The Federal Government has launched the Nigeria Education Repository and Data Bank (NERD), a national digital platform designed to secure, digitise and authenticate academic records across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, announced the initiative during the National Capacity Building Programme for institutional representatives, describing the platform as critical infrastructure for safeguarding the integrity of Nigeria’s academic credentials and strengthening education data governance.
Alausa said the initiative aligns with the reform agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, aimed at strengthening institutional credibility and ensuring reliable digital preservation and verification of academic records nationwide.
Within four months of implementation, the system has already preserved nearly 100,000 digital student submissions. More than 250 tertiary institutions have been integrated into the platform, while over 133,000 students and about 6,800 lecturers have enrolled.
The minister explained that the platform also addresses the growing challenge of certificate fraud, noting that recent investigations uncovered cases involving fraudulent foreign credentials obtained from unaccredited institutions.
The Ministry further disclosed that participation in the NERD system will become a prerequisite for participation in or exemption from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
The Federal Government said the initiative forms part of broader efforts to build a transparent, digitally verifiable and globally respected education system.
