The federal government’s decision to suspend the sales of new SIM cards has left many Nigerians without livelihoods, as it has forced small businesses that worked as agents for big telecom firms to either shut down or scale back on their activities.
Business owners and traders who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said the decision has affected their revenue badly over the last two months and has made them cut their staff strength.
The federal government had last December ordered the suspension of the sales and activation of new SIM cards across all phone networks in the country as it directed Nigerians to quickly connect their phone lines to their National Identification Numbers (NIN).
The suspension was expected to last till the completion of the NIN registration, initially scheduled for early January. But with the deadlines repeatedly shifted as many Nigerians criticised the government for not making adequate provisions to handle crowds seeking physical registration at a time of a pandemic, small businesses that serve as intermediaries for telecom firms have taken the hit.
Last week, the government extended the deadline for linking the two ID numbers to April. In the meantime, the continued suspension of SIM sales has prevented connect stores and all affiliated retail and trade outlets of telecommunications companies from doing business.
A government spokesperson told PREMIUM TIMES the negative impact on businesses was a “sacrifice” not too big for small businesses to make for the country.
Business owners lament
Kalu Chukwu, the managing director of K.C and Sons International at Wuse market, Abuja, who has been in the business of selling and registering SIM cards for several years, said his revenue fell after the suspension order came into effect in December 2020.
“Before, on a monthly basis, they normally give us some stipend as an incentive for doing that work. At the same time some of the SIM we sell, we make small, small…
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