In 2021, Nigeria required mobile telephone numbers to be linked to National Identification Numbers, and applicants queued for NIN enrolment at the National Identity Management Commission office in Ikeja, Lagos State. Registration required personal and biometric information.
What distinguishes this line is that it was not simply for an identity number. It became the entrance to keeping an everyday means of communication. Once the national-ID system was linked to the mobile network, the capacity of registration offices could determine whether a phone remained usable.