By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has rejected the newly announced National Learner Identification Number (LIN), describing it as an unnecessary duplication of the existing National Identification Number (NIN), and has demanded an immediate halt to its implementation.
The apex student body disclosed this in a press release issued on Tuesday, 8 September, 2026, and signed by its President, Dist. Comr. Akinteye Babatunde Afeez.
The statement followed the National Orientation Agency’s (NOA) announcement introducing the LIN for students nationwide, a move NANS said was rolled out without consulting the leadership of the body representing millions of Nigerian students at home and in the diaspora.
NANS said every Nigerian student already holds the NIN, the nationally recognised means of identification for citizens, making a separate identification number for learners avoidable.
The association urged government agencies to strengthen the existing national identification system rather than create a parallel one.
The body faulted the NOA for exceeding its statutory mandate, noting that the agency was established to promote communication between government and citizens, gather feedback and encourage citizens’ participation in matters affecting their welfare, not to impose new identification systems on students.
“NOA is an agency established to promote effective communication between government and citizens, provide feedback, and encourage citizens’ participation in matters affecting their welfare, and not an agency to merely act as a publicity channel for government policies,” the statement read.
NANS insisted that no policy with far-reaching implications for students should be introduced without carrying them along, stressing that students are critical stakeholders in the education system, not mere beneficiaries. “Anything done for us without us is outrightly against us,” the association stated.
The body called on the Federal Government to halt further implementation of the LIN immediately, maintaining that no additional identification number is required where the NIN already serves as a unique means of identification.
NANS vowed to continue defending the rights and welfare of Nigerian students against policies it considers an unnecessary burden or a duplication of existing national systems.
