Benin – Some residents of Edo have expressed divergent views on the extension of the deadline for integration of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) and the National Identification Number (NIN) in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government had through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday morning announced the extension from Feb. 4 to April 6 to give more Nigerians and legal residents ample time to link their SIMs with NINs.
Speaking with NAN in Benin, some of the residents described the extension as a welcome development while others craved for the suspension of the exercise as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Jacob Osagie, who spoke with NAN at the registration centre located on the University of Benin campus, commended the Federal Government for the decision, saying it would relieve residents from the inherent pressure.
Osagie, however, urged the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to create more centres for the registration.
“The extension is okay and welcome by me. However, the Federal Government needs to create more centres for the registration.
“They should do it in the way of voters registration,” he said.
Speaking in the same vein, Mr Godspower Obhiojie said that NIN registration required more centres even than voters’ registration.
“During voters’ registration, even schools were used and this exercise demands more population that voters registration.
“This eight week extension is not going to be adequate considering the influx of people into the centres,” Obhiojie said.
When asked if he was aware that telecommunications operators had been incorporated for the registration, he said there was nothing on ground to suggest that.
But Mrs Sarah Yesufu in her view, called for the suspension of the registration exercise because of the contagious nature of the coronavirus disease.
According to Yesufu, it was expected that the Federal Government would suspend the exercise because social distancing was difficult to maintain in this instance.
She urged the government to take care of the virus first if truly it existed in order not to endanger lives of the citizens.
“Let us address the spread of the disease first. This registration exercise will help in the spread of the pandemic,” Yesufu said.
Mrs Jessica Omoregbe, in her opinion said that though the NIN registration was good, the process was faulty.
Omoregbe urged the Federal Government to allow for registration of children at tender age and leave out the fingerprint capturing until they are older.
She said this would reduce pressure and pile up of citizens for enrollment.
