The Federal Government and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) are working towards digitally connecting their education records to strengthen certificate verification and prevent fraudulent credentials from being used for national service and employment.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when the NYSC Director-General, Brig Gen Olakunle Nafiu, led a delegation to the ministry.
Alausa said the planned digital integration formed part of broader reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda aimed at improving the integrity and traceability of academic records.
“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 was being used to collect and authenticate university certificates, track learners through different levels of education and provide support to tertiary institutions through designated help-desk officers.
He explained that the Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure would further connect records generated at various stages of a learner’s educational journey.
Alausa also disclosed that the ministry had digitised its Education Support Services, including certificate verification and procedures involving foreign applicants.
He said talks were already underway with the NYSC to develop an application programming interface that would allow both institutions to exchange relevant information and verify qualifications more efficiently.
“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.
According to the minister, the reforms are expected to resolve administrative and data inconsistencies that have prevented some legitimate graduates from securing national service opportunities and fully accessing the labour market.
He identified 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 issues requiring attention.
Alausa said the ministry would collaborate with agencies including the National Board for Technical Education, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and National Identity Management Commission to establish a more reliable system for managing learner identities and qualifications.
He said the proposed framework would include a national Learner Identification Number and standardised procedures for recording names across education and government identity databases.
The minister explained that assigning a consistent identity to learners from the beginning of their educational journey would help prevent discrepancies that could later affect their certificates, NYSC mobilisation and employment prospects.
The government is also seeking to sustain recent efforts to curb examination malpractice, including the leakage of examination questions, and extend such measures to tertiary institutions.
The latest initiative builds on previous attempts to tighten the authentication of academic credentials used by government agencies.
In September 2025, the Federal Government directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies to adopt the National Credential Verification Service for authenticating academic certificates submitted by existing staff and new employees. The policy was expected to take effect in October that year.
The government later moved to integrate the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank authentication process into NYSC mobilisation.
In March 2026, Alausa announced that prospective corps members would have to present NERD certificates authenticating their academic qualifications before registering for national service. The NYSC subsequently said in June that it would enforce the requirement.
Concerns over fraudulent academic credentials have also surfaced in investigations involving prospective corps members and public officials.
In November 2025, former JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, said about 15,000 candidates were suspected of forging admission letters in attempts to qualify for NYSC mobilisation.
Similarly, a Federal Government panel investigating the credentials of former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, concluded in March 2026 that his University of Nigeria, Nsukka degree certificate was forged. The controversy also raised questions over an NYSC certificate.
Nafiu, in his remarks, commended the ministry’s digitalisation efforts and assured the minister of the NYSC’s continued cooperation.
He said the Corps had been pursuing digital transformation since 2014 and had developed systems capable of providing reliable information on corps members and their deployment.
The NYSC director-general said the Corps had complied with a Federal Executive Council directive on collaboration with the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank and was prepared to strengthen the partnership.
According to Nafiu, technology had significantly improved the integrity of NYSC operations, particularly through the introduction of QR codes, which he said had “virtually eliminated document cloning” within the scheme.
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