Bolaji Abideen Onilenla, Assistant Chief Identity Officer and Administrative Support to the DG/CEO, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)
What happens when public institutions improve their processes to work more efficiently and effectively?
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) introduced a 360-degree digital appraisal platform to modernise the Commission’s approach to performance management. Bolaji Abideen Onilenla, a Principal Identity Officer and alumnus of the Aig-Imoukhuede Public Leaders Programme, played a key role in the development and deployment of the platform, alongside an in-house team.
What resulted was an improved appraisal system, with thousands of staff onboarded, enabling supervisors, peers and subordinates to contribute to performance assessments through a centralised system.
Performance appraisal is an important part of how institutions understand staff performance, identify areas for improvement and strengthen accountability. At the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the appraisal process was previously conducted largely through paper-based and manual procedures, creating administrative bottlenecks, making records more difficult to track and limiting opportunities for peers and subordinates to contribute to staff assessments.
In response to these challenges, the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer (DG/CEO) of the Commission inaugurated a three-person team in 2025 to develop an improved approach to staff performance assessment. Cohort Four alumnus of the Aig-Imoukhuede Public Leaders Programme, Bolaji Abideen Onilenla, Assistant Chief Identity Officer and Administrative Support to the DG/CEO, was a member of the team.
Working collaboratively under the direction of the Commission's management, the team designed and developed an in-house 360-degree digital appraisal platform to replace the predominantly paper-based process with a centralised framework through which supervisors, peers and subordinates could contribute to staff performance assessments.
The work involved reviewing the existing appraisal process, identifying operational gaps, engaging relevant stakeholders across the Commission, and supporting the design, testing, training and rollout of the platform. The initiative drew substantially on existing institutional and technical capacity, demonstrating how public institutions can use available resources and digital solutions to address operational challenges.
The platform has since onboarded more than 3,436 staff, introducing multi-rater assessments that enable supervisors, peers and subordinates to contribute to performance evaluations within a single framework. Now in its second year of use, the platform provides NIMC with a centralised mechanism for managing appraisal workflows, records, performance tracking and reporting.
Importantly, the reform has also become part of the experience of those who helped develop it. In the subsequent appraisal cycle, Bolaji himself participated in the 360-degree process as a staff member and was promoted from Principal Identity Officer to Assistant Chief Identity Officer. His experience therefore extended beyond contributing to the design of the system to becoming a participant in the institutional process it was created to improve.
For Bolaji, the experience demonstrated that public-sector reform is rarely the work of one individual. It requires initiative, collaboration, stakeholder engagement and the ability to work within institutional structures while keeping sight of the desired outcome. His experience with the project reflects the practical application of lessons from the Aig-Imoukhuede Public Leaders Programme, particularly the importance of translating ideas into workable institutional solutions through collaboration and sustained engagement.
NIMC's digital appraisal platform illustrates how public institutions can draw on existing capacity, technology and collaborative leadership to improve internal processes and strengthen institutional performance.
At the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, we remain committed to developing public-sector leaders who can contribute to meaningful reforms and help build stronger institutions that deliver better outcomes for citizens.