With the imminent deactivation deadline for phone lines approaching, individuals applying for National Identity Numbers (NINs) are once again flocking to the offices of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The situation has been made worse by students applying for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Also, the sudden deactivation or barring of some subscribers phone lines during the week by telecoms companies have created confusion and anxiety regarding the linkage of the NIN with the Subscribers Identity Modules (SIM) following the deadline by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) late last year.
Our correspondent observed that the NIMC offices at Wuse Zone 2 and 5 in Abuja and the one in Gwagwalada have been taken over by crowd of applicants who are desperate to beat the deadline.
Our correspondent also learnt that the sudden barring of some subscribers phone lines by telcom firms have created panic across various networks as those who linked their NIN with SIM were affected.
Apart from fresh applicants for NIN, there are those who wanted to make corrections on their birthdays and those who wanted to add or drop some of their names. NIMC personnel, who are obviously overwhelmed by the surge in the numbers of applicants, have resorted to booking applicants for upwards of two weeks to enable them sort out situation.
NIMC Director-General, Mrs Coker-Odusote, it was learnt, has started a comprehensive reorganisation of the agency. Some personnel were said to have been transferred to different locations to enable the new management start its reforms on a clean slate.
However, there are concerns that NCC’s directive to telcom operators in Nigeria, including MTN, Airtel, and Globacom, to implement full network barring on phone lines of subscribers would precipitate untold hardships on the citizens.
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The NCC directive issued late last year was communicated to the MNOs. The MNOs also informed subscribers and urged them to submit their NINs and those without verified NINs should do so by February 28, this year.
According to the NCC, NINs that had been submitted but not verified, such subscribers would have their lines barred on or before March 29, same as in cases where five or more lines are linked to an unverified NIN.
It was also gathered that where less than five lines were linked to an unverified NIN, such are to be barred on or before April 15, 2024.
Mal Ibrahim Abubakar, who brought his daughter to the NIMC headquarters to obtain NIN for JAMB, lamented that policy makers have a way of punishing ordinary Nigerians by lumping policies and deadlines together in a manner that citizens would regret being call Nigerians.
He said he and his daughter had been going all round Abuja to fulfil the conditions attached to obtaining the NIN. He said they have been given two weeks to return to NIMC for data capturing after fulfilling the conditions.
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