The hidden costs of NCC's suspension of SIM registration

Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega
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On Wednesday evening, *Femi, the owner of a last-mile delivery service in Lagos sent me a text; “is there any way I can get a SIM card? I have been trying for weeks.” 
With no SIM cards, he cannot move forward with his plan to extend his company’s services to Abuja. 
There are many people like Femi who have found themselves in a bind because of the suspension of SIM card sales and registration in Nigeria. The new rule was announced by the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) in December 2020. 
But the NCC did not act unilaterally. It said in a press conference that it was acting on the directive from the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami. The aim of the suspension was to allow the commission to carry out a comprehensive audit of the Subscriber Registration Database.

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