Pursuant to the persistent outcry by notable academics and reputable institutions, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has intensified its crackdown on certificate racketeering and abuse of academic honours.

Towards this end, it has directed a nationwide enforcement of the regulations as contained in the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) regarding academic credential verification processes, effective October 6.

This directive was contained in a service-wide circular issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume (CON), dated 8th of August 2025, a copy of which was sighted by our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday.

The circular stated that effective from the 6th of October 2025, all Ministries, Department and Agencies as well as all higher institutions in Nigeria, whether civilian, military, private or public, are to commence the implementation of an intensive but structured verification of the academic credential of all staff and intending staff through the National Credential Verification Service (NCVS) of the NERD programme and thereafter ensure compliance for each new recruitment by obtaining an instant NCVS clearance affirming the authenticity of each academic credential presented anywhere within the Federal Republic of Nigeria before confirmation of appointment.

The circular also directed that, henceforth, an NCVS clearance becomes part of the documentation for each employee.

The clearance is to, among other things; contain a national credential number (NCN) that belongs to that credential and ancillary document security codes assigned to each verified and validated academic credential for record-keeping purposes.

This major reform implies that each certificate, diploma, honour, or award paraded by anyone anywhere in Nigeria must be earned from an accredited institution and must be identifiable, traceable, verifiable, and validatable with the click of a button.

While the nation has had several interventions in the past, this new directive departs from the usual reliance on the affected agency or an institution, but fundamentally establishes a new regime of quality assurance that is outside the control of a single institution or the usual culprits.

It invokes Section 10(1) of the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions Act 1985) regarding governance of national education standards and the safeguard of academic integrity and assigns the responsibility for its enforcement to the newly established N.E.R.D., which was proposed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in May 2023.

The National Credential Verification Service is a key component of the NERD programme.

It was introduced to Nigerians by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, in March 2025, following his successful memorandum that was approved by the Federal Executive Council, which heralded a National Proclamation and Declaration of Effectiveness for the NERD programme.

In the Declaration, Alausa announced the decisive “launch of the NCVS as a systemic quality assurance check nationwide to curtail academic fraud which threatens the integrity of the education sector due to the activities of merchants of fake degrees, qualification fraud, phoney certificates, as well as bogus unearned honours from unaccredited institutions and diploma mills.”

Ms. Haula Galadima, the Executive Director in charge of Communication and Cybersecurity for the NERD programme noted in an email that the various services of the NERD Programme are now ready.

She implored all post-secondary schools and tertiary institutions in Nigeria, as well as MDAs and the organised private sector, to heed the directive of the Federal Government and enroll their NERD Focal Persons, Record and Digitization Officers on the agency’s website at ned.gov.ng/onboarding.

According to her, “NERD is a quality assurance tool. NERD is a federation initiative. NERD is the federation’s standard for higher education digitization with the objective of protecting national security and prestige, education integrity, and digitally enhancing the economic values of Nigeria’s education for global competitiveness.”

Galadima stated further that “NERD has other critical responsibilities. But as far as academic credentials are concerned, NERD’s mandate includes the administration of the National Student Number (NSN), the National Credential Number (NCN), and the National Document Number (NDN) to ensure that each genuine award or honour obtained in any accredited institution in Nigeria is identifiable, traceable, verifiable, and validatable.

“Such records will enable NERD to host the National Database of Resource Persons, where every genuine honour can be instantly verified.

“Fake degrees, fake academic titles, and unearned honours persist because culprits know that the process of being found out is laborious. There are numerous qualified institutions, but no one can rule out the possibility of collusion by a few compromised individuals within some of those institutions.

“What the federal government has done is to create the nation’s official one-stop shop for data consistency that operates as an interconnection of decentralized systems.

“So, the various systems are still decentralized. Each system remains autonomous. But Nigeria now has a tool to facilitate organic digital cooperation and coordination of these decentralized systems in the larger strategic interest of the nation.”

While further explaining the structure of NERD, Galadima said, “As approved by FEC, NERD is owned by all post-secondary schools and tertiary institutions in Nigeria and their respective regulatory organs.

She further clarified that NERD’s Governing Council “is comprised of key leaders of the various arms that constitute the nation’s higher education sector and agencies with roles that are tangential to data privacy.

“Sections 3.6, 6.1.3, and 7.6.2 of the NERD National Policy list the Governing Council’s members to include the Chief Executives of the NUC, NBTE, NCCE, National Library, Committee of Vice Chancellors of all Nigerian Universities, Committee of Rectors of all Nigerian Polytechnics, Committee of Provosts of all Nigerian Colleges of Education, the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, etc.”

“The NERD Council is headed by the Honourable Minister of Education”, she added. (Vanguard)