Favour Ishember, Abuja
The Federal Government is ramping up plans to digitize learner records across Nigeria, with the Education Ministry now working more closely with the National Identity Management Commission to roll out a reliable ID system for close to 80 million students.
Speaking at a stakeholder meeting with NIMC officials in Abuja on Thursday, Minister of Education Dr. Maruf Olatunji Alausa said the collaboration will sharpen education planning, boost the reliability of data, and help shape policies grounded in facts.
He argued that a secure digital identity framework is now critical for accountable governance and long-term national growth.
Alausa tied the project to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s wider digital modernization drive, noting that the government is using technology, innovation, and openness to transform public institutions.
He added that education sits at the heart of the President’s plan to build a world-class economy, which is why accurate data and strong digital infrastructure cannot be ignored.
The Minister revealed that the Federal Ministry of Education has already linked the National Learners Identification Number to the National Identification Number through the Nigeria Education Management Information System.
According to him, that integration is already improving the quality of information used for planning, tracking performance, and distributing resources.
With nearly 80 million learners in basic, technical, vocational, and university education, Alausa said the education sector represents one of the biggest avenues to deploy a credible national identity structure.
Earlier, NIMC Director General Engr. Bisoye Coker Odusote said the Commission is briefing Ministries, Departments and Agencies nationwide on changes introduced under the newly signed National Identity Management Commission Act 2026. She explained that the law establishes NIMC as Nigeria’s core digital identity body and creates the legal backing for Digital Public Infrastructure and Public Key Infrastructure.
Odusote added that more than 120 million Nigerians have already been captured in the national identity database. NIMC has also connected its services to major government and financial institutions and launched the NIMC Authentication App alongside a free Digital ID Card to make secure identification more accessible.
Dr. Alva Nkoku, Head of Strategy and Programme Office at NIMC, gave more details on what the new law enables. He said it shifts Nigeria from traditional ID management to a trusted digital ecosystem that can handle secure logins, digital signatures, and other online transactions. He noted the changes will also streamline student registration, scholarship processing, certificate verification, and exam administration, while cutting fraud and building public trust in digital government services.
The engagement ended with both the Education Ministry and NIMC pledging to jointly implement the new Act and use trusted digital identity to improve governance, deliver better education services, and support Nigeria’s growing digital economy.
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