Nigeria's National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has adopted a booking system for persons wishing to register for the national identity number (NIN). NIMC has witnessed a surge in applications for NIN, following a directive that all SIM cards be linked to NIN. To avoid the risk of their mobile telephones being deactivated, people have been queuing at NIMC offices. This Day, a Nigerian publication reported that the NIMC website crashed as large numbers tried to apply for NIN online.