Disturbed by the widespread violation of the COVID-19 protocols on social distancing and use of face mask, the Federal Government on Monday said it may discontinue the ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) registration.
Olorunnimbe Mamora, Minister of state for health, dropped the hint when he appeared on Channels Television breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, monitored by BusinessDay.
This decision may not be unconnected with the steady rise in the number of Nigerians infected with the coronavirus. The number of infections in Nigeria has risen to 100,087 as at Sunday night, with 1,024 cases recorded in one day.
Aside from the number of those infected, the country is said to have lost over 30 prominent citizens to the deadly coronavirus in the last two weeks, bringing the number of deaths to 1,358 since the index case was announced in February 2020.
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It would be recalled that on the backdrop of the growing security threats in the country and abuse of unregistered Subscribers Identification Modules (SIM) cards, the government last year gave a two-week ultimatum to all users of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and mobile network subscribers to provide National Identification Number (NIN) to update SIM registration records.
The move was aimed at ensuring that all lines are synchronised with their users’ NIN while suspending the registration of new SIM cards by all Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in the country until everyone obtained the NIN.
In a bid to beat the deadlines, subscribers who did not have the NIN had thronged the headquarters of the NIMC causing chaos and overcrowding of the offices.
Boss Mustapha, Chairman, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, had at the national briefing last week expressed displeasure over the violations and neglect of the non-pharmaceutical safety measures.
Mustapha had declared that he has personally reached out to the minister of communication and digital economy, Isa Patanmi, on the issue.
Mamora, in his response to questions on the issue on Monday, also expressed displeasure over the behaviours of people seeking the NIN who overcrowded the headquarters of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
“I don’t feel good looking at the picture where people are gathered in multitude; it’s like a super spreader event which we don’t like. But I’m also aware that the relevant ministry which is the communications and digital economy is looking at this,” Mamora said.
“My understanding is that the whole process may be suspended so as to reorder the whole process in terms of management of the crowd because it was never intended that it would become a rowdy process like that,” he said.
He declared that the Federal Government has a duty to protect its citizens, but also added that “we also have a duty to ensure people comply within the limit of what is good for the society at large”.
