The British Council Nigeria stated on its exam registration portal that it accepts the National ID card as an alternative form of identification for candidates taking its exams in http://Nigeria.it further said that the NIN must not be the temporary or digital slip. Candidates that opt to use their NIN, get notified after payment that the only NIN ID the Council accepts is the e-card which has the gold chip and Mastercard logo (see link:https://images.app.goo.gl/6bjtUvexqr3V2F249)
The Council has no restriction set on payment for candidates whose ID cards have not been checked and validated, it is after payment that the invalidity of their NIN is brought up. Meanwhile, the Council’s exam-team correspondent, Nkem Joe-Osagu (exams.nigeria@ng.britishcouncil.org) seems only always laudable to tell the affected candidates that they should reapply for a new test date at the cost of N22,000 – this is an added cost to the N83,000 paid for the exam. It seems like a plot used to raise revenue.
The present information from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is that the Commission no longer issues the e-card since 2014, that any e-card found now would have expired 4 years ago because the chip on the card is valid only for 5 years. According to the Commission, it has terminated its contract with Mastercard since it doesn’t issue the card anymore.
What is currently issued is the NIN digital slip ( see link: https://images.app.goo.gl/d4kh1w9yA6hLwwY19 ) and it is verifiable on NIMC’s website. This NIN slip and the NIN slip with a barcode at the top right corner of the card are tenable and recognised nationally, but otherwise with the British Council.
Till this moment, the NIN remains a Federal Government of Nigeria’s (FGN) approved and issued legal identification document in Nigeria accepted by the Nigerian Immigration Service, telecom companies, banks, other government agencies, and public and private organizations. The British Council, however, rejects these as valid means of identification and insists that the e-card is the only NIN ID it accepts. This amounts to undermining the mandate granted to the issuing agency and the FGN’s authority as a foreign organisation operating in Nigeria by invalidating what the issuing agency of the government approved. A Nigerian organisation dares not try this in the UK with the UK government.
NIMC has a verification portal on its website that organisations log on to so as to verify the authenticity of any copy presented to it. Hence, all explanations to the British Council’s personnel fell on deaf ears. She is a mind cast on stones already and insists that the affected candidates should make payment and re-apply for a test date reschedule whenever they get the e-card or have their international passports issued.
It is appalling how foreign organisations misbehave in Nigeria without being called to order. This is an illegality and rascality that must be called out.
By Seun Olota
