Presentation on standards and professionalism for Background screening practioners

1. IMPERATIVES OF STANDARDS AND
PROFESSIONALISM OF IDENTITY
VERIFICATION AND BACKGROUND CHECKS
IN NIGERIA
by :
Abubakar Abdulkadir Jelani
Standards Organisaton of Nigeria
On
3rd August 2022

2. Content
• Standards and Professionalism
• Importance of Standardization of the practice of Identity Verification and
Background Checks in Nigeria
• The relevant Standards
• Status of Identity Verification and Background Checks in Nigeria
• Regulation and Certification/Accreditation of the Sector
• Benefits of a Standardized Identity Verification and Background Check
Industry
• What SON brings to the table
• Recommendation
• Conclusion and Acknowledgement

3. Standards and Professionalism
• When things don't work as they should, it often means that standards are
absent.
A document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body,
that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or
characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the
optimum degree of order in a given context.- Formal definition of standard
according to ISO and IEC.
• Standards are developed through the consensus of established experts.
Regulators and governments count on ISO standards to help develop better
regulation.
Professionalism involves consistently achieving high standards, both visibly
and "behind the scenes" – whatever your role or profession.
• Some sectors, workplaces or roles have particular "rules" of
professionalism. These may be explicit, such as an agreed dress code, or a
policy for using social media. Other rules and expectations may not be
written down, but they can be just as important.

4. Importance of Standardization of the practice of Identity
Verification and Background Checks in Nigeria
• The rise in rate of identity fraud (such as account take over, Mail Identity Theft, Debit
Card Fraud or Credit Card Fraud and even ghost workers) as well as rise in insecurity
has necessitated Identity verification and back ground checks.
• Background investigation generally involves determining whether an applicant may be
unqualified for a position due to a record of criminal conviction, motor vehicle
violations, poor credit history, or misrepresentation regarding education or work
history. While the process of ensuring that a person is who they claim to be is Identity
Verification.
• Nigeria is at a critical stage of her development with Security and Infrastructural
challenges among others, which the Identity Verification and Background checks at
our boarders/points of entry, at recruitment, appointment or election of competent
persons and various daily dealings could help to tackle.
• The Nigerian Identity Verification and Background Check Industry is therefore very
important and must be made effective.
• The best way to ensure efficiency in the sector and protect it from ,mediocrity is to
standardize the sector. Achievable through implementing and certification to relevant
standards, formation of governing structure (society/association to promote best
practice) among others.

5. Benefits of Standards
Standards help policy makers to:
• Stimulate solutions to national and international issues such as
disaster mitigation and recovery, efficient energy resources and
international trade;
• Save money, through providing much of the technical detail and
safety requirements needed for effective policy;
• Provide solutions to policy issues that represent a wide range of
views and expertise and have the buy-in of many stakeholder
groups.
• In addition, standards are developed with the involvement of
governments, ensuring the needs of policy makers are taken into
account.
• Open up world trade – ISO – along with IEC and ITU – have
a strategic partnership with WTO. The WTO’s Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade recognizes the contribution international
standards can make towards improving the efficiency of production
and international trade, and their key role in the harmonization of
regulations;

6. Standards relevant to the sector
• There are various standards at National and International levels that
would enhance the Identity Verification and Background Check Industry
some of the most important standards include:
• Information technology — Security techniques — Information security
management systems — Requirement ISO 27001,
• Quality management systems — Requirements ISO 9001
• Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection —
Information security controls ISO 27002
• Clause 6.1 of ISO 27002 on control advocated for a proportional
approach to verification checks that is linked to the unique requirements
of the organisation, and encompasses all the relevant laws, regulations
and ethical standards that an organisation holds themselves to, wherever
they operate. It further expects that When carrying out checks,
organisations should be mindful of the type of information that each
employee/supplier will come into contact with throughout their job role,
and any associated risks. And screening procedures should clearly outline
the personnel responsible for carrying out the screening on behalf of the
organisation, and the underlying reason as to why screening is being
conducted in the first place.

