Stakeholders in Nigeria’s telecommunication industry are coming up with innovative ways to facilitate the registration and linking process of the National Identification Number (NIN) through the use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and online platforms.
Even though lawmakers have extended the NIN registration and linking to SIM card to 10 weeks instead of the initial two weeks, telcos and the industry regulator have an almost impossible task on their hands to register what BusinessDay estimates to be 19 million subscribers without the NIN.
It took the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) 10 years to allocate 42 million NINs, an indication of the slow and lengthy process of securing NINs. BusinessDay estimates put the number of those likely to be affected at 24.3 million.
Following the move by the Federal Government of Nigeria to validate the identity of all mobile phone subscribers and check mobile-aided crimes in the country, it recently directed all mobile operators through the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy to ensure SIM cards are linked to a National Identification Number (NIN).
Read Also: Lawmakers direct NCC to extend submission of NIN for SIM registration to 10 weeks
Instructed by the ministry, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) is expected to revise the policy on SIM card registration and usage to include the NIN and thus, directed mobile operators to suspend the sale of new SIM cards as the industry regulator check their compliance with registration guidelines.
According to the Federal Government, the NIN will soon become a compulsory requirement in obtaining licences and filling for applications in the country.
To hasten the NIN registration and linking to SIM card, mobile users can either obtain or link their NIN through the USSD or website options provided by some of the service providers.
USSD
Nigerians can either use the USSD or go to the website of their service providers to obtain and link their NIN to their SIM card, said Bashir Ahmad, personal assistant on media to President Muhhamdu Buhari.
“For those using Airtel as a network provider, dial *121# to submit you NIN for verification and subsequently link it to your number. For MTN, dial *785#,” Ahmad said.
Checks by BusinessDay show that the USSD option, however, comes with a cost of N20.
“Welcome to NIMC USSD Service. This service will cost you N20. Press 1 to retrieve your NIN or 2 to cancel,” a network provider responded when this reporter tried using the USSD code.
Airtel Nigeria said, “Don’t wait till it’s too late. Link your National Identification Number (NIN) to your phone number. Just dial *121*1# now to link, and *346# to know your NIN.”
To check for the NIN status on 9mobile, the service provider said its users should dial *346#. It said it is “in the light of the new directive from NCC to link NIN to SIM registration” that 9 mobile is “making effort to develop a system that would make things simple for its customers”.
Website
According to Ahmad, there is also an option for service users to visit the websites of service providers to obtain the NIN. He pleaded with Nigerians to share the information to others as “we move fast towards a digital Nigeria”.
On using the online platform for the NIN, Airtel Nigeria tweeted on Thursday that the NIN is “important for your SIM registration” and as such, it directed that customers can use a link on its platform to “locate the nearest NIN enrolment centre to get a NIN”.
NIN now a requirement for driver’s licence
Meanwhile, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has announced that the NIN will become one of the requirements for applying for a driver’s licence in the country with the most population in Africa.
“Following the Federal Government’s directives on the harmonisation of citizens’ data by relevant agencies, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had in compliance with the directives earlier put members of the public on notice,” the licencing agency said on its Twitter handle.
As a follow up to that, FRSC said in a document signed by the Assistant Corps Marshal Bisi Kazeem that its “management has resolved that effective 21 December, 2020, all applicants for the National Driver’s Licence in Nigeria must present the National Identification Number (NIN) from the NIMC before they can be captured for any class of the licences produced by the FRSC”.
