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The Lagos State Government has commenced plans to assign unique identification numbers to students in public and private schools across the state as part of efforts to strengthen identity registration and improve education data management.

A statement by the Lagos State Government said the initiative is the result of a partnership between the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) and the Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA).

The collaboration was unveiled during a stakeholders’ engagement held at the Office of Education Quality Assurance in Alausa, Ikeja. The meeting was attended by representatives of the education sector, heads of school associations under OEQA, key stakeholders, and officials of both agencies.

Speaking at the meeting, the General Manager of LASRRA, Mrs. Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, said the engagement was organised to meet separately with representatives of public and private schools to ensure the smooth rollout of the student identification exercise.

She explained that the main objective is to capture LASRRA identification numbers for all students across Lagos State.

According to her, having a LASRRA number is already a requirement for enrolment in public schools in the state. She added that the current exercise is aimed at improving the existing system through the use of technology and closer collaboration with education districts.

“For public schools, having a LASRRA number is actually a requirement to be enrolled in Lagos State government schools. What we are doing now is simply improving the process by using technology and working closely with the various districts to collect and consolidate those numbers,” she said.

Adebiyi-Abiola noted that the approach for private schools would be slightly different because many students are yet to register with LASRRA.

“To address this gap, LASRRA will work with OEQA and school administrators to carry out on-site registration across different geographical zones of the state.

“For private schools, quite a few students may not yet have their LASRRA numbers. So, in partnership with OEQA and the schools, we will go to the various locations and register the students directly,” she added.

She said the registration process would take less than five minutes per student and expressed confidence that the exercise would be completed within a few months after field operations begin.

The LASRRA boss further disclosed that both students and teachers in public and private schools would receive standardised identity cards as part of the broader identity and education data integration programme.

She added that discussions are ongoing with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to make it easier for students and school communities to register for and obtain their National Identification Numbers (NIN).

According to her, schools will carry out pre-registration of students before LASRRA officials visit for biometric capture and final verification. She said the arrangement would reduce processing time and prevent congestion during the exercise.

Adebiyi-Abiola also said LASRRA would strengthen its presence through its registration centres across the state’s local government areas to make identity registration more accessible to residents and school communities.

Also speaking, the Director-General of the Office of Education Quality Assurance, Dr. Sulaimon Ogunmuyiwa, said plans were underway to launch radio and television awareness campaigns to educate schools, parents, and students ahead of the exercise.

He said the sensitisation campaign would ensure smooth participation and minimise disruptions when the registration begins across public and private schools.

Ogunmuyiwa described the collaboration as a demonstration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s commitment to inter-agency cooperation for improved service delivery.

He said the initiative would help ensure that every student in Lagos is assigned a unique identification number to enable the government to maintain accurate education records, monitor academic progress, and formulate policies that improve learning outcomes.

“Our goal is to make sure we give a unique number to every student in Lagos while also registering them as residents of the state.

“Even after leaving school, they will already be captured as Lagos residents, while during their academic journey, the unique identification number will help us track performance and ensure they receive the support required to succeed in life,” he said.

The Director-General added that the exercise would cover both public and private schools across Lagos State. He explained that while public school stakeholders attended the morning session, a separate engagement was held later with private school associations and other stakeholders to ensure broad participation.

The collaboration is expected to improve educational planning, strengthen student data management, enhance identity registration, and support informed decision-making across Lagos State’s education sector.

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Donald Trump has affirmed his commitment to ending persecution against Christians, as he hit out at “godless communists” he believed were seeking to harm believers in America.

Speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition policy conference, the US President said he was “saving Christians throughout the world”, highlighting the military strikes in Nigeria which killed jihadist leaders.

US troops have also been working with Nigerian soldiers, to tackle Islamic insurgents who have been behind attacks on churches and congregations.

“We struck Nigeria and largely ended the slaughter of great Christian populations”, President Trump said to a cheering crowd. He believed attacks had reduced, as terrorists know the consequences “will be far greater” as US troops would be “hitting them hard with the greatest weapons on earth”.

The comments came as part of a wider speech praising America’s Christian foundations, looking forward to the nation’s 250th anniversary and rededication as “one nation under God”.

“Our founders invoked the Creator four times in the Declaration of Independence. Four times. I wasn’t mentioned once, I’m very upset”, he said.

“Faith built this country into the most exceptional nation in the history of the world.”

“Americans have always deeply believed in the promise of Christ’s words in the Gospel of Matthew. With God, all things are possible.”

But President Trump, after a number of progressive candidates won elections in the week, warned that his Democrat opponents were seeking to persecute Christians.

Ahead of his remarks, he posted on social media that they were “godless communists”.

Left-wing politicians “want to resume the transgender mutilation of children, they want to restart the war on Christians and churches, and as you saw with the communists elected in New York recently […] they want to completely destroy the traditional American way of life,” the President claimed.

“They will close your churches in this country. They go communist, and they’re trying to. They will kill your people and that’s what they’re about. They want to end religion. They have to end religion because their ideology doesn’t work if you have strong religion – people like you that are so incredible and love our country so much and love God”, he told the crowd at the right-wing conference.

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The Oyo State Government has lifted the curfew earlier imposed across 10 local government areas following the recent kidnapping incident in Oriire Local Government Area.

The decision brings an end to the movement restrictions introduced as part of efforts to strengthen security and support ongoing operations aimed at addressing the situation.

The government had initially announced a 16-hour curfew in the affected areas before extending the measure by an additional day on Thursday as authorities intensified security surveillance.

With the curfew now suspended, residents have been cleared to resume their normal daily and economic activities.

The state government expressed appreciation to residents for their patience, cooperation and understanding throughout the period of restriction, noting that public support played a significant role in maintaining order.

Authorities also assured citizens that security agencies remain on alert and are continuing efforts to ensure lasting peace and bring the kidnapping incident to a complete resolution.

Residents were encouraged to remain vigilant and continue supporting security agencies with timely information to sustain safety across the affected communities.