Nigerian Woman Born Without Fingerprints Reveals JAMB, NYSC, Banking Biometric Challenges

A Nigerian woman born with no fingerprints has recounted the difficulties she has faced with biometric identification systems, including during Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme, and banking transactions.

The woman, who uses the Instagram handle "J for Jidds", shared her experience in a video posted on Saturday, explaining that she first discovered the challenge in 2017 while registering for her first JAMB examination.

According to her, the registration process became difficult after officials at the centre were unable to capture her fingerprints, forcing her to spend several hours there with her father.

“I was born without fingerprints, and for many years, I thought I was the only person with something like this in Nigeria.”

She said she later discovered that she was not alone after sharing her experience on Instagram.

“Then I made a little joke on Instagram, and almost a hundred people reached out to me telling me that they had the same issue.”

Recalling her first JAMB registration, the woman said the experience was emotionally difficult as she watched hundreds of other candidates complete their registration before her.

“I stayed there the whole day with my dad. I watched over 200 people register before me. It was—I cried.”

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She said officials tried different methods to make her fingerprints readable, including sand, spirit, methylated spirit, chalk and watermelon.

“I had to scrub my hand on a stone at a point. And then I got to register.”

However, the challenge did not end with registration. She said she also experienced difficulties during the examination because she sometimes could not authenticate her fingerprints when entering or leaving the examination process.

“Sometimes I would be able to thumbprint in and I will not be able to thumbprint out.”

The woman said the condition has continued to affect several areas of her life where biometric verification is required.

“Living in Nigeria without fingerprints has been—has been terrible, honestly. From NYSC to JAMB to the bank, to any other thing that needs biometrics. I always have anxiety, It has been frustrating.”

During her NYSC programme, she said she had to use part of her foot for biometric verification because the ridges on her toes were also too faint.

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Beyond the technical difficulties, she said her condition had also exposed her to hurtful misconceptions, with some people accusing her of being a ritualist.

“Some people will tell you that, ‘Oh, you are a ritualist.’ Some people will say, ‘Ah, this one is a ritualist.’ Some people will say, ‘Ah, you carry too much hot things.’”

Her experience highlights the difficulties people without conventional fingerprints can face when accessing services that rely heavily on biometric authentication.

For the woman, the challenges have extended from JAMB registration and examinations to NYSC and everyday banking transactions, leaving her with anxiety whenever she has to undergo biometric verification.

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