President Bola Tinubu has ordered strict compliance with the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD). From October 6, no graduate will be mobilised for or exempted from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) without proof of NERD compliance.
The directive was contained in a circular signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume.
“NYSC mobilisation criteria are hereby adjusted in line with the President’s regulation requiring proof of NERD Policy compliance for all prospective Corps members, regardless of where they were educated,” he said.
Serving Corps members or those enrolled before the deadline will not be affected.
NERD requires every Nigerian student to deposit academic outputs such as theses and project reports. These serve as proof of continuous academic engagement, time-stamping each student’s academic journey, whether in Nigeria or abroad.
In March 2025, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, declared the policy effective. “The approved stipulations for mandatory submission of academic outputs… shall become obligatory requirements in Nigeria,” he said.
The policy covers all institutions—public or private, civilian or military—including nursing schools, colleges of agriculture, research centres, and specialised institutes.
Monetisation and Institutional Impact
Tinubu also approved an academic output monetisation and reward system. Students and lecturers can now earn revenues from their deposited works.
Every higher institution is encouraged to create a local repository, ensuring collaboration across schools that previously worked in silos.
The government also directed data agencies, including the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), to provide Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to support data exchange and validation.
NERD spokesperson Haula Galadima explained the accountability benefit: “Each item deposited shall feature the student’s full name, supervisor, co-supervisor if any, Head of Department, and sponsoring institution. This will verify authenticity and raise the bar of academic quality nationwide.”
She added that the programme would indirectly strengthen supervision in higher institutions.
“If lecturers know their names will appear globally next to the students they supervise, they are more likely to raise their standards,” Galadima said. “Very few lecturers would want their names tied to poorly produced works.”
The onboarding portal for institutions, MDAs, and organisations is available at ned.gov.ng/onboarding.
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