious. Rather more time consciousness should be  encouraged because more work hours in a productive setting should lead to increased productivity.

Many private business owners and entrepreneurs work with a more flexible time schedule, and tend to put in more in the end than most places where signing in is the most important daily event.

In other words,  punctuality should not be the end, but only a means to an end. Organizations should be both time conscious and result oriented as leaving one out of the question will lead to inefficiency. 

Overtime

Who should work overtime and why?  Ideally, people should get paid twice the usual rate for every additional hour added overtime. In well structured organizations, this is usually the case. But then, it is difficult to say who overtime actually benefits or whether it is worth the while. Considering the fact that the increment in additional income is only marginal, people thinking of working overtime should think critically about it  since there are health implications.

According to an extract from a 2018  HealthDay article :

“…Researchers said they found that working 61 to 70 hours a week increased the risk of coronary heart disease by 42 percent, and working 71 to 80 hours increased it by 63 percent. Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, with more than half a million deaths each year in the United States alone, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention”

Another reason to consider if working overtime is worth it is the fact that only one who has a stake in a company should put in the most sacrifice. Yes, there are situations where necessity demands that it is inevitable. Like in emergency situations, it is understandable then.

Moreover, one considering working overtime as a means of earning more should also find out if such additional input wouldn’t benefit him more if he invested the same time in a personal productive economic venture or even in pursuing a hobby. 

Overtime isn’t always associated with increased productivity. Working more hours may actually lead to decreased efficiency. Consider that in Germany, the largest economy in Europe, the average worker there only spends 35.6 hours a week on the job. That is lower than the 40-hour week or 48-hour week common in so many other places.

Take for instance, In 1926, industrialist Henry Ford  transited from the usual 48-hour week to a 40-hour week, and surprisingly discovered that his workers were actually more productive in the new schedule than when they were working a 48-hour week. Funny how that is true.

In summary this article has aimed at highlighting the effects of punctuality and overtime on work efficiency. I hope the perspectives have helped.

The out of school children in Nigeria was rated 47% of the global out of school children with more than 10.5 million children. It was also reported that 69% of Nigeria’s out of school children are from the Northern part of the country. Only 45% of girls in the Northern Nigeria attend school.

The Government had so far made some efforts by building Almajiri schools. The intentions  are to provide access and equity to basic education, discourage and gradually eliminate itinerant begging. And also to support the emergence of an enabling environment that could facilitate the effective integration of Islamic discipline into basic educational program.

It became obvious to me during my stay in Kano State in the last six months that the framework had failed to completely achieve its aims. Out-of-school children in Northern Nigeria have the highest numbers. Kano State for instance has about 837,479 out of school children according to statistics in public space.

Most of the Almajiri schools built by the federal government are not functioning as initially planned. One of the major reasons for the unremarkable success as gathered from the information in public space is the absence of definite and sustainable arrangement to fund the going concern of the schools.

Neglect of the welfare of the pupils and their Teachers, situating some of the schools within the premises of existing schools and insufficient transformation aim of the Almajiri system are also part of the reasons for the failures.

The recent government’s effort in this regard is the school feeding project which was partly aimed at luring the out-of-school children to attend schools. Still, it has no remarkable impact on the statistics of out of school children in the country.

It is very unfortunate that the Almajiri children can now be categorized in different phases. Very few of them have schools and a poor Mallam teaching them only Quran at a particular time daily after which they all move out to beg for alms. They usually returned to the school to sleep at night. Another category are those that does not have any Mallam teaching them Quran. They usually wander around begging for alms and sleep on the street at night. These children are vulnerable and can easily be manipulated to commit crimes against anyone.

Many argued that most of them are not Nigerian. The fact is that they have become our collective responsibilities after allowing them to cross the borders freely.

Proposed Framework

Introduction: It is always important to devote more time to have a detailed knowledge of an issue to be able to proffer lasting solutions to the issues that several attempts to solve had previously failed. I have in the last six months been attentive to understand the livelihood of the Almajiri children in Kano state, Nigeria. Subsequently, a conclusion had been made that there is a need to erase the idea of making the Almajiri schools become the usual 6-3-3-4 schools set up we have in Nigeria.

A new system of education should be adopted as part of our educational system in order to accommodate these children. Any approach to solve these menace without considering the fact that they had been subjected to grow differently will not be productive.

The peculiarities of these kids are:

• Homelessness
  • Lack of shelter
  • Hunger
  • Lack of parental care
  • Clothing
  • They are very fearful
• Out of school/vocational skill

They have been exposed to different means of surviving as a human being.

The proposed strategies are categorized in to three stages:

Preliminary Stage: This should begin with a public Television show (preferably Islamic programs) for kids. At this point, the children will willingly gather to watch Television. It is one of the behaviors noticed about the kids. Basic daily needs of these children should be catered for on the street that had long been known as their home. Basic needs such as feeding, clothing and medicals are very paramount at this stage while they gather daily to watch Television.

These kids lack good food and drinking water. Many of them move about with minor wounds on their feet. All of them put on tattered or dirty clothes and many of them walked around barefoot. Hardly would you find any of them with the same pair of slippers. If you do; it will be in a very bad state. Make a drawing of these kids based on these descriptions in your mind even if you have never seen them. It is real!

Several locations across the state should be designated to provide the basic needs for the kids daily. One billionaire can sponsor this conveniently.

Eat, drink, light medical attention and change of clothes/shoes on the street are the first steps. This should be sustained daily until the ‘Mid stage’ is ready.

Out-of-school children in Northern Nigeria most especially, cannot be forcefully chased out of the street. Any attempt to apply force in resolving this issue will chase them to the wrong hands.

The Mid Stage: At this stage, it is required that houses are built to accommodate these kids. The biometric records of these kids are to be taken by those they are already familiar with at the Preliminary stage. They should not be forcefully moved to their new home. Only the kids that are willing should be moved to the new location. These houses should be managed like a boarding school with good facilities. The children should be categorized according to their age range with guardians where necessary while their daily basic needs are also being met accordingly.

The final stage: This stage should be concurrently run with the Mid Stage. The children should be provided with classrooms where they can be taught communication skills, personal hygienic (home training). They should be taught depending on their age range. Some of them are up to about Fifteen years of age. They will need a proper motivation to create a picture of a hopeful life for them. They should all be taught Islamic studies, Arithmetic skills, Financial/business studies and vocational skills. Different types of Sports should also be introduced to them. They should be guided properly to create a professional career growth for them. Only the kids less than Seven years of age may be reshaped after a long while to conform to the usual educational career path.

The implication of the proposed framework on society is enormous and  can be further analysed to get the lists out.

Conclusion: I have planned to begin the implementation of this framework personally in partnership with my Hausa friends in Kano State. Television show and provision of some basic needs for these kids will soon begin. It will become very significant when adopted and implemented on a larger scale.