GEEP Seeks Partnership with NIMC, SMEDAN to Strengthen Support for SMEs and Farmers

The National Programme Manager of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Mr. Hamza Baba, paid a courtesy visit to the Director‑General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engineer Abisoye Coker, at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja. Mr. Baba also met with the Director‑General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr. Charles ODII, to explore areas of collaboration and formal partnership.

In a statement signed by the Director Public Relations of the Program, Attari Hope, said the meeting with NIMC focused on strengthening beneficiary identification, registration and verification for GEEP target groups — market women, traders, artisans and smallholder farmers across the country. Mr. Baba confirmed GEEP’s intention to register beneficiaries by occupation (e.g., traders, market operators, smallholder farmers) and to build a reliable data‑sharing and verification mechanism between the two agencies.

Engineer Abisoye Coker reaffirmed NIMC’s commitment to a structured partnership that leverages the Commission’s nationwide platform and field operatives to support GEEP enumerators and desk officers (GEEPDECO). Both parties stressed the importance of ensuring that all GEEP beneficiaries possess a valid National Identification Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) to eliminate duplication, improve transparency, and ensure that only verified individuals benefit from the programme.

During the courtesy call with SMEDAN, Mr. Baba and Dr. ODII identified complementary areas for collaboration, including:

 • Capacity building and financial literacy training for micro and small businesses to support the objectives of GEEP 3.0.

 • Digital transformation support, including extending SMEDAN’s partnerships with digital platforms to GEEP beneficiaries to improve record‑keeping, expense tracking and payroll management.

 • Joint programme development targeting underserved groups — women, youth and artisans — and co‑hosting stakeholder engagements to promote investment opportunities and refine SME financing policies.

 • Strengthening linkages between SMEDAN’s Agric Business Development and Empowerment Programme and GEEP’s FarmerMoni initiative to combine technical support, market access and financial empowerment for smallholder farmers.

Both agencies agreed that combining SMEDAN’s technical expertise and market networks with GEEP’s financial empowerment instruments would amplify impact, support rural economic development and contribute to the Federal Government’s broader economic objectives.

Representatives from the three agencies will develop a framework for collaboration and a roadmap for implementation, beginning with beneficiary registration and verification processes and rolling out coordinated training and digital support initiatives for GEEP 3.0 beneficiaries.

NIMC Commences Free Registration of Pupils, Students of Public Schools in Kano.

National Identification Management Commission (NIMC) has completed arrangements to commence free registration of pupils and students of public schools in Kano.

In a statement by the Director Public Enlightenment of the Ministry, Balarabe Abdullahi Kiru, said The registration will involve pupils and students of Primary, Junior and Secondary Schools who at the end of the exercise, will be issued with National Identification Number (NIN).

Briefing stakeholders on the project during an advocacy visit to the state ministry of education, the regional coordinator National Identification Management Commission Emmanuela Igbinovia disclosed that the project is crucial in view of the increasing demands for students' NIN number while writing their WAEC or NECO examination.

She revealed that a team from the commission was therefore at the ministry to meet with all the relevant stakeholders in the state and map out modalities to ensure a hitch free registration exercise of pupils and students in public schools.

According to the coordinator, information that are required to kick start the project include names of schools, principals names and their phone numbers.

The coordinator added that NIMC forms will soon be distributed to the parents of pupils and students to be filled, validated and submit to the commission before the day for the registration exercise.

" I want to inform you that a day will be announced for registration and capturing exercise after which we are going to set aside another time for the printing of NIMC slip of each and every pupil/student being registered " she explained.

Speaking, the State Coordinator National Identification Management Commission Garba Balarabe maintained that the project is intended to increase the enrollment figure of the state and allow pupils/students to obtain the NIN number within short period of time.

He disclosed that just recently an enrollment figure was released which indicated that Lagos State was a head of Kano with about two million, two hundred, which he said that could be changed with new development on the ground.

Responding, the State Commissioner of Education Dr. Ali Haruna Makoda assured the commission of the state government support and commitment towards achieving a hitch free NIMC registration exercise.

Ali Makoda represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry Alhaji Bashir Baffa Muhammed urged parents and other relevant stakeholders to put heads together and ensure that pupils/students in the state are duly registered for the National Identification Number (NIN)

Bankuna Za Su Fara Ba Da Katin Dan Kasa Mai Hade Da Na ATM —Pantami

Gwamnatin Tarayya ta ba wa bankunan kasuwanci izinin fara ba wa abokan huldarsu katin cirar kudi na ATM da ke hade da katin shaidar dan kasa a wurin guda.

Ministan Sadarwa mai barin gado, Isa Ali Pantami, ya sanar cewa Majalisar Zartarwa ta Tarayya ta amince bankuna su fara bayar da katin na bai-daya ba tare da sun caji kwastomomi ko sisi a kan kudin katin ATM da aka saba ba.

“An ba wa bankuna izinin buga katunan Mastercard ko Visa da za su yi amfani a matsayin katin shaidar dan kasa ba tare da sun caji ’yan Najeriya karin kudi ba.

“Duk mai son karbar katin banki, sai ya sanar da su cewa mai hade da katin dan kasa yake so, sai su ba shi kati daya da ya hade abubuwa biyun,” in ji Pantami.

Ya bayyana cewa, Hukumar Kula da Shaidar Dan Kasa (NIMC) ta yi haka ne da hadin gwiwar Babban Bankin Najeriya (CBN) “domin saukaka wa duk mai bukata samun katin dan kasa ta hannun bankinsa.”

Da yake jawabi bayan zaman karshe na Majalisar Zartarwa ta Tarayya da gwamnatin Buhari ta gudanar, a Fadar a Shugaban Kasa ministan, Pantami ya bayyana cewa Dokar NIMC ta 2007, ta wajabta wa ’yan Najeriya mallakar lambar shaidar dan kasa (NIN) ne kawai.

Ya ci gaba da cewa, “A lokacin mallakar katin shaidar ba dole ba ne, ra’ayi ne; Amma sai mutane suka rika kai wa NIMC korafi cewa ba su samu katinsu na dan kasa ba.

“A kan haka ne a shekarar 2022 muka fito da katin shaidar dan kasa na zamani, wanda mutun zai iya saukewa a wayarsa, wanda kuma ke amfani ba lallai sai mutum ya buga shi a takarda ba.

“Duk da haka aka ci gaba da samun korafi, musamman daga mazauna yankunan karkara, cewa suna bukatar rike katinsu na dan kasa a hannu.

“Shi ya sa muka saukaka samun katin, inda NIMC da bankin CBN suka yi hadin gwiwa domin tabbatar da ganin mutane za su iya zuwa bankunansu su karbi katin dan kasa mai hade da ATM.”

Sai dai bai fayyace lokacin da bankunan za su fara bayar da katin na bai-daya ba.

Idan za a iya tunawa a baya CBN ya sanar da shirinsa na bullo da katin cirar kudi a banki na bai-daya, wanda mutum zai iya cirar kudi daga asusun ajiyarsa da ke bankuna daban-daban.

AMINIYA