Tag: Communication - Page 5 - African News Today

99% of Citizens Data Insured, Protected Says FG

29Jan

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

99% of Citizens Data Insured, Protected Says FG

The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that at least 99 per cent of citizens data was protected and insured, urging Nigerians not to worry about the privacy of their data. The assurance was given by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, during the virtual National Privacy Week conference organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, as part of programmes to mark the World Privacy Day. Suspected hackers interrupted the data privacy forum, as disruptive voices were heard for some minutes during the event, Punch reports. The disruptions caused the moderator to keep apologising for the hitches, while some participants expressed surprise at the development, which was, however, addressed by the organisers. Addressing the ...

27Jan

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

Telcos Licensed to Provide NIN – NIMC

The National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, has licensed telecommunication companies to register people seeking to obtain National Identity Numbers so as to decongest the crowds at the offices of NIMC across the country. Director-General of NIMC, Aliyu Aziz who disclosed this said some other private and public organisations had also been given operational license by the commission to provide NINs to make the enrolment seamless. This follows reports on Tuesday that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, had set up a committee to address the demands of NIMC workers. NIMC workers had declared strike on January 7, 2021 in protest against poor welfare issues for employees of the commission, but their strike was suspended after the intervention of the mi...

FG Grants Plateau Govt NIN registration Licence

24Jan

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Corruption, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

FG Grants Plateau Govt NIN registration Licence

The Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong has said he has secured a registration licence for the State Government to commence the enrollment of National Identity Number, NIN, for residents of the state to alleviate the suffering occasioned by few enrolment centres. This was contained in a statement on Sunday by the governor’s director of Press and Public Affairs, Macham Makut, who said the licence granted by the Federal Government is for one year and it is subject to renewal upon satisfactory performance during the period. He said the approval which was conveyed to the Governor by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy through the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission, Aliyu Aziz, indicates that the Plateau State Government can now participate in ...

21 Million Subscribers Yet to Obtain NIN – Telcos

21Jan

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

21 Million Subscribers Yet to Obtain NIN – Telcos

Telecommunications operators on Wednesday said at least 143 million Subscriber Identification Modules, SIM, are currently identifiable to the National Identity Management Commission for registration with their respective National Identity Numbers. Telecommunication operators also said that the number of subscribers without NINs was about 21 million, as the deadline for the registration of SIMs with valid NINs draws near. Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, while speaking on behalf of the mobile operators said that the number of NINs submitted by the telecoms sector to NIMC was for about 143 million SIMs. The Nigerian Communications Commission had announced on Tuesday that so far a total of 47.8 million NINs had been collected ...

43 Million NINs Awaiting NIMC Verification

19Jan

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

43 Million NINs Awaiting NIMC Verification

Telecommunication companies in Nigeria have forwarded at least 43 million National Identity Numbers, NINs, to the National Identity Management Commission for verification in order to have them linked with their respective Subscriber Identification Modules, SIMs. Despite the duration of time given for telephone subscribers with NINs to link it with their SIMs elapsing today (January 19, 2021), service providers have said that SIMs with unlinked submitted NINs would not be blocked. Reports say bout 45 million NINs have been provided by the NIMC, as it was able to register about two million people in the last one month after the Federal Government ordered citizens to register their SIMs with valid NINs, Punch reports. African News Today had on December 15, 2020, that the Federal Gove...

NIN: NIMC Debunks Website Crash Speculations, Says its Undergoing Upgrade

22Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Covid-19, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

NIN: NIMC Debunks Website Crash Speculations, Says its Undergoing Upgrade

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has rubbished reports that its website, nimc.gov.ng, has crashed. It said the site is undergoing an upgrade for best performance as many Nigerians seek to obtain their National Identity Numbers (NIN), adding that the site would be available on Tuesday (today). Thousands of Nigerians had rushed to NIMC offices across the country on Monday to obtain their NIN following the directive by the Federal Government to telecommunication service providers to block SIM cards not linked to NIN within two weeks. The crowd at various NIMC offices amounted to breach of COVID-19 protocol on mass gathering put in place by the government thereby forcing the NIMC to close its offices in several parts of the country on Monday. Though the developmen...

FG Extends Deadline for Linking NIN to SIM Cards

22Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

FG Extends Deadline for Linking NIN to SIM Cards

The Federal Government has extended the deadline for the provision of National Identification Number (NIN) by telecommunication service subscribers as part of SIM registration to February 9, 2021. This was contained in a statement released on Monday jointly signed by the Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Umar Danbatta; and Director-General, National Identity Management Commission, Aliyu Aziz. According to the statement titled, “Extension of Registration Period and Cancellation of USSD and Verification Fees,” three weeks have been added for subscribers already with NIN while six weeks have been added for those without NIN. The statement read in part, “The National Task Force on National Identification Number and SIM Registration met today, 21st December, ...

Reps Link NIN Demand for SIM Registration to #EndSARS

17Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, Legislature, News, Nigeria

Reps Link NIN Demand for SIM Registration to #EndSARS

The House of Representatives on Wednesday said the recent directive to link National Identity Number (NIN) to Subscriber Identification Module cards was linked with strange calls and messages received by public officials from strangers with unregistered SIM cards during the recent #EndSARS protests. The House said it summoned the NCC to verify the identities of the owners of the telephone lines but they could not be verified as the SIM cards were not registered. The NCC had ordered that SIM cards not linked to NIN issued by the National Identity Management Commission be blocked after weeks. the legislative chamber, however, asked for an elongation of the deadline issued to subscribers to 10 weeks. Speaking at the plenary on Wednesday, the Minority leader, Ndudi Elumelu, moved ...

FG Slashes Data Cost by 50 Percent – Pantami

10Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

FG Slashes Data Cost by 50 Percent – Pantami

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has said government has crashed the cost of data to below 50 per cent of its initial price in January 2020. Pantami disclosed this in a statement issued by his Technical Assistant (Information Technology), Dr Femi Adeluyi, dated December 9, 2020. The minister said that the average cost of 1GB of data has reduced from the January 2020 cost of N1,000 to N487.18 in November, 2020, representing more than 50 per cent slash in the price. The statement read, “Measures have been put in place to significantly reduce the average cost of data. The average cost of 1GB of data has reduced from the January 2020 cost of N1,000 to N487.18 in November, 2020. This was based on a Report by the Nigerian Communications Comm...

NCC Approves e-SIM Trial for MTN, 9mobile

2Nov

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, Nigeria

NCC Approves e-SIM Trial for MTN, 9mobile

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it has granted approval for two mobile network operators (MNOs), MTN Nigeria and 9Mobile, to carry out trial on the workability of embedded Subscriber Identification Modules (e-SIM) Service in Nigeria. The regulatory body added that the trial would run for a period of one year, noting that it would involve testing 5,000 e-SIMs by the two networks. A statement by the Public Affairs Director of NCC, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde said the trial is subject to compliance with a number of regulatory conditions. Dr Adinde announced that the conditions include full compliance by the MNOs with the Registration of Telecoms Subscribers Regulations 2011; the Mobile Number Portability Regulations and Business Rules 2015. He added that guidelines on SI...