The barring of some SIMs from making outgoing calls by telecom companies in line with the federal government’s directive has again brought to the limelight the importance of the National Identification Number (NIN).
After repeated extensions of deadlines, the federal government on Monday, April 4, ordered telcos to block lines yet to be linked with NIN from making calls.
Over 70 million subscribers have been affected by the development. Many of them are now linking their SIM to their NIN in order to regain access to making phone calls.
However, there are some subscribers who are not sure whether or not their SIMs have been linked with their NIN, though they still have access to making calls. You can check if your line has already been linked and quickly go ahead to link it if it hasn’t, to avoid being barred from making calls.
SIM-NIN linkage for MTN subscribers To know if you have linked your NIN to your MTN line, dial *785# After dialing the USSD code, you will be given the option to input your NIN After putting put your NIN, an 11 digit number, you will get a message indicating your NIN has been “successfully” received The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will verify the submitted NIN If you are unsure whether you have linked your NIN to your MTN SIM before, try the process again until you’re sure it is successful.
SIM-NIN linkage for Glo subscribers To know if you have linked your NIN to your Glo line, dial *109# You will be asked to enter your 11 digits NIN after which you will receive the “Successful” message You can also send your NIN via text message to 109 After sending it, you will get a message indicating whether it was successfully linked or not You can also try the process more than once if you are not sure whether you have linked your NIN to your Glo line before.
SIM-NIN linkage for Airtel subscribers To verify if you have linked your NIN to your Airtel line, dial *121*1#. You will receive a message indicating that you have successfully submitted your 11 digits NIN and you will get feedback after verification from NIMC. If you don’t get the message above, you can try the process again until you are notified that you have successfully submitted your NIN to update your Airtel SIM. NIMC will verify all the updates and your mobile network will later send you a message indicating that your update is successful.
SIM-NIN linkage for 9mobile subscribers To know if you have linked your NIN to your 9mobile, Dial *200*8# You will be presented with two options: either to verify if you have linked your NIN to your 9mobile SIM or you are just about link it Press 1 and send to if your plan is to verify You will shortly receive a message showing whether you’ve successfully linked your NIN to the SIM or not
According to BBC Pidgin, NIMC will do final verification of the NIN before telcos will send message to their subscribers on whether the linking is successful or not.
FG orders NIN weekend registration nationwide Meanwhile, NIMC has announced the commencement of weekend NIN registration at all enrolment centres nationwide. According to the commission, the weekend enrollment will enable those yet to obtain their NIN to do so within the timeframe given by the federal government before enforcement of NIN-SIM linkage commences. The minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, urged citizens and legal residents to take advantage of the weekend enrolment. Continue Reading
