The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has adopted the “booking system” for applicants to obtain their National Identity Number (NIN).

“Mindful of the second wave of the COVID-19 which continues to severely affect public health and cause unprecedented disruptions, the commission wishes to announce that it has adopted a couple of measures to contain the spread of the virus whilst ensuring its services to Nigerians are not entirely interrupted,” the NIMC began in a Tuesday statement it tagged “NIMC Adopts Booking System For NIN Enrolment.”

“Effective December 30, 2020, attending to applicants would be based on Booking System. For Bookings, applicants are to visit any of the NIMC Offices closest to them during stipulated business hours (9 am – 1 pm).

“Once admitted into the office, a Number-Issuing queue management system will be in place to ensure orderliness and strict adherence to Covid-19 Protocols.”

The NIMC equally urged all NIN applicants to adhere strictly to the COVID-19 safety protocols which include wearing of facemasks, washing of hands and the observance of social distancing at all registration centres across Nigeria.

The Nigerian government had earlier this month mandated telecommunications operators in the country to block all Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) without NIN and initially gave the companies two weeks to carry out the task.

Although the deadline was extended from December 30 to January 19, 2021, thousands of Nigerians had thronged NIMC registration centres across the nation to beat the ultimatum, defying the COVID-19 protocols amid a surge in the number of cases in the West African country.

From Abuja to Lagos, the story is the same. Many of the applicants appealed to the government to create more registration centres to ease the process and consider extending the deadline further.