By DAYO ADESULU
Abuja — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a sweeping reform linking the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) mobilisation and exemption process to mandatory compliance with the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD).
The directive, anchored on Sections 2(4)(4) and 16(1)(C) of the NYSC Act, was conveyed in an enforcement circular issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume.
Effective October 6, 2025, no Nigerian graduate — whether from a university, polytechnic, college of education, or foreign institution — will be mobilised for or exempted from NYSC without proof of compliance with the NERD policy. Serving corps members and those already enrolled before the enforcement date are not affected.
Key Requirements Under the NERD Policy
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Deposit of Academic Outputs: Students must upload theses, dissertations, or project reports into the national repository.
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Verification & Quality Assurance: Each submission will feature the student’s name, supervisor(s), Head of Department, and institution.
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Intellectual Property Protection: Deposits will be time-stamped as proof of continuous enrolment and academic activity.
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Academic Reward Mechanism: Approved by Tinubu, the policy will allow students and lecturers to earn lifetime revenues from their deposited works.
Policy Objectives
According to NERD spokesperson Haula Galadima, the reform aims to:
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Curb certificate racketeering and fake qualifications.
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Improve the quality of academic supervision and research output.
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Protect Nigeria’s intellectual assets.
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Encourage higher institutions to establish local repositories.
She explained:
“If eminent scholars know their names will appear beside students’ works on a globally available platform, they will raise supervision standards. Few lecturers would want their names tied to poorly produced academic works.”
Government Enforcement
The circular mandates all higher institutions — public, private, civilian, and military — to comply, while agencies such as the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will provide data integration support through APIs for verification.
The policy, first declared effective in March 2025 by Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa, applies to all institutions, including specialised colleges of nursing, agriculture, and research centres, regardless of ownership.
This move represents the most far-reaching effort yet to restore credibility to Nigeria’s education system while ensuring academic works become globally verifiable, monetisable, and transparent.
