Abstract

The implementation phase of any policy either at the global, national, regional or organizational level has one important driving force, the policy strategies. They serve as the mapping hedge for controlling potential deviation or shortfall from the policy targets using the policy outcomes as the checker. Drawing its strength from a wide gap between the targets and outcomes of the National Policy on Identification System in Nigeria, this paper examines the policy strategies employed by the relevant agency for the ongoing implementation of the new Identification System using a qualitative and quantitative method. 31 staff of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) representing 10% of the study population (311) was administered with a closed-ended questionnaire, and in-depth interview conducted among some senior officers of the Commission. Percentages and narrative analysis were used to analyse the data. Findings showed that deployment of a user-friendly pre-enrollment electronic interface (57.1%); deployment of national ICT infrastructure (57.1%); inter-agencies collaboration (50%) were the only effective strategies among those identified by the study. The study submitted that most of the existing implementation strategies employed for the new Identification Policy in Nigeria are not effective. It further recommended among others decentralization of the enrollment process as well as an effective deployment of mobile registration centers to fast-track attainment of the targets set out in policy under review.

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