Prince Osuagwu, High Tech Editor
Olatunji Durodola, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of UrbanID Global, a digital identity and technology solutions company, is a digital security expert whose support has helped put Nigeria’s technology sector on the global map. Masu.
In a recent interview with Hi-Tech, Durodola expressed concern that despite great potential, poor and insecure identity history could derail Nigeria’s chances of leading in the global digital space. did.
However, he still believes that if the FG takes a more serious approach to the issue of identity management by implementing a functional mobile ID system, the country will not only overcome congestion, but also eliminate fraud and improve the public We believe it has the potential to improve service efficiency and deter fraud. The scourge of anxiety.
Let’s start with your brave and bold actions against software giant Microsoft in the early 2000s. This earned you the nickname Mr. Linux. Are you still using Linux to do the work required by Microsoft?
I have always had an interest and passion to play against big players. Microsoft, Oracle, Novell – You have to pay a lot of money in license fees to increase your productivity. One day I decided that anything you can do in Windows that you can’t do in Linux isn’t worth doing. That’s why I’ve been an avid supporter of Linux since 1999. I haven’t used Microsoft, Oracle, or any other proprietary products since August 2001. But my productivity and solution delivery only increases with each decade.
You play a big role in the identity security space. I was wondering if you have used your extensive experience to help the country with its digital identity issues.
Nigeria has had many problems with identity over the years. In the early 2000s, I became involved in an overhaul of the ID system of a large property in Lagos. I studied a bit in the field of identity management during that time. In 2012, I was lucky enough to be headhunted to work on some issues in Abuja, which led me to raise my hand and offer to work as a system integrator and technical consultant at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) . The three-month contract ended up being 10 years. I also consult for several companies in Europe, advise them on developments in the Global South, and give keynote speeches.
Data breaches have recently been reported in Nigeria’s national identity sector, but how can such misfortunes be avoided?
Identity management requires a more serious approach. While all companies are set up to operate profitably, deregulation so that companies can make a profit is a classic source of trouble. Any verification performed on a person’s identity must confirm that person’s identity. Send the transaction to the company that the natural person represents and keep the ID owner in the loop. My identity is mine, not the government’s. Therefore, I reserve the right to know when, by whom, and how my identity may be used. If you want to send money to someone else, you’ll need to approve the transaction twice, even if it’s in two equal splits. Businesses are vulnerable to such problems when they are not constrained to store and forward, i.e., retain illegal copies of data for legal claims.
There is so much we can do if we have the will to make it happen. Trust and authenticity issues arise when individual data can be accessed without the permission of the data owner.
How do you feel about Nigeria’s national ID database compared to global standards for data security and protection?
Amazingly, a lot was accomplished in a short period of time. Indeed, Nigeria is at the forefront of strengthening consent and data privacy. We just need to tie up some loose ends. We are now the envy of a few developed countries who are wondering how Nigeria was able to come up with a system that puts NIN holders first.
With just a few tweaks, it can become highly relevant in the world of identity management and user consent.
As a digital security expert, how do you think Nigeria can fully realize the digitalization of governance?
The first thing governments need to do is focus on treating citizens/legal residents as customers whose needs come first. No environment or country is perfect and there will always be flaws and problems. But if we place customer service first and consider ourselves last, then government will be held in high esteem and ignored even if it is flawed. Also, why not introduce an award system for public servants who prioritize solving customer needs? Nigeria is not unique in this respect.
How would you rate Nigeria’s digital journey so far?
A journey of 1,000 kilometers begins with the first step (turning the wheel). Let’s keep going. Instead of simply throwing out what worked and replacing it, successive governments should take the baton from previous governments and do better. It’s like starting the race all over again. The next person comes in and repeats the process.
Identity biometrics technology has evolved significantly over the years, from smart cards to digital ID apps that can run on mobile and blockchain systems. Do you think Nigeria is watching?
Technology should be a means to simplify use cases. While the need for physical ID tokens is certainly there, the supporting infrastructure is fragile and very capital intensive. Although eID cards and payment cards (commonly known as ATM cards) look similar, their implementation, issuance, and lifecycle are very different. Having designed Nigeria’s first eID card in 2012-2013 and overseeing the rollout of the public key infrastructure (PKI) that supported it, I am aware of the problem. The world is moving towards highly secure MobileID and, increasingly, Mobile Driver License Specification (mDL) for good reason. All of this aims to use technology to reduce total cost of ownership and simplify identity updates and functionality without replacing physical documents.
Well, there’s still a lot of work to be done, including making functional identities work seamlessly with base identities and ensuring strict one-person, one-identity compliance.
For now, if Nigeria chooses to go back to the physical card path, I can’t say it’s wrong. But simply discarding the 23 million issued and functioning mobileIDs and secure documents in favor of ID smartcards, when both can be run in parallel, is personally not the way to go. I don’t think so. I may be wrong, but I doubt it. Time will tell.
Broadly speaking from your experience with global ID systems, what should be the ideal system for an emerging economy like Nigeria?
There are international standards and best practices that can be leveraged. A hybrid of digital ID and physical card with appropriate public key infrastructure and card lifecycle management system is the required technology. Training and technology transfer are key to customer service.
The Bank Verification Number (BVN) seems to have propelled Nigeria to global recognition in fintech, but do you think the BVN is the right tool for national social registration?
The Bank Verification Number is a functional ID, designed for the fintech industry, and has worked very well so far. But extending the BVN beyond that field, especially to rival the National Identification Number (NIN), is a recipe for trouble. The NIN is a fundamental identity and must protect itself. It is not intended to be shared freely within the scope of NIN usage obligations. Similarly, for the National Social Register, you need to create a functional ID that is directly linked to the NIN, but it cannot be a raw NIN and most certainly cannot be a BVN.
Problems with payment and access to finance are related to poor national identification systems. To what extent can the new E-ID be considered as the ultimate solution?
Based on the experience of Nigeria and other countries, physical ID cards alone are not the solution. Of course, this is not the case if you have limited support infrastructure.
What is the difference between current digital ID systems and E-ID?
Digital ID systems make heavy use of smartphones and technology that eliminates the need for physical cards to introduce trusted tokens for personal identification. A very good example is the United States, where most states have physical driver’s licenses, but are now integrated into smartphones and have adopted mobile driver’s license standards such as ISO 18013-5.
An eID is an electronic identification smart card that typically contains a chip and can be a contact, contactless, or dual interface card. eID infrastructure is great and very secure if properly deployed, but it is very, very capital intensive.
Despite the registration and issuance of more than 120 million NINs by the NIMC, insecurity persists in Nigeria. Why do you think it is so difficult to track down criminals?
The answer is simple. It’s interagency cooperation and collaboration. Every problem has a solution. It’s not difficult if you are ready to solve these challenges. Some countries link health care, banking, real estate rental and purchase, etc. to basic ID. If Nigeria wants to solve its problems, theory cannot do it. If we all pull together and collaborate across agencies without thinking one is better than the other, solutions will magically appear.
But as long as lawn protection exists, people here and abroad will continue to exploit our weaknesses.
