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A Nigerian woman born without fingerprints has opened up about the challenges she has faced with biometric identification systems, particularly during JAMB registration, NYSC activities and banking transactions. Identified online as Jidds, she said she discovered the condition, known as adermatoglyphia, during her first JAMB registration in 2017, where she spent hours with her father as officials struggled to capture her fingerprints.
She recalled officials trying different methods, including sand, spirit, chalk and other materials, to make her fingerprints readable. The difficulty continued during her examination and later during NYSC, where she said she sometimes had to use part of her foot because the ridges on her toes were also faint. She added that fingerprint-based verification at banks and other institutions has continued to cause her anxiety and frustration, while some people have wrongly labelled her a “ritualist” because of her condition.
The story has prompted other Nigerians with similar experiences to share their struggles with biometric systems. Consultant dermatologist Dr Folakemi Cole-Adeife advised people who may have adermatoglyphia to seek confirmation from a dermatologist at a teaching hospital and obtain documentation requesting exemption from fingerprint-based biometric procedures. Jidds, however, called for institutions to provide better alternatives for people whose fingerprints cannot be captured.
