The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has dismissed claims that its involvement in the proposed National Learner Identification Number (LIN) amounts to an overreach of its statutory mandate.

The clarification followed concerns raised by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), which questioned the need for the proposed identification system and NOA’s role in it.

NANS President, Comrade Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, had described the LIN as unnecessary and potentially duplicative of the National Identification Number (NIN), demanding that the initiative be halted.

The students’ body also argued that NOA was championing an identification system outside its statutory responsibilities.

But NOA Director-General, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the agency was neither the originator nor the implementing authority for the LIN initiative.

In a statement signed on Thursday by the Deputy Director, Communication and Media, NOA, Paul Odenyi, Issa-Onilu explained that the agency’s involvement was limited to its statutory responsibility of communicating government policies, programmes and activities to citizens.

He said the agency’s communication mandate covered policies and programmes across government and was not restricted to initiatives formulated or implemented by NOA.

“As the primary government agency responsible for public orientation, NOA works across Ministries, Departments and Agencies to ensure that citizens receive accurate, timely and understandable information about government policies, programmes and activities,” he said.

Issa-Onilu stressed that policy formulation, implementation and communication were separate responsibilities, adding that the authorities responsible for the LIN remained in charge of its formulation and implementation.

He said NOA’s role was to explain the policy to Nigerians in clear and accessible terms while providing platforms for citizens to express their views, concerns and reactions.

According to him, the approach forms part of the agency’s renewed public engagement strategy, including its “Pulse of the Nation” reports, which capture citizens’ opinions and reactions and feed them back to government.

The Director-General acknowledged NANS as an important stakeholder whose views should be heard on policies affecting students.

He, however, urged the students’ body to direct its concerns about the LIN initiative to the appropriate government institution.

Issa-Onilu maintained that communicating a government policy did not amount to formulating, imposing or implementing it.

“NOA’s role is to ensure that citizens understand what government is doing, why it is doing it and how they can engage with it. This is fundamentally different from being the institution that formulates or implements the policy,” he said.

He urged NANS and other stakeholders to distinguish between the institution driving a government policy and the agency responsible for communicating such policies to the public.

The NOA boss said the agency remained open to constructive engagement with NANS, students and other stakeholders on the proposed LIN, including concerns about its relationship with the NIN.

He said such engagement was central to NOA’s role as a bridge between government and citizens and should not be interpreted as an expansion of its statutory responsibilities.

Issa-Onilu reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to transparent, inclusive and two-way communication, saying citizens’ concerns and perspectives remained essential to effective public policy communication and democratic governance. (Guardian)