NIA MUST DO A DILIGENT JOB (NOV 18, 2009)

A SOCIETY that does not know much about itself runs the high risk of being relegated to the fringes of socio-economic development.
Governments are elected or instituted to mobilise, harmonise and co-ordinate resources — both human and material — of the state to create and distribute wealth in such a manner as will maximise the social well-being of the majority of the people.
To be able to discharge this obligation effectively, they must know the quantity and quality of their human resource, their geographical and occupational distribution, as well as other factors, so that proper and effective planning can be done to attain optimum results.
Thus, while planning is crucial to the attainment of socio-economic development, it cannot be undertaken without the requisite and reliable database which serves as a basic ingredient in the planning process.
It is, therefore, of crucial importance that the methodology for gathering and processing data be so sound as to ensure that the data secured will stand any test of validity, credibility and reliability.
The National Identification Authority (NIA) has, for some time now, been engaged in the process of collecting such vital data from across the 10 regions of the country. Already, the Central, Western, Eastern and Volta regions have been featured, with the Greater Accra Region taking its turn from today to February next year.
It has generally been observed that in the regions where the exercise has already taken place patronage was low at the start, peaking towards the end and creating long queues of people waiting to be registered. This is typical of the “last-minute” attitude of the Ghanaian which, more often than not, results in some citizens not being captured in the exercise.
Given the immense importance of this exercise, in particular its ability to authenticate the citizenship of members of society, we appeal to every Ghanaian in the Greater Accra Region to endeavour to actively patronise the exercise and to do so on time and at the right place corresponding to his or her normal place of abode.
We hasten to add that there is no need for anyone to want to go and register more than once, as those who do so could easily be found out and the appropriate sanctions meted out to them. Besides, there is not much gain anyone could derive from indulgence in double registration.
We also wish to appeal to officials of the NIA to endeavour to address the concerns of enumerators to avoid the strikes that had threatened the exercise in some regions. Greater Accra has the biggest population in the country and, therefore, the task or challenge is greater and needs the attention and support of all to succeed.
We also urge the NIA to open more registration centres and deploy mobile registration work stations (MRWs) to ease the problems associated with long queues so that many do not wait for long only to get frustrated and turn away.
The NIA has done it in some regions and it can do it again in Greater Accra.
We wish it success in this onerous exercise.