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The Federal Government is working with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to digitally connect education records as part of efforts to expose fake academic credentials, speed up certificate verification and protect genuine graduates from being wrongly excluded from national service and employment opportunities.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when the NYSC Director-General, Brig Gen Olakunle Nafiu, led a delegation of the Corps on a visit to the ministry.
Alausa said the initiative formed part of the digital reforms being implemented under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to improve the management of academic records and close gaps that allow fraudulent qualifications to go undetected.
“The digital transformation of Nigeria’s education system under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda is strengthening the integrity of academic qualifications, tackling certificate racketeering and ensuring that genuine students and graduates are not disadvantaged,” he said.
The minister said the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank (NERD) was being used to collect and verify university certificates, monitor learners across different levels of education and provide support to tertiary institutions through designated help-desk officers.
He added that the Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure would connect information generated at different points of a learner’s educational journey, creating a more reliable record of academic progression.
According to Alausa, the ministry has also digitised its Education Support Services from end to end, covering certificate verification and processes involving foreign applicants.
“Discussions were ongoing with the NYSC on an application programming interface that would facilitate faster verification and seamless exchange of relevant data between both institutions,” he said.
The minister said closer integration between the ministry and NYSC would help resolve administrative and data-related problems that have prevented some qualified graduates from participating fully in the national service programme and accessing employment opportunities.
He listed discrepancies in names, challenges involving graduates of part-time National Diploma programmes and the admission of National Certificate in Education holders into Higher National Diploma programmes among the issues requiring attention.
Alausa said the ministry would work with the National Board for Technical Education, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, National Identity Management Commission and other relevant agencies to establish permanent solutions to the problems.
One of the proposed measures is the introduction of a national Learner Identification Number, alongside a uniform system for capturing and sequencing names across education and identity databases.
The minister explained that the system would establish accurate identity information from the beginning of a learner’s academic journey and minimise discrepancies that could later affect certification, mobilisation for national service or employment.
Alausa also said the government had intensified its fight against examination malpractice, including the leakage of examination questions, adding that the progress achieved so far must be sustained and extended to tertiary institutions.
The latest initiative builds on the Federal Government’s broader efforts to strengthen the authentication of academic credentials used for employment and NYSC mobilisation.
In September 2025, the government directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies to begin using the National Credential Verification Service to authenticate academic certificates presented by existing staff and new employees, with implementation scheduled for October that year.
The government later moved to incorporate NERD authentication into the NYSC mobilisation process.
In March 2026, Alausa announced that prospective corps members would be required to present NERD certificates confirming their academic qualifications before registering for the compulsory national service.
The NYSC subsequently announced in June 2026 that it would strictly enforce the requirement as part of measures to prevent fraudulent and unqualified graduates from gaining entry into the scheme.
Concerns over fake credentials have also emerged in recent investigations.
In November 2025, former JAMB Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed that about 15,000 candidates had allegedly forged admission letters in attempts to qualify for NYSC mobilisation.
Similarly, a Federal Government investigation into the academic credentials of former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, found in March 2026 that his University of Nigeria, Nsukka degree certificate was forged. The investigation also raised questions surrounding an NYSC certificate.
Speaking during the meeting, Nafiu commended the ministry’s digital reforms and assured the government of the NYSC’s continued cooperation in transforming the education sector.
He said the Corps had been pursuing digitalisation since 2014 and had developed systems designed to provide reliable information on corps members and support their deployment.
Nafiu said the NYSC had complied with the Federal Executive Council’s directive on collaboration with the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank and was prepared to deepen its partnership with the Education Ministry.
According to him, technology has significantly improved the integrity of NYSC operations, particularly through the introduction of QR codes, which he said had “virtually eliminated document cloning” within the Corps.
