Many Nigerians have expressed worry over the impending blockage of their SIM cards as it seems the new initiative, Booking System, introduced by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to hasten National Identification Number (NIN) registration across the commission’s centres fail to be productive.  

The NIMC, on December 30, 2020, disclosed that NIN applicants would be attended to using a ‘Booking System’ with the aim to reduce the large crowds always at the commission’s centres and ensure compliance with COVID-19 protocols.   

Some applicants have lamented on the development, saying the date given to them falls into March, April, and beyond which are already after the ultimatum given to network subscribers to link their NIN to their SIM cards.

There have been different reactions from Nigerians concerning the troubles and pains they undergo at the NIMC centres.

It was disclosed that some applicants got to the Alausa NIMC office, Ikeja, since 4:00am and still haven’t been attended too.    

Olaoluwa Sobowale, a nursing mother, said she got to Ikeja around 5:30 a.m., “and this is 12noon, no one is concerned about us. Some people have been here since 4:00 a.m.”

Concerning the booking system, she expressed that “I have tried that for like two times, but on each occasion, the site is always rolling. I had to come here.”

Chinedu Opara said he actually got booked, “but I have been asked to come February 28. Deadline is February 9, how do we explain that? That is the reason I am here.”

There had been other complaints too on social media. A Twitter user, @TAlabama, wrote: “After successfully booking, I was asked to come by March 5. Now, I don’t understand this system again.”

In response to an earlier tweet on the registration, an applicant with the handle @funm_e_Martins, stated: “We are still here o! They said they only have one computer to do the registration and that people who have written down their names for registration are so much that it will take them till April to complete their registration.”

However, the President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of Nigeria (NATCOMS), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, has appealed to the Federal Government to consider the implication of blocking SIM cards to the economy.

He opined that the effect of the novel coronavirus and the accompanying lockdown, last year, had forced people to abide by the new normal, where virtually everything is now being via mobile.

According to him, the deadline should be extended to June 30.

In a related development, the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) said it had received a formal confirmation from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the February 9 ultimatum.

In a statement signed by its Chairman and Publicity Secretary, Gbenga Adebayo and Damian Udeh, the group thanked the Nigerian leader for the decision.