RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - SCANDALOUS: Outrage in Nigeria as government brands National ID Card with MasterCard's logo

I have mixed feelings about the cards because of the ebola pandemic.

It is better for me to keep my mouth shut on this one.


Professor Gloria Emeagwali
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora


________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Segun Ogungbemi [seguno2013@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2014 5:13 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - SCANDALOUS: Outrage in Nigeria as government brands National ID Card with MasterCard's logo

Gloria,
I understand your sentiments and those of your like mind.
May I ask you: is there any security secret which Nigeria has that Britain and American governments do not know?
The world is a global village and being so means that what we considered a security secret and pride of a 'nation' is known by most countries of the world.
With the advancement of ICT, there seems to no secrecy as it used to be.
A national ID card is a pride of anyone carrying it as an identification that she/he comes from a particular nation.
Many of us have MasterCards or Visa-cards. Some fellow Nigerians have abused the use of these cards just as, perhaps, a handful of others from other countries.
The companies that own these cards have databases just as the country from where they operate. Nigeria does not have any reliable database. The reason is not too far fetched- corruption.
Do you know how many times our governments have tried to have the national cards for all Nigerians and it failed? Do you know how much it costs the nation?
You will all say it is bad leadership, corruption and the weakness of the people in power to arrest and punish the offenders. It is easier said than done.
Is there any arrest of people in high places made and it did not boil down to ethnicity or religious acrimony? At the end of the day no nobody is brought to justice. And if there is any, the raw arm of justice in the end will be arm twisted and the culprit is set free.
My submission in all this is: why did Jonathan administration choose to use the new device? Let us get the facts before we condemn it.
We should be more careful of insulting our President. He did not put himself there.
We, the majority of Nigerians elected him and we must respect our choice and the office.

Segun Ogungbemi Ph.D
Professor of Philosophy
Adekunle Ajasin University
Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State
Nigeria
Cellphone: 08033041371
08024670952

On Aug 30, 2014, at 3:56 AM, Tunde <tundeojo@hotmail.com<mailto:tundeojo@hotmail.com>> wrote:

Simply put, President Badluck is sick in the head. If this maddness stands, Nigeria will be the laughing stock of the world over.
A man with a PHD???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

