The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, has announced that only graduates with a valid NERD certificate will be eligible for mobilization into the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
The announcement was made during the 2026 Batch ‘B’ Pre-Mobilization Workshop held in Abuja, where the NYSC management discussed new measures aimed at improving the verification of academic credentials and reducing certificate fraud in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
According to the NYSC Director-General, the policy is part of a broader federal government initiative to ensure that all academic records submitted for mobilization are digitally verified and traceable through a centralized national database.
Under the system, graduates are required to upload their academic projects, theses, dissertations and credentials for verification before they can obtain a NERD clearance certificate or slip. The process also generates a National Credential Number (NCN), which can be used for future verification by employers, government agencies and educational institutions.
Officials say the initiative was introduced to combat certificate forgery, eliminate fake academic credentials and strengthen the integrity of Nigeria’s educational records system.
Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, had earlier confirmed that NERD compliance had become a prerequisite for participation in or exemption from the NYSC scheme.
According to the minister, the government introduced the policy to create a permanent digital footprint for all academic awards issued by accredited Nigerian institutions.
He also stated that federal agencies including the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) and TETFund would enforce compliance among tertiary institutions.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
