Nigeria’s federal government has stepped up efforts to curb certificate fraud by tightening the verification of academic credentials across universities and other tertiary institutions, in what officials describe as a major reform of the country’s education records system.
The initiative follows reports that some Nigerians had obtained degrees from unaccredited institutions abroad, raising concerns about the credibility of qualifications used to secure employment in the public and private sectors.
Speaking at a national training programme on Thursday, the education minister, Maruf Alausa, said the government was strengthening institutional compliance and academic record-keeping through a new digital platform known as the Nigeria Education Repository and Data Bank (NERD).
The programme, aimed at equipping representatives of tertiary institutions with the tools to implement the system, is part of a broader push to ensure the accuracy, security and authenticity of academic records nationwide.
Alausa said reliable data was central to effective governance and policymaking.
“Data is the lifeblood of effective governance. It enables us to understand the challenges we face so that we can design and implement effective solutions,” he said. “Without data, we are flying blind.”
According to the minister, the new platform is intended to digitise and standardise academic records across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions while providing a national system for verifying credentials.
The infrastructure will administer national credential numbers, a national credential revocation service and a student clearinghouse, as well as a federated repository of academic theses and abstracts and a national academic publication database.
Within four months of enforcement, nearly 100,000 digital student submissions have been preserved on the platform, while more than 250 universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education have been onboarded for real-time credential verification.
More than 133,000 students and about 6,800 lecturers have also enrolled, supported by more than 650 focal personnel across institutions, the minister said.
The government has also established over 1,000 digital service centres in partnership with Nigeria Digital Entrepreneurs, a move officials say has generated more than 3,000 jobs since the system’s rollout.
Alausa said the reforms were partly prompted by reports that Nigerians had obtained fraudulent degrees from dubious institutions abroad, including so-called universities operating in neighbouring countries.
“Before this administration came into government, there were reports of Nigerians travelling to the Republic of Benin to study, with some people obtaining PhD certificates in just six months,” he said.
“Some of these institutions were operating from one-room apartments and issuing certificates. But based on the president’s directive we investigated, and that practice has been stopped.”
He added that individuals found to have obtained such fraudulent qualifications had been removed from the public service.
The government has also introduced a national awards programme under the repository initiative to recognise outstanding academic research. The annual prize, due to hold its first edition in November, will reward