Nigeria’s N20 denomination made it to the big time on Twitter on Wednesday as it became a topic of discussion on  the Nigerian tree of the bird app.

While you may be guessing the reason for the cameo, you might need to erase any thought, if you have one, the extinction of the currency as no one was bidding farewell to the popular Naira note with pseudonyms such as Shandy and Muri.

And as a matter of fact, the reason N20 was trending on Twitter was because users are unwilling to part with the denomination, which happens to be one of the littlest of the country’s currency.

Who is demanding for N20 from Nigerians, you may wonder… I’ll answer that briefly:

Recall that the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC, gave telecommunications operators two weeks to block all SIM cards not registered with a National Identification Number, yeah, that one.

Fast-forward to Wednesday afternoon, when a customer of telecommunications giant MTN, tweeted an advise on how the operator can simplify the registration process.

The user who tagged MTN Nigeria Support’s verified account @MTN180, said: “Just add an icon to the my MTN app to update our NIN. To make things more easier. Thanks”

Just add an icon to the my MTN app to update our NIN.
To make things more easier. Thanks https://t.co/nNCM8ckTSM pic.twitter.com/p2q5TBdFR5

— ?✨Elder Samuel Oluwatosin ✴️⚡ (@PHoluwatosin) December 16, 2020

Having acknowledged the tweet, @MTN180 replied with suggesting a ‘seamless’ option which would cost customers the sum of N20.

“Y’ello @PHoluwatosin This is noted. Please use the link below to capture your details seamlessly pending when verification of the submitted NIN is completed through NCC/NIMC. You can dial *346# and press 1to confirm if your phone number is registered with NIN @ 20 naira,” MTN responded.

The reply from the telecoms giants did not go well with many users who responded thus:

Una dey Mad!!! that 20 naira is so important to you guys abi? i no dey press or check anything, block the number, we buy another one

— Tollani (@Cheddahboy) December 16, 2020

We have political hoodlums managing Nigeria it sucks??

Dial *346# at N20 per SMS to know your NIN number

N20 x 100,000,000 = N2bn #EndBadGovernanceinNIGERIA #EndSARS pic.twitter.com/QnxWbJkO7u

— Wealth (@wealth_10) December 16, 2020

Simply put, this is a heartless govt. Airport tax is now 46,000 naira. Did u hear me?, 46k per flight. Abuja to Lagos return ticket is almost 220k!!!. Why?What for?To retrieve it NIN is 20 naira oh. I rest my case

— Gozie nwa John (@jayjayjohnsino) December 16, 2020

It’s not about the jobless, it’s about putting more money in their own account. This is a simple way of taxing Nigerians everyone can afford 20 naira! We are been ruled by wicked men

— LaSheggz (@LaSheggz) December 16, 2020

Oho. I knew there had to be money somewhere. Multiply N20 by the number of people that will try to do this because of this nonsense rule and voila pic.twitter.com/KLIEWUBkZQ

— FK. (@fkabudu) December 16, 2020

For your information, to check your NIN using *346# will cost you N20 per transaction. Get this, they won’t send you the number as text message, so you have to use pen to copy it or screenshot it otherwise it disappears and you have to do it again.

— F.E (@FrankEleanya) December 16, 2020

They are using this NIMC portal to scam us
If you press 1, they’ll tell you your number doesn’t exist

By then, N20 would have been collected from your account

Imagine N20 x 1,000,000 Nigerians, Imagine how much they’ll make from this scam

National ID | Sims | Fulani | #ESN pic.twitter.com/Z4nAgC2v1T

— Newton (@NewtonIkire) December 16, 2020