Nigeria is undertaking one of the most ambitious digital transformations in its history by migrating its National Identity Management System to the Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP). The project, part of the World Bank-backed Nigeria Digital Identity for Development (ID4D) programme, involves transferring roughly 124 million National Identification Numbers (NINs) onto an open-source platform. The effort, supported by an $83 million contract for a system integrator, is designed to modernize the country’s digital identity infrastructure, but experts warn that any misstep could lock millions out of critical services.
Since the NIN’s introduction, it has become central to banking, SIM registration, social services, and digital payments. Yet enrolment remains uneven across regions and gender, with Lagos and Kano leading in numbers while states like Bayelsa and Ebonyi lag behind. Diaspora enrolment is also growing, demonstrating the NIN’s increasing importance for Nigerians worldwide. Migrating these identities to a new platform is not just a routine upgrade—it is a complete reconstruction of the country’s digital backbone.
MOSIP offers a modular system for pre-registration, biometric capture, de-duplication, and digital credential management via the Inji app. Across Africa, the platform is being piloted or deployed in several countries, but Nigeria’s scale makes it one of the largest MOSIP implementations globally. The migration entails using thousands of certified mobile enrolment devices, integrating Automated Biometric Identification Systems, and ensuring the system functions seamlessly for everyday services from banks to telecoms.
Despite MOSIP’s open-source design, concerns around data sovereignty and operational control persist. Cloud alignment with providers such as AWS raises the stakes for local data governance, and the lack of public timelines or detailed migration roadmaps adds uncertainty. Digital rights advocates emphasize the importance of local capacity building, transparent processes, and strong governance to prevent dependency on external actors or potential service disruptions.
Ultimately, Nigeria’s MOSIP migration is both a technological and political test. If executed successfully, it could establish a scalable, privacy-preserving digital identity model. Failure, however, risks excluding citizens from essential services and creating new dependencies. For now, the country moves forward cautiously, with outcomes dependent less on software and more on the governance, transparency, and expertise applied throughout this transformative process.
source: techcabal