> From: emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu<mailto:emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> CC: nigerianID@yahoogroups.com<mailto:nigerianID@yahoogroups.com>; NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com<mailto:NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects@googlegroups.com<mailto:naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; talknaija@yahoogroups.com<mailto:talknaija@yahoogroups.com>; naijanet@googlegroups.com<mailto:naijanet@googlegroups.com>
> Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 17:50:43 -0400
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - SCANDALOUS: Outrage in Nigeria as government brands National ID Card with MasterCard's logo
>
> 'Do you expect them to miraculously mutate into a success story?' IBK
>
> Sometimes you can make lemonade with a lemon.
>
>
> Professor Gloria Emeagwali
> CT 06050
> africahistory.net<http://africahistory.net>
> vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
> Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Ibukunolu A Babajide [ibk2005@gmail.com<mailto:ibk2005@gmail.com>]
> Sent: Friday, August 29, 2014 5:05 PM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Cc: nigerianID@yahoogroups.com<mailto:nigerianID@yahoogroups.com>; NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com<mailto:NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects@googlegroups.com<mailto:naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; talknaija@yahoogroups.com<mailto:talknaija@yahoogroups.com>; naijanet@googlegroups.com<mailto:naijanet@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - SCANDALOUS: Outrage in Nigeria as government brands National ID Card with MasterCard's logo
>
>
> Prof. Gloria Emegwali,
>
> Too little too late! Can Nigerians do this on their own? This shell of a country is just an extension of the Royal Niger Company.
>
> Concentrate on viable patriotic pursuits not this one where the alternative is perfect chaos. Have you not been reading Rotimi Ogunsuyi telling us all how useless GEJ &co. are? Do you expect them to miraculously mutate into a success story?
>
> No ma'am, it does not work like that.
>
> Cheers.
>
> IBK
>
> On 29 Aug 2014 23:36, "Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu<mailto:emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu><mailto:emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>> wrote:
> Corruption. Someone is getting 10% .
> It is really scandalous and I am happy that people are reacting against it.
>
> It could also be linked to mass surveillance.
>
> It has the potential to
> create mass indebtedness too.
>
>
> Professor Gloria Emeagwali
> africahistory.net<http://africahistory.net><http://africahistory.net>
> vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos><http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
> Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
> ________________________________________
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com><mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com><mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Anunoby, Ogugua [AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu<mailto:AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu><mailto:AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu>]
> Sent: Friday, August 29, 2014 2:25 PM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com><mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>; NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com<mailto:NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com><mailto:NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects@googlegroups.com<mailto:naijaintellects@googlegroups.com><mailto:naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; naijanet@googlegroups.com<mailto:naijanet@googlegroups.com><mailto:naijanet@googlegroups.com>; nigerianID@yahoogroups.com<mailto:nigerianID@yahoogroups.com><mailto:nigerianID@yahoogroups.com>; talknaija@yahoogroups.com<mailto:talknaija@yahoogroups.com><mailto:talknaija@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - SCANDALOUS: Outrage in Nigeria as government brands National ID Card with MasterCard's logo
>
> What is going on I wonder.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com><mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Kola Fabiyi
> Sent: Friday, August 29, 2014 6:28 AM
> To: NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com<mailto:NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com><mailto:NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects@googlegroups.com<mailto:naijaintellects@googlegroups.com><mailto:naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; naijanet@googlegroups.com<mailto:naijanet@googlegroups.com><mailto:naijanet@googlegroups.com>; nigerianID@yahoogroups.com<mailto:nigerianID@yahoogroups.com><mailto:nigerianID@yahoogroups.com>; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com><mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>; talknaija@yahoogroups.com<mailto:talknaija@yahoogroups.com><mailto:talknaija@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - SCANDALOUS: Outrage in Nigeria as government brands National ID Card with MasterCard's logo
>
> SCANDALOUS: Outrage in Nigeria as government brands National ID Card with MasterCard's logo
>
> Ini Ekott - Premium Times
>
>
> The new Nigerian National Identity Cards launched Thursday by President Goodluck Jonathan, with branded logo of the American firm, MasterCard, have sparked outrage across the country amid fears of serious security and economic breach, with many Nigerians calling for an immediate stoppage of the deal.
>
> Nigerians expressed shock and fury Thursday at how the Nigerian Government, through the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, would surrender a symbol of national sovereignty and pride to a foreign commercial organisation by not only sharing the biometrics of 170 million Nigerian to the firm but by also allowing the firm to boldly engrave its insignia on the IDs.
>
> Many Nigerians raised the alarm over the implications of the agreement in an age that has seen intense data surveillance by the National Security Agency of the United States of America, Mastercard's home country.
> One commentator said allowing MasterCard's emblem on the Nigerian National ID Card could only compare to the trans-Atlantic slave trade abolished in the nineteenth century.
>
> "The new ID card with a MasterCard logo does not represent an identity of a Nigerian. It simply represents a stamped ownership of a Nigerian by an American company," said Shehu Sani of the Civil Rights Congress. "It is reminiscent of the logo pasted on the bodies of African salves transported across the Atlantic."
>
> At the launching Thursday, the Nigerian Identity Management Commission said the cards, designed to also allow handlers effect payments and other financial transactions, will be issued to 13 million Nigerians.
>
> At the completion of the pilot phase of the program, 100 million cards would have been issued, the commission said, describing the move as the "broadest financial inclusion program in Africa".
>
> The cards will be issued to Nigerians, 16 years and older, and are expected to serve as voting cards in the 2019 elections.
>
> President Jonathan, who flagged off the rollout, praised the outcome of a partnership between NIMC, MasterCard and Access Bank.
> "The card is not only a means of certifying your identity, but also a personal database repository and payment card, all in your pocket," Mr. Jonathan said.
>
> Under the partnership, the NIMC is the project leader, MasterCard provides payments technology, while Unified Payment Services Limited is payments processor. Cryptovision is the Public Key Infrastructure and Trust Services Provider, and the pilot issuing bank is Access Bank Plc.
>
> The Identity Management Commission said it was working with other government agencies to harmonize all identity databases including the Driver's License, Voter Registration, Health Insurance, Tax, SIM and the National Pension Commission into a single, shared services platform.
>
> For a National ID card project jinxed for decades due to corruption and mismanagement, Nigerians welcomed what seemed like a breakthrough this time, several years after the first attempt at a national Identity Card project ended in fiasco.
> But the optimism waned after it became clear Thursday the new ID cards, a key instrument recognised by the federal constitution, will not only bear the Coat of Arms and the Nigerian colours of green white green, but also the logo of MasterCard, a profit-driven private entity.
>
> "Nigeria's colours and coast of arms is what should be there. It is not an opportunity for advert for promoting companies," said Eze Onyekpere, Lead Director Centre for Social Justice. "As far as we are concerned it cannot stand. It is not worth it if that's what they have done."
>
> Beyond national pride, many Nigerians spoke of the dire economic and security implications for Nigeria.
> "Clearly, there are National Security implication," said Nasir El-Rufai, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. "All these data go to the American payment platform."
> Mr. El-Rufai recalled that Malaysia was the first country to implement a general multipurpose ID card and that the country did so with its own resources and technology to protect its citizens.
>
> Economically, analysts say, the deal also hands over all adult Nigerians as direct and compulsory customers of MasterCard.
>
> The US-based firm appeared so elated at the outcome of the contract that by Thursday, it hired a media consultant, African Media Agency, to publicise the landmark deal all over the world.
>
> MasterCard could not be reached immediately for comments.
> Details of the partnership between the NIMC and MasterCard were unclear as of Friday.
>
> A former senior government official, well briefed about the process, said the Nigerian government may have adopted the Public Private Partnership model for the project, with MasterCard underwriting part of the cost of the deal.
>
> Still, the former official, who asked not to be named, said it was unbelievable that Nigeria could not insist on fully funding such a project at any cost, considering its strategic importance to its sovereignty.
>
> "It's so scandalous that there are countries you present this to and they will be confused," the official said. "I have never seen this done anywhere in the world."
>
> The Nigerian Identity Management Commission, NIMC, refused to comment on the concerns.
> When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES late Thursday, a spokesperson dismissed the concern raised by our reporter.
>
> "What is wrong with that (displaying MasterCard's logo on the IDs)?" asked Ben Alofoje, the Assistant Director/Head Research and Strategy, who is the designated media person for the project.
>
> A PREMIUM TIMES reader,Ola Onanugaola, said of the project, "Good idea but bad implementation. Why do we have to brand the e-ID card? Are these people aware of the huge economic and security implications of the branding.
>
> "Any country population database/information is too vital to attached to any non-governmental organisation."
>
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