eSIM and SIM cards in Nigeria

The rule people misread

• The FCDO tells you your SIM must be linked to a Nigerian Identification Number. Read alone, that sounds like a visitor cannot buy a SIM at all, because a NIN is an identity registration for people who live here.
• The regulator's own FAQ resolves it. The Nigerian Communications Commission says foreigners on a tourist or visiting visa tender their international passport to acquire a SIM. Legally resident foreigners are the ones who obtain a NIN, like citizens.
• If your status later changes to residency or a work permit, you then get a NIN and link the SIM. That is the sentence the FCDO's shorter version is compressing.

In the shop

• Everyone using a mobile network in Nigeria must have the SIM registered. There is no anonymous prepaid SIM.
• Operator FAQs are written for Nigerians. MTN's SIM registration page, for instance, lists the NIN or NIN slip and no visitor alternative, so a shop assistant working from the script may say no. The NCC page above is the thing to have open.
• Buy in a branded operator store, not from a table, and register the SIM in your own name and passport.

Networks can be switched off

• Operators have been ordered to suspend mobile networks and wi-fi at very short notice in the past. Download maps and your booking confirmations before you need them.