A Nigerian woman born without fingerprints has opened up about the persistent hurdles she faces living under Nigeria’s increasingly biometric-dependent administrative and financial systems.
The woman, who shares her experiences on Instagram under the handle J for Jidds, revealed that her condition was first brought to light in 2017 during her registration for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations.
The ordeal of biometric registration
Recalling her initial JAMB registration attempt, she described spending an entire day at the capture center alongside her father as officials struggled unsuccessfully to scan her fingers.
“I stayed there the whole day with my dad. I watched over 200 people register before me,” she shared. “Officials tried using sand, spirit, methylated spirit, chalk, and even watermelon to get a reading. I even had to scrub my hand on a stone at one point before I could finally register.”
The verification issues persisted throughout the examination period itself, where she frequently managed to scan into the hall after extensive effort, only to fail authentication when attempting to log out post-exam.
Institutional frustrations and stigma
The condition has continued to pose major hurdles for routine tasks, including National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) clearance and everyday banking transactions that rely heavily on fingerprint scans.
During her NYSC orientation and service year, she resorted to using her foot for biometric verification because the ridges on her toes were also barely visible.
Beyond administrative delays, she noted that the condition has caused significant anxiety and subjected her to social stigma, with uninformed individuals sometimes mislabeling her as a ritualist.
She publicly identified her condition as adermatoglyphia—an extremely rare genetic condition characterized by the complete or near-total absence of epidermal ridges on the fingers, palms, toes, and soles.
She questioned why major Nigerian institutions requiring biometric data have failed to establish clear, alternative verification protocols for individuals with non-standard physical traits.
Medical advice and navigating exemptions
Addressing the issue, consultant dermatologist Dr. Folakemi Cole-Adeife advised individuals living with adermatoglyphia to obtain formal medical documentation to navigate public and private verification systems.
Dr. Cole-Adeife explained that affected individuals should seek evaluation from a consultant dermatologist at a tertiary or teaching hospital.
Upon clinical confirmation of adermatoglyphia, the hospital can issue an official medical exemption certificate that can be presented to agencies like JAMB, the NYSC, national identity management bodies, and commercial banks to bypass standard fingerprint scanners legally.
