AfriPulse
The federal government has issued a directive mandating the strict enforcement of the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) policy as a prerequisite for the mobilisation or exemption of prospective corps members under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
The new policy, which is effective from October 6, invokes provisions in Sections 2(4)(4) and 16(1)(C) of the NYSC Act.
A circular to this new directive was communicated from the office of George Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Haula Galadima, the spokesperson at NERD, disclosed that the initiative is geared toward raising the quality of academic content across the country by strengthening supervision processes.
Galadima emphasised that each deposited item will feature the full names of the student, supervisor(s), head of department, and the sponsoring institution.
An aspect of the approved NERD policy is a reward mechanism for students and lecturers, which allows them to earn lifetime revenues from their academic deposits.
The Ministry of Education had earlier announced a nationwide enforcement of the NERD, a data bank to combat the rising abuse of academic titles and certificate racketeering.
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The directive mandated the verification of academic credentials for all staff and recruits across all government and higher education institutions through the NERD.
In a follow-up compliance directive, Nigerian students are now required to deposit evidence of their academic outputs, such as thesis or project reports, into the NERD databank.
The new policy serves as a fundamental quality assurance check and an annual independent proof of continuous academic enrolment and affiliation.
The circular from the office of the secretary to the government of the federation stated that no Nigerian graduate, whether from a domestic university, polytechnic, college of education, or an overseas institution, will be mobilised for or exempted from NYSC without proof of NERD compliance after the enforcement date.
The directive does not, however, affect serving corps members or those enrolled before October 6, 2025.
Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, had issued a declaration of effectiveness for NERD in March 2025.
It stated that the mandatory submission of academic outputs stipulated in the policy would become obligatory.
The policy applies equally to all educational institutions, regardless of ownership or supervision, including private, military, nursing, and agricultural colleges.
Some of the information expected in the NERD includes the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the circular stated, has been directed to provide data exchange support via application programming interfaces (APIs) to facilitate onboarding and data validation.
Charles Ogwo
Charles Ogwo, Head, Education Desk at BusinessDay Media is a seasoned proactive journalist with over a decade of reportage experience.
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