Date: 2016-02-15

In an increasingly information technology driven world, adequate data collection, processing and management has become imperative and a normal standard that any society must seek to adopt. An effective identification system is an important requirement for the proper planning and execution of policies and programmes in different sectors.

The realization of this fact, perhaps informed the decision of the Kwara State government to introduce the State residents' registration exercise, tagged Kwara Resident Identification Number (KRIN), which was flagged off by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed on Monday, February 8, while commissioning the head office of the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS).

Governor Ahmed appealed to all residents of the State to take advantage of the free registration to get themselves enrolled for the exercise, aimed at creating a integrated database to capture the number of residents in the State.

"I, therefore, urge all residents to take advantage of the free registration for KRIN in order to guarantee access to services such as education, health, and other social goods," he said.

Some people have, however, argued that the introduction of KRIN is an effort of the state government to drive its tax policy. In the face of this misconception, it becomes important to understand that the newly introduced residents' registration exercise is not a tax drive as being speculated in some quarters.

In fact, there is a clear difference between Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) and Resident Identification Number. ITIN functions as a tax processing number and it is restricted to tax purposes only, while resident identification number transcends tax purposes, as it enables registered residents to access certain government services in healthcare, education, etc. at subsidized rate, among other benefits that accrue to it.

With the introduction of KRIN, every resident of Kwara State irrespective of ethnicity, gender, state of origin, nationality or religious affiliation is expected to undergo the registration and be issued with a unique reference number to be generated from a bio-metric data capture. Apart from serving as a means of identification and authentication, the unique number that will be allocated to all residents according to Governor Ahmed will enable them access government services in education, health, and other social goods at a very subsidized rate.

Governor Ahmed also explained that the new scheme was part of the state government's commitment towards ensuring proper and equal distribution of social amenities to the people of the State. No doubt, the resident registration exercise will assist the government in planning effectively for its various poverty alleviation programmes.

Poverty alleviation programmes are usually targeted at people within poverty level. The absence of an identifier makes it impossible to target the right category of people and Government programs in this direction fail woefully. The State identification system should form the bedrock for identifying those eligible for the programmes.

The registration scheme can also assist the operations of law enforcement agencies in the area of crime investigations, only if residents embrace the registration exercise, as capture data makes the process of tracking criminals easier.

Thousands of people enter the State and conduct different activities. It is, therefore, necessary for the state government to have a veritable database of all the people residing in the State.

As it is important to understand the purposes of KRIN and the need for all residents to register, it is equally valuable to know its limitations. Kwara indigenes residing permanently outside the State are not eligible to register for KRIN. The residency identification number is to be issued to people who reside in Kwara, irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality or religious affiliations. Likewise, KRIN registration does not confer state of origin on indigenes of other states or nationals who have taken up residence in Kwara.

For this residents registration exercise to be successful, it is expedient for every resident of the Kwara State to support this scheme by getting registered and encourage others to do the same. This way, we are also making our own vital contribution to the development of the State.