The Federal Government has preserved nearly 100,000 digital student submissions within four months through the implementation of the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) Policy, Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has said.

Alausa disclosed this yesterday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the 2026 National Capacity Building Programme on the Implementation and Enforcement of the NERD Policy, themed “Strengthening Institutional Compliance and Academic Records Integrity.”

He said the NERD platform was created as a strategic national infrastructure to secure, standardise, digitise and authenticate academic records across Nigeria’s post-secondary and tertiary institutions.

According to the minister, the initiative reflects the Federal Government’s commitment to education data ownership, zero tolerance for academic fraud and preservation of the country’s academic history.

Alausa explained that the policy was approved by the Federal Executive Council as the digitisation vehicle for the education sector.

He noted that the platform administers several systems, including the National Credential Number (NCN), the National Credential Verification Service (NCVS), the National Students Clearing House, a repository of academic texts and abstracts, as well as a National Academic Publication and Indexing Database.

Providing updates on implementation, the minister said more than 350 universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education have already been onboarded for real-time credential verification.

He added that over 133,000 students and 6,800 lecturers had been enrolled on the platform, supported by 665 focal officers nationwide.

“In addition, through collaboration with Nigerian digital entrepreneurs, NERD has established 1,060 Digital Service Centres across the country, creating more than 3,000 direct jobs within four months,” he said.

The minister emphasised that the credibility of academic certificates depends on the integrity of national record-keeping systems.

He also announced the establishment of the NERD Annual National Laureate Prize and Awards Programme, which will reward outstanding undergraduate, master’s and doctoral theses with prizes ranging from N5 million to N20 million, with the maiden edition scheduled for November this year.

He further clarified that compliance with the NERD platform is now a prerequisite for participation in or exemption from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.

According to him, enforcement would also involve key agencies, including the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Commission for Colleges of Education  (NCCE) and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF).

He said the NCVS component of the platform would maintain a national digital footprint of all academic awards obtained in accredited Nigerian institutions.

Alausa urged NERD focal officers, record officers and digitisation officers across institutions to ensure diligence in verifying and uploading records, describing them as custodians of institutional credibility.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Chairman/Chief Executive, Nigeria Education Repository and Databank, Olatunji Ariyomo, said the capacity-building programme was designed to equip institutional focal officers and record managers with the technical knowledge required to effectively implement the policy.