On Monday, the Federal Government of Nigeria ordered telecom SIM lines not linked to the National Identification Number (NIN) barred from making outgoing calls. The decision has come on the heels of deadly terror attack in Kaduna, which resulted in the death of at least 10 people and multiple injuries.
In 2020, the Federal Government initiated the NIN-SIM linkage to curtail the use of mobile phones in execution of crimes by criminals. The idea is to have every telecom line linked to the national identity database, making it easy for security operatives to identify individuals linked to any phone number involved with crime.
Nigerians were mandated to register and link their phone numbers to their NIN to avoid being disconnected from telecom services. It has been about two years and 125 million SIMs linked since the NIN-SIM linkage initiative, which has impacted a huge loss on the telecom industry, kicked off, yet the security situation in Nigeria has deteriorated.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 14 (June 3 – Sept 2, 2024) begins registrations; get massive discounts with early registration here.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
Consequently, the Federal Government has reasons to believe that about 70 million unlinked telecom subscribers could have a bearing on the worsening insecurity in Nigeria, as the relatives of many of those kidnapped in the train terror attack were contacted through mobile phones. Thus, it issued the directive to telcos to put a call restriction on phone lines yet to comply with the NIN-SIM linkage policy.
“Consequently, the Federal Government has directed all Telcos to strictly enforce the Policy on all SIMs issued (existing and new) in Nigeria. Outgoing calls will subsequently be barred for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage Policy from the 4th of April, 2022,
“Subscribers of such lines are hereby advised to link their SIMs to their NINs before the telcos can lift the restriction on their lines. Affected individuals are hereby advised to register for their NINs at designated centres and thereafter link the NINs to their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the Telcos, including the NIMC mobile App,” the statement issued by the Nigerian Communication Commission reads.
The NIN-SIM linkage policy was met with heavy criticism in the beginning as the timeframe allotted by the government for the exercise was deemed unrealistic. However, the timeframe was repeatedly extended.
“… President (Muhammadu Buhari) graciously approved the many requests to extend deadlines for the NIN-SIM linkage. At this point, however, the government has determined that the NIN-SIM Policy implementation can proceed, as machinery has already been put in place to ensure compliance by citizens and legal residents. The implementation impacts on government’s strategic planning, particularly in the areas of security and socio-economic projections,” the statement added.
However, this new move by the Federal Government poses a fresh threat to the growth of the telecom industry. In June last year, the telecom industry came under the weight of the policy, losing 20.83 million subscribers that amounted to N29.58bn in revenue loss.
The telecom industry has served as Nigeria’s economy’s cash cow, largely sustaining the troubled economy during the covid-induced economic headwinds.
As of February 2022, Nigerian telecom subscribers amounted to a total 197,77 million, with MTN having the largest share of 74.93 million, Airtel 55 million, Globacom 55.99 million and 9mobile 12.84 million, according to data from the NCC. The figures denote a decline compared to the telcos’ customer-base pre-NIN-SIM linkage policy.
Thus, implementing the NIN-SIM linkage now will mean barring over 70 million subscribers. Although the NCC said that the average number of SIMs linked to one NIN is about three to four, the move poses a huge loss for both the Federal Government who will no longer collect its 7.5% VAT on calls and the telcos who will lose their revenue.
The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) said the average revenue per user in Nigeria’s telecom market is N1,420. Using this figure, the loss is expected to hit over N70 billion.