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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa and Faith Abdulkadiri

In a decisive move, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has invoked provisions in Sections 2(4)(4) and 16(1)(C) of the NYSC Act, and approved a far-reaching reform that makes compliance with the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) a mandatory requirement for mobilisation into or exemption from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

The compliance directive was Item 2(ix) in an enforcement circular recently issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who conveyed the approval for the adjustment of “NYSC mobilisation criteria in accordance with the President’s regulation requiring proof of NERD Policy compliance for all prospective Corps members, regardless of where they were educated.”

Apart from provisions in the policy meant to check certificate racketeering and honour abuse, one of the new mandatory requirements of Nigerian students in the policy is the deposit of academic outputs, which include thesis or project reports.

In Section 6.1.23 of the policy, the requirement is designed “as a quality assurance check and as a yearly independent proof of continuous academic enrolment and affiliation” as it is expected to inviolably time-stamp scholarship, academic activities, and footprint regardless of location.

Earlier in March 2025, while issuing the Declaration of Effectiveness for NERD, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, stated that following the declaration, “the approved stipulations for mandatory submission of academic outputs as provided in Sections 2.3, 4.3(1), and 7.6.11(c), among others, of the approved National Policy for the NERD Programme shall become obligatory requirements in Nigeria.”

He further stated that “the NERD Policy applies in equal
measures to all education delivery institutions regardless of ownership type (public, private, military or civilian) whether within or outside the direct supervision of the Federal Ministry of Education, such as Colleges or Schools of Nursing, Agriculture, specialised research
centres and institutes, etc.”

The SGF circular has now clarified that, effective from October 6, no Nigerian graduate – whether from a Nigerian university, polytechnic, college of education, or an overseas institution will henceforth be mobilised for or exempted from NYSC without proof of NERD compliance.

This bold step is a masterstroke in safeguarding the nation’s intellectual assets while restoring credibility to academic processes and qualifications.

The directive does not, however, affect serving Corps members or those enrolled before the enforcement date.

A copy of the approved NERD policy obtained by our correspondent shows that the President also approved an academic output monetisation and reward mechanism for students and their lecturers, which was proposed to the Federal Cabinet by Alausa to ensure students and lecturers can earn lifetime revenues from their academic deposits.

The policy encourages each higher institution to set up its local repository.

More significantly, the policy creates an illuminated pathway with a well-structured collaborative framework where the various autonomous institutions had hitherto operated as silos.

The Federal Government’s circular to Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), and higher institutions of learning (public and private, civilian and military alike) directs full enforcement of the NERD Policy.

In addition, critical data bodies, including the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), are to provide inter-organisation data exchange support via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to facilitate onboarding and data validation.

Underscoring the significance of the directive, spokesperson for NERD, Haula Galadima, explained that each item deposited by a student shall feature the full name of the student, and those of his supervisor, co-supervisor, if any, and that of the Head of Department, as well as the sponsoring institution and department.

Providing insight, she stated that “apart from the mandate to verify for authenticity as a national flagship, the NERD digitisation programme has a clear objective – to raise the bar in the quality of academic content, output and presentation nationwide. One way NERD intends to accomplish this task, based on its mandate, is to strengthen the supervision processes in the nation’s higher institutions without getting involved in the processes. If our eminent scholars are aware that their names will appear next to those of the students they supervise on a globally available digital platform, there is the likelihood that each lecturer would up his or her standard. Very few lecturers would want their names associated with poorly produced academic works. NERD is therefore poised to help each lecturer earn his ‘earned allowances’ by providing thorough supervision.”

Galadima had earlier stated that the onboarding process for all higher institutions, MDAs and corporate organisations is through https://ned.gov.ng/onboarding

● Why it matters

The NERD Policy is Nigeria’s answer to decades of intellectual waste. For too long, thousands of theses, dissertations, and research projects – brimming with insights capable of transforming agriculture, medicine, engineering, and governance – have gathered dust in libraries, unorganised and untapped.

The NYSC will now serve as a quality assurance check to enhance national productivity with a legal mandate to ensure all graduates are contributors to the national pool of knowledge.

Apart from the digitisation of current manuscripts, NERD is also designed to help institutions digitise their historical academic records and publications.

The NERD digital platform will organise, classify, and warehouse over 90 years’ worth of academic research across all Nigerian tertiary institutions and serve as a collaborative hub for Nigerian educational institutions, going back to when institutions like Yaba Higher College, which was established in 1932 or the University College Ibadan in 1948.

President Tinubu’s directive on enforcement means Nigeria can now classify, safeguard, and preserve its historical body of knowledge, converting academic outputs into real economic and development values.

In doing so, the administration is not only protecting, enhancing, or preserving intellectual properties but also laying the foundation for innovation-driven growth and competitive intellectual output commercialisation.

● Stakeholders’ response

This NERD initiative reflects President Tinubu’s broader agenda of renewed hope through institutional reforms. By linking NYSC mobilisation directly to the NERD framework, he has demonstrated an unmatched statesman’s acumen and a rare political will to enforce standards and restore dignity to Nigeria’s education sector in a systemic manner.

Educational stakeholders have applauded the NERD programme. According to Haruna Abdullahi, an energy expert and Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, “NERD is a game changer. There is a part that addresses our publishing needs as lecturers – the national publication indexing service. People talk less about that. That aspect is for lecturers. It creates an acceptable national indexing alternative for academics that can match the best globally and be acceptable for promotion and other career-related objectives. That is a win-win as it will, in turn, let the nation set its research agenda.”

Abdullahi opined that “for young Nigerians preparing for NYSC, the message is equally clear: your thesis, dissertation, or project is no longer a mere graduation requirement – it is an asset kept in trust for you and for the future of the nation. It’s also saying your project work or thesis is important. Long after your graduation, it can be accessed online, referenced for improvements, or simply to determine the kind of student you were!”

Also, Prof. Adenike Adeniji, the first female Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), spoke at the NERD stakeholders meeting in Abuja that she hoped that the NERD programme “kicks start immediately”, stating that “this is something that we all have been expecting. It should have happened a long time ago, but now that we are in it, there should be no delay again. Coming from the education sector, we know the pressure we face from time to time trying to meet the needs of our students. I think at this time, we are getting it right.”

Similarly, former Vice Chancellor of the Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, who is the incumbent Commissioner for Education in Ondo State, described the NERD Programme as ranking “among the most important reforms in the education sector since 1999.”

Ajibefun, who had earlier commended the Minister of Education, Alausa, for the NERD Programme, added that “NERD sends a clear message to education stakeholders, administrators, lecturers, students, institutions, and corporate businesses alike: Nigeria values education integrity – it values its intellectual capital, and that the President is ready to champion the process.”

● Looking Ahead

From 30 March each year, all organisations and higher institutions must now file annual compliance reports to NERD, enhancing monitoring and evaluation to ensure sustainability, continuity, and accountability. The ripple effect is expected to boost the credibility of Nigerian publications and certifications globally, discourage academic output waste, eliminate opportunities for academic fraud, and strengthen confidence in Nigerian graduates as valuable contributors to national and international development.