Presidential council urges NIMC to address NIN charges

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has urged the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to address charges introduced for National Identification Number (NIN) integration and verification.

Dr Jumoke Oduwole, PEBEC Secretary/Special Adviser to the President, Ease of Doing Business, in a statement said this would enable passport applicants get faster and cheaper access to government services.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NIMC introduced a new charge of N1,000 for NIN integration and verification for each Nigerian passport applicant, with effect from April 1.

Oduwole commended the Nigerian Immigration Service

(NIS) for significantly improving the quality of service, accuracy, and speed of passport services through NIN verification.

She said NIS’s move was in response to the incessant difficulties Nigerians experienced in verifying their NIN during passport registration process.

She, however, noted that the additional cost for each applicant’s passport initiated by NIMC was not well received by stakeholders.

”Furtherance to the provisions of the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (BFA), which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on February 8.

”Codifying Executive Order 001 on transparency and efficiency of public service delivery, for the purposes of the “One Government” directive, where an applicant requires service from a Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA).

”The MDA is however mandated to conduct the necessary verification or certification from relevant MDAs, in respect of the applicant,” Oduwole said.

On May 18, 2017, Executive Order 001 (EO1) on Transparency and efficiency was issued to strengthen the implementation of business climate reforms.

It was meant to also deepen collaboration among MDAs by instituting a systemic change management process for reforms.

EO1 mandates MDAs to submit monthly reports to the PEBEC Secretariat, the offices of the Head of Service (HOS) of the Federation, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), and SERVICOM.

On March 9, PEBEC released its 2022 Executive Order 001 (EO1) Compliance Report, in line with its promise to continuously track and keep the business community updated on the compliance with the Executive Order.

In the last six years, the council has consistently published an EO1 Compliance Report, which captures a periodic empirical analysis of the monthly reports received from MDAs.

The PEBEC, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, was established in July 2016 by Buhari to remove critical bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria. (NAN)

NDA calls for increased access to dental care services

TheNigerian Dental Association (NDA) has called for collaborative efforts with government at all levels to increase access to dental care to reduce oral diseases and improve the general health of Nigerians.

The NDA President, Dr Tope Adeyemi, made the call at a media briefing on Wednesday in Lagos.

The media briefing was part of activities lined up to celebrate the 2023 World Oral Health Day (WOHD).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the WOHD is celebrated annually on March 20.

The theme for this year’s celebration is: ”Be Proud of Your Mouth for a Lifetime Smiles.”

According to him, this year’s theme seeks to inspire change by focusing on the importance of oral health at every stage of life.

Adeyemi said that the association celebrates the day in conjunction with Unilever Nigeria Plc, by carrying out oral health promotional activities nationwide for two weeks.

“These oral health promotional activities include visits to schools and markets; outreaches (free dental check-ups, scaling and polishing, glass ionomer cement fillings, simple extractions) to various communities including vulnerable groups.

“There would also be educational programmes such as quizzes, essays and spelling bee competitions, as well as, advocacy visits and awareness through the media and social media channels.

“The reason we should celebrate the WOHD is that, some of the world’s population suffer from oral diseases, most of which are preventable.

“With collaborative action to fund programmes for prevention, early detection and treatment, the effects can be mitigated.

“We strongly recommend that individuals, families, communities, and governments act with appropriate measures to reduce the burden of oral diseases.

“This is because oral diseases have an impact on general health, wellbeing and national economies,” he said.