The Federal Government has intensified efforts to safeguard the credibility of Nigeria’s academic qualifications with the rollout of the Nigeria Education Repository and Data Bank (NERD), a national digital platform designed to store, secure and authenticate academic records across tertiary institutions.
In a statement shared on the Ministry of Education’s official X handle on Friday, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the initiative during the National Capacity Building Programme for institutional representatives. He described the NERD platform as critical national infrastructure for protecting academic credentials and improving education data governance.
According to the minister, the system aligns with the Federal Government’s education reform agenda under the administration of President Ahmed Tinubu, aimed at ensuring reliable digital preservation and verification of academic records.
Alausa revealed that the platform has already recorded significant progress within a short period of implementation.
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“Within four months of implementation, the system has preserved nearly 100,000 digital student submissions, integrated over 250 tertiary institutions, and enrolled more than 133,000 students and 6,800 lecturers on the platform,” he said.
The minister explained that the initiative also targets the growing problem of certificate fraud, particularly cases involving questionable foreign degrees obtained from unaccredited institutions.
He noted that recent investigations by the government uncovered several instances where individuals presented fraudulent academic credentials from unrecognised foreign schools.
The Ministry further disclosed that participation in the NERD platform will become a requirement for graduates seeking participation in, or exemption from, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
Officials said the new digital repository is expected to strengthen transparency, simplify credential verification, and enhance confidence in Nigeria’s academic system both locally and internationally.
The Federal Government reaffirmed its commitment to building a transparent, digitally verifiable and globally respected education system through improved data management and stronger institutional oversight.
