President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a major reform linking the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), making compliance with the policy a compulsory requirement for mobilisation or exemption from the scheme.
The directive, conveyed through an enforcement circular issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, adjusts NYSC mobilisation criteria to require proof of NERD compliance for all prospective corps members, whether trained in Nigeria or abroad.
The NERD policy, designed to curb certificate racketeering and safeguard academic credibility, mandates that students deposit academic outputs such as theses and project reports into a national digital repository. This process creates a verifiable, time-stamped academic footprint that ensures transparency and accountability across all higher institutions.
Effective October 6, no Nigerian graduate, whether from universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, or overseas institutions, will be mobilised for or exempted from NYSC without evidence of NERD compliance. Serving corps members and those enrolled before the enforcement date are not affected.
President Tinubu also approved a monetisation and reward mechanism, allowing students and lecturers to earn lifetime revenues from their academic deposits. The policy further directs higher institutions to establish local repositories while enabling data-sharing partnerships with critical national bodies like the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
NERD spokesperson Haula Galadima noted that every deposit will display the names of students, supervisors, and institutional heads, a move expected to raise academic supervision standards and strengthen Nigeria’s intellectual output.
What you should know
From October 6, NERD compliance becomes mandatory for NYSC mobilisation and exemption. All graduates must deposit academic works into the national repository, with their supervisors’ names attached, to ensure quality, transparency, and credibility.
The reform also introduces an academic monetisation scheme, rewarding both students and lecturers for their intellectual contributions.