7. Status of Identity Verification and Background Checks
in Nigeria
• To minimize the risk human link pose to security, organizations all around the world have
been working hard to make their employees and contractors aware of the importance of
protecting information, and to prepare them to handle attempted attacks and incidents
when they arise. But, what if the wrong person is allowed to enter the organization? What
if a person you think is competent for the job is, in fact, not that competent?
• Several Players in both Private and Public Sectors have emerged in Nigeria to manage
Verification and Background processes in Nigeria.
• A number firms have seen and are harnessing business opportunity in Identity Verification
and Background check services. But with this trend there is a high risk of making the sector
an all comers game. But with appropriate certification and governance, the credible can
easily be separated from others.
• Currently only a few of these firms are certified and they appear to be doing much better.
• Similarly the Nigerian government at all levels seem to be paying better attention to
identity verification with the NIMC National Identity Number and Card, BVN, and Lagos
State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA cards) here in Lagos.
• It is hoped that in the near future, Integration of properly verified data of Nigerians and
other relevant applicants will be done.

8. Regulation and Certification/Accreditation of the
Sector
• Regulatory styles vary considerably between countries
and industries, and their impact on the economy
depends on the nature of the regulation and how
efficiently and effectively it is implemented.
• Some countries have sectors self regulated while others
have sectors regulated by appointed government
agencies or third party. Regardless of the regulation
style, the credibility of the concerned sector and
protection the interest of all stakeholders/interested
parties.
• To guarantee best practices and compliance, certification
and recertification of players to relevant standard is
important.

9. Regulation and Certification/ Accreditation of
the Sector – Continued
• Certification can be a useful tool to add credibility, by
demonstrating that your product or service meets the
expectations of your customers. For some industries,
certification is a legal or contractual requirement.
• Certification – the provision by an independent body of
written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or
system in question meets specific requirements.
• Accreditation – the formal recognition by an independent
body, generally known as an accreditation body, that a
certification body operates according to international
standards.

10. SON brings to the table
• Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) the custodian of all National and
International Standards in Nigeria, coordinates the elaboration, review, adoption
and adaptation of standards through the active involvement of relevant
stakeholders and publishes the standards for implementation after necessary
stakeholder sensitization.
• SON has been relentless in development and adoption of several standards
relevant to the sector and important for Identity Management, Risk
Management and Business Continuity.
• SON has the capacity for and carryout accredited trainings on ISO 27001, ISO
9001 for Quality Management System and many others.
• SON also provides accredited Quality Management System Certification (ISO
9001), Information Security Management System Certification (ISO27001) of
Organisation/entities and many more through her Management System
Certification Directorate (SONMSC)

11. Recommendation
• More collaborations among stakeholders in Identity verification and background checks, security
agencies, government agencies and international community.
• Players in the Value chain to acquire adequate service certifications such as ISO 27001, ISO 9001
and others– consult SONMSC
• Consult the SON library, SON state offices as well as for relevant standards, guidelines and Codes
of Practices www.son.gov.ng
• Participate and make inputs to Technical and National Mirror Committees towards formulation of
practicable standards for the sector.
• Players in the value chain should strive to form a united front Nationally, Regionally and Globally
to ease attainment of goals.
• Formulation of Sector guidelines to regulate players.
• Establish secure communication channels with relevant security agencies/designated authorities
to manage noticed anomalies.
• Train and continually improve practices in respective turfs/territories (staff, external provides etc.)

12. Conclusion and Acknowledgement
• With increasing value of data and the threat it poses when in wrong hands,
its important to have best procedures in place to ensure security,
international best practices and fair trade.
• We must all endeavor to ensure that Nigerian Identity Verification and Back
ground checks continues to grow and remain credible by attaining relevant
certification to attain consistent standardization.
• Similarly, building trust, collaborations and establishment of open and
secure communication channels in the sector among players will promote
efficiency and conserve resources.
• In drafting this paper references were made to relevant research works, institutes,
standards and industry practices, all of which are hereby acknowledged

13. For your attention