Nigerian government to integrate student IDs with digital ID system

The Nigerian government is integrating millions of student records with the national digital ID system. This initiative aims to enhance planning and increase registration numbers.

Nigeria's Ministry of Education has partnered with the National Identity Management Commission to link [1] the Learner's Identification Number of 80 million students with the National Identification Number registry through the digital Nigeria Education Management Information System. The LIN, a unique 16-digit identifier for each student in Nigeria's education system, commenced distribution in April, [2] resulting in 1.9 million IDs being issued. This number is connected to demographic and educational information.

According to the mandate, the National Identity Management Commission began enrolling individuals [3] in 2012 and had issued 104 million National Identification Numbers to eligible applicants by the end of 2023. Bisoye Coker-Odusote, who [4] is the Director General of NIMC has stated that the Commission initiated a nationwide engagement with various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to raise awareness about the reforms introduced by the NIMC Act, 2026, and to enhance institutional collaboration for its implementation. The National Identity Management Commission Act, 2026 [5] was signed into law in June 2026 [6] by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

[7] The National Identity Management Commission said in a press release, “This landmark legislation marks a transformative milestone in Nigeria's journey towards a secure, inclusive and digitally empowered nation. The new Act repeals and replaces the NIMC Act of 2007. It establishes a modern, forward-looking legal framework that aligns Nigeria's identity ecosystem with global best practices, emerging technologies and the demands of a rapidly evolving digital economy.”

The Act further empowers NIMC to ensure secure, interoperable and seamless data exchange among all public and private entities, laying the legal and institutional foundation for a trusted digital economy. The Act establishes the National Identity Management Commission as Nigeria’s primary digital identity authority and provides the legal framework for Digital Public Infrastructure and Public Key Infrastructure, which are vital for secure digital governance and reliable electronic transactions.

Currently, [8] over 120 million Nigerians have been enrolled in the National Identity Database, and verification services have been integrated across government bodies, financial institutions, and telecommunications operators. “We have enrolled many Nigerians and are still counting so we are definitely going to continue to ensure that we enrol more Nigerians before the end of this year. One of the things that we have done under the partnership with the World Bank on the Nigeria Identification for Development project is that we have been able to ensure that the private sector is integrated into what we do. We have collaboration with the private sector through our scheme known as Frontier Partners where they join us to enrol Nigerians nationwide and they go out there with us and enrol Nigerians,” said Coker-Odusote.

The World Bank has revised its expectations for Nigeria's National Identification Number initiative, now anticipating that 180 million people will receive the identification. This marks an increase from the original target of 148 million set at the project's inception. The updated projection [9] is detailed in a recent restructuring paper that outlines the plan for the project's adjustment. In 2020, Nigeria [10] obtained $430 million in funding from the World Bank for a national digital ID project aimed at providing digital identification for more than 100 people. This initiative is co-financed by the European Investment Bank and the French Development Agency and is being carried out under the Identity for Development Initiative. General Christopher Gwabin Musa, [11] who is the Minister of Defence said, “For us in the security sector, data is critical to know who we are dealing with, who we are expecting, and even those within us, because sometimes the enemy is within. It is therefore vital for us to be able to identify everyone accurately.”

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