The Head of Implementation, Basic Registry and Information System in Nigeria (BRISIN), Dr. Anthony Uwa, has said that the Federal Government is committed to the sinimplementation of the project, with the pilot project taking off in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Uwa, who confirmed that government and the service provider of BRISIN, Dermo Impex, an Italian Information and Communication Technology Company, had carried out awareness campaigns on disability aspect of the project in Abuja, disclosed that approval for the project’s implementation of the project had been secured.

He clarified: “The second leg of the project is the official flag off. At the official flag off, the field work will start, that is the really implementation. All the necessary logistic needs to be prepared before the flag off, that is why we have met with stakeholders to make sure that BRISIN is implemented.

“It the responsibility of the FCT to provide funding, then, they are going to provide provisional office for the flag off and implementation before BRISIN centres are built.

“The Federal Government has asked us to look at the possibility of seeking funds from Nigeria citizens and international organisations, mostly because of this aspect that has to do with the disability.

“Disability is not an area that investors will put their money, they need a lot of donors and sympathetic help that comes”, he added.

Noting the project will take 10 to 15 years for full implementation, Uwa explained that resources to start the project would be mobilized from few investors who had already indicated their readiness to support the project.

On what needed to be done to ensure successful implementation of the project, the Head, Implementation Team, BRISIN, explained that the project would be inaugurated in FCT soon, adding that by the end of year, the implementation team would have competed the implementation mostly the structure and building, if funds are readily available.

According to him, two strategic meetings had been held with relevant stakeholders on the project and that the team we will be working with three major agencies, namely the National Population Commission, Federal Inland Revenue Service and National Bureau of Statistics in the first instance.

He explained further: “All the milestone needs to be determined by these people, real data on demographic and with the provision of security number. So, that is the reason we needed these agencies to be part and parcel of the implementation even with disability data bank.

“I am assuring you that immediately we start, we will not stop. FCT could take six months, if actually fully funded so we should get the FCT pilot project right. Federal Government said that FCT should provide the structures, mostly operational office for flag off – where BRISIN will take off with disability data capture.

“Then, it will also provide land for BRISIN centres from the wards to council areas and to the states. The second meeting took place and the result of the meeting was so impressing, it showed that it was time for us to move forward”, Uwa added.

To implement the project nationwide, the team leader said that about 9,822 servers will be installed in all the wards, local governments and states in the country.

It would be recalled that BRISIN project was initiated by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2006, while the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration inaugurated a Technical Committee for its implementation.

BRISIN is an integrated system for the collection, storage and distribution of information to support the management of the economy.