The National Addressing Council (NAC) has approved a preliminary framework for developing a modern digital addressing system for Nigeria.
The council reached the decision on Monday in Abuja at a meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, with government agencies and private-sector stakeholders in attendance.
The Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation will serve as the council’s secretariat and coordinate implementation of the framework.
Shettima said the system would help the government identify every person, business and location in the country.
“Our objective should be simple: wherever a citizen lives, wherever a business operates, wherever help is required, Nigeria should find the address,” he said.
He said a reliable addressing system was important for effective planning, commerce, security and social services.
“A country that cannot consistently locate its people and businesses carries an avoidable weakness into planning, commerce, security and social protection,” Shettima said.
The Vice President said the system must also connect with existing digital identity systems, government databases and other digital infrastructure.
“When a verified identity can be linked securely to a verified address, the gains extend across financial inclusion, social interventions, logistics, planning and emergency response,” he said.
The Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation will coordinate technical implementation, system integration and standards.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will handle individual verification and authentication, while the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) will support verification of business addresses.
The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) will manage postcodes and postal infrastructure, while states and local governments will implement the system at the community level.
Shettima said the success of the initiative would depend on cooperation among government institutions.
“No institution can own a system whose usefulness depends on participation across our federation,” he said.
Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said the initiative would support economic growth, entrepreneurship and investment.
“I think also that if the news of this initiative goes out, there will be a lot of interest in terms of investors, knowing fully well that it’s no more business as usual but business unusual,” he said.
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Kingsley Udeh said the initiative would improve coordination among government agencies.
“Before now, it was sort of crisis management but with coordination, we are now working as one nation and one people focused on doing this very critical assignment that should have been done decades ago — standardising address, proof of address and digital address,” Udeh said.
The Director-General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker, said lack of coordination among agencies had previously slowed progress on the initiative.
The President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Bello Lawal, said the system would improve national security, citizen identification, financial inclusion, local planning and revenue collection.
He said the initiative would “ensure that every Nigerian is accounted for within their local communities.”
The Special Assistant to the President on ICT Policy, Salihu Ibrahim-Dasuki, said the 2017 National Addressing Policy had become outdated due to changes in government institutions, laws and technology.
Technical teams from NIPOST, NIMC and ALGON also presented proposals as the council began work on implementing the new framework.