Our public service in this country is atrocious. People employed in government offices to run the affairs of the citizenry, ensure their safety and drive development are preoccupied with other selfish pursuits. Nobody pays a price for failure that leads to loss of lives and property. This syndrome, which is evident at all levels, is responsible for overall failure of government in Nigeria.

The policy to link the National Identification Numbers, NINs, to the Subscriber Identification Module, SIM, cards of telecommunications subscribers is a case in point. Between December 30, 2020 when the National Communications Commission, NCC, with the full backing of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, set as the deadline for the compulsory linkage of all SIMs to NINs and today, millions of unlinked SIMs are still in active use.

As of last month, the NCC admitted that about 12 million illegal SIM cards were still in use. The Commission set February 28, 2024 for telecom companies to comply. That was the 10th deadline in four years! Asked when the Commission would start sanctioning providers who fail to comply, an NCC spokesman said he did not know “but we will be sanctioning”. More than four years after initiating this policy, the NCC and related government agencies have proved grossly incapable of implementing it!

Yet, the linkage of the NINs to SIMs was conceived as a master-stroke to arrest the burgeoning insecurity and violent criminalities such as terrorism, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, violent herdsmen attacks and other crimes that have made life difficult for Nigerians.

The policy was meant to ensure that all telecom service subscribers link their national identity numbers to their communication gadgets to enable the security agencies and banks isolate those using them to coordinate their criminal activities.

Most of the criminals and terrorists are hiding in ungoverned spaces out in the wilderness. They have their sponsors and collaborators among the people. Without the ability to communicate with SIM-enabled devices, their activities are bound to be seriously hampered. Any attempt to use properly linked devices would lead to their arrest.

That over 12 million unlinked SIM cards are still in use after four years shows how unserious we are as a country. The saddest part is that people who fail are never sanctioned. That is why failure is always reinforced in Nigeria.

The failure of the NCC and the security agencies to enforce this policy gives the agents of insecurity a free rein to kidnap, kill and extort defenceless Nigerians. Unless we enforce this policy and drastically reduce insecurity, the hunger and hardship that holds Nigerians by the jugular will worsen.

President Bola Tinubu should identify the reasons for this policy failure and act accordingly to rectify it. Those who failed in their duties should be punished.

There must be consequences for failure.

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