The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) an agency saddled with regulating and putting sanity in the Nigerian telecommunication ecosystem recently announce the extension of National Identity Number (NIN) exercise, SIM registration and integration with the NIN Numbers by extending the deadline to July 26th 2021. This announcement has brought respite and relieve to Nigeria trying to get their NIN numbers integrated to their mobile phones SIM Cards.
In line with what is applicable in other nations that are forward looking in areas such as data management, security and economic planning. The SIM card integration with the NIN number will avail the government the ability to secure her citizens through cards, gather critical data for economic development and most importantly have a good idea of those in Nigeria.
Having made some great strides with a such time, presently, there are now a total of 57.3 million unique National Identification Number (NIN) enrolments. Not resting on their oars, NCC has encouraged Nigerians through sensitization, publicity and engagement to ensure that they comply with the SIM registration which has been extend to July 26, 2021.
As at June 28, 2021, a total of 5,410 enrolment systems are now available across the country and this would significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM. It is worthy of note that there were only about 800 such enrolment systems as at December 2020
Showing how proactive the commission has been lately, as of November 2020, the commission was one of the few regulators in Africa that approved electronic sim known as eSim. An e-SIM is a small chip that is embedded on a mobile phone or smart devices. It is designed for convenience, flexibility and simplicity. The e-SIM makes it easier for subscribers to choose a pre-paid plan provider and switch between network operators.
ANTHONY NWOSU
In line with what is applicable in other nations that are forward looking in areas such as data management, security and economic planning. The SIM card integration with the NIN number will avail the government the ability to secure her citizens through cards, gather critical data for economic development and most importantly have a good idea of those in Nigeria.
