By Chinelo Obogo, Chinenye Anuforo and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Nigerians have expressed outrage over Federal Government’s directive to telecommunication operators to block all Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards not registered with the National Identity Numbers (NIN) after two weeks.
The directive issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), an agency under the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, stated that after December 30, any unregistered SIM would be blocked.
Daily Sun investigations reveal that the Federal Government would rake in about N3,380 billion from the over 169 million mobile connections as N20 will be charged for each Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) message to get a NIN from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) data base.
Apparently to ease subscribers’ pain, the Federal Government has licensed 173 centres and 30 state government institutions to conduct enrolment across Nigeria.
This was disclosed on the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) website, yesterday.
However, House of Representatives has urged NCC to extend the deadline for GSM subscribers by 10 weeks.
This followed the adoption of a motion by the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, on the need for NCC to give GSM subscribers reasonable time to make available their NIN to their respective service providers.
“As laudable as the idea behind the policy may seem, the timing is very wrong because Nigerians have not been properly sensitised, as only a few educated persons who bother to read the dailies might have heard about this instructions.
“Therefore, trying to enforce this policy in a period where most Nigerians are gearing up for Christmas festivities may lead to stampede in the process of rushing to get registered which could lead to unnecessary death and injuries.
“If the NCC is allowed to carry out this directives, it will bring about untold hardship as millions of subscribers will be disconnected this yuletide period which could spell disaster in an already volatile nation like ours.”
Besides, Elumelu, while calling for intervention of the House contended that “if the NCC is not urgently called to halt itsr plans, there may be unnecessary panic which may lead to exploitation of vulnerable Nigerian thereby causing more pains in an already pathetic situation hence the need to urgently wade into this impending crisis.”
The lawmakers also pointed out the health hazards involved, saying despite warnings that there may be a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government is giving a directive at short notice that would mean gathering of crowds of people at registration centres.
Nigerians express outrage
Stakeholders in the telecommunications industry and other Nigerians have also kicked against the order.
According to experts, in the digital age, blocking SIM cards will hurt the growth of critical aspects of the digital economy – e-commerce, Fintech, digital education, digital health and digital agriculture. They argued that many people already have their numbers connected to their digital wallets, bank accounts and other digital applications.
“Should we be reversing the growth in digital practices and activities, and hindering digital inclusion at this time when we should be preparing for the emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution?” asked Jide Awe, a seasoned ICT expert.
He said technology enables speed, relevance and growth. It is fundamental to the new normal, post-COVID-19 era.
Awe said there was a need to consider the full implications of the directive, especially with regard to present NIN arrangements, gradual increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country as reported by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the growth of the digital economy.
“Will the present arrangements ensure that this significant number of Nigerians, over 70 million subscribers will get their NIN and then register the SIM in two weeks? It shouldn’t just be about issuing directives and blocking SIMs. It is essential to connect with the reality on ground. The present processes need to change,” he said.
Similarly, other Nigerians queried the purpose of imposing NIN as validity instrument for SIM registration when even voter’s card, drivers licence, Biometric Verification Numbers and international passport all contains biometrics.
Shehu Sani said: “They capture with BVN, capture with SIM, capture with card reader, capture National ID, capture with drivers licence, capture with E-passport, capture with N-power, capture with NIN, capture with NHIS and the kidnappers are still capturing those that were captured,” while the Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoleye Sowore said: “The real reason they want to shut down all mobile phones that currently don’t have NIN is not related to terrorism but profiteering. They just awarded contracts to their friends to do the job of NIMC and to get kickbacks.”
Aloy Chife said: “Is this about security? Then isolate and block unregistered SIMs and merge SIM/NIN databases. If not, what is it about? Why attempt to encumber the one healthy telecoms sector that drives Nigeria’s GDP growth? Telcoms make huge investments and need environmental stability.”
FK Abudu said, “why don’t we think? How long will it take for everyone to get NIN? Are people supposed to be queuing up for this as coronavirus numbers are climbing? What about the other IDs you use to get a SIM? You reckon the telcoms will just block their sources of income in two weeks?”
Oluyomi Ojo tweeted: “Nigeria wants to curtail insecurity by mandating NIN registration on SIM cards. I fly into the US and buy a new line in 10mins, same thing in any country visited. All you need is your passport. Are we saying tourists cannot buy phone lines in Nigeria again? The queues for NIN will start again. The crowd, the sharing of COVID-19. December rush, 2 weeks.”
Djeje Bright added: “It’s straightforward. The crowd, COVID spreads, stats spike, January the second wave of lockdown is implemented. Palliatives, money laundering the whole circle continues.”
Political scientist and activist,Jibrin Ibrahim said: “When a state knows not its population and is incompetent, it multiplies identifications and registrations of SIM, drivers’ licencse, National ID, Voters’ ID, E-Passport, BVN etc to confuse itself and suffer the people” while Wole Oluyemi said, “FGN wants telcos to link about 75 million SIM cards to TIN in the next two weeks. But @nimc_ng couldn’t register and enrol up to 50 percent of Nigerians for NIN in four years. Only God knows the type of weed they sell around Aso Rock. Apart from the cluelessness of the managers in terms of the strategy to use, they don’t even understand the times. During COVID-19 second wave, they want crowd to gather for NIN. During Christmas period, they want to withdraw communication access.”
Fasasi Sarafa tweeted, “How many Nigerians have NIN? It took 10 years to register 42 million out of the current 200 million. What capacity do we have to enrol people as quick as possible?” while Chinelo Ogbozor said, “As a regulator, you cannot be threatening to block millions of phone users from accessing telecom services. If you block our numbers, you’ll lose in tax returns because the network providers will suffer severe financial losses. Everything is not dictatorship. Sometimes, have sense.”