NIN-SIM hassle involves getting and linking NIN with SIM
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
About 51.3 million telephone lines in Nigeria are barred because their owners fail to link their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), costing billions of naira in lost business transactions.
“With more than 200 million active lines on the Nigerian telecommunication network (as of December 2021), there is great potential for the development of a DMS in the Nigerian market.
“It is estimated that there were approximately 132 million unique devices on the telecommunication network in 2020.”
This is stated in a document produced by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) titled, “Deployment of a Device Management System: Project Information Memorandum”.
The Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC) enrolment dashboard shows 80.7 million phone owners have NINs as of 23 April. This leaves 51.3 million owners without NINs – meaning those lines are barred from making calls.
Both the NCC and NIMC describe Nigeria as a multi-SIM country, with a NIN linked with an average three to four SIMs.
The GSMA – the global organisation representing telecom operators – said there were at least 97.5 million unique mobile subscribers in Nigeria in September 2018.
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NIN-SIM policy
The NIN-SIM policy requires all telephone subscribers to link their NIN with their SIMs.
“Mandating the use of NIN for SIM card registration will accelerate the growth of the national identity database as the SIM card registration database is one of the largest databases holding the digital identity of Nigerians, including biometrics and other essential information on citizens.
“This will enable Nigeria to take giant strides towards improving national planning, overcoming security challenges and boosting our GDP,” Communications and Digital Economy Minister Isa Pantami explained in the Revised National Identity Policy for Sim Card Registration, per The PUNCH.
Telecom subscribers were mandated by the government in December 2020 to link their SIMs and NINs or risk blockade of their lines.
After the government had extended the deadline several times, it directed telcos on 4 April 2022 to bar outgoing calls from SIMs not linked with NINs.
The government disclosed that 125 million SIMs had submitted NINs for linkage and over 78 million NINs had been issued.
The NCC said there were 199.56 million active telecom subscribers in March 2022, meaning about 74.56 million subscribers cannot make outgoing calls.
Below are the views of industry experts on the matter, collated by The PUNCH.
OluGbenga Odeyemi (e86 Limited founder)
“It is embarrassing to look back over the years, seeing how badly this has been implemented.
“The current director of NITDA has done well to fast forward the adoption of NIN, I know there are a number of issues along the way but it’s important to focus on the results.
“Within the last one year, we have seen a lot of results, the implementation has not been perfect, but it’s been a lot better than what we saw in the previous years.”
“As it stands, there are bottlenecks in the registration process as the average Nigerian does not want to pay for the registration using third-party registration centres.
“This ultimately means that government registration centres where payment isn’t required are constantly jammed daily.
“Also, there is a need for more education. Most people still do not understand the essence of this policy.
“If possible, the government may also have to introduce incentives for those who successfully complete their registration.
“There are so many ways we can make improvements and I hope that we’ll continue to make things better.”
Adeolu Ogunbanjo (National Association of Telecoms Subscribers President)
“If this amounts to about 51 million that cannot do business with their phones, and are being impoverished, the government should please not send people to poverty by this policy implementation.
“This is an appeal now to the President to reconsider this policy. On behalf of 51 million, I want to appeal for an extension. They should please extend it for the sake of doing good business in Nigeria. They should at least have a human face.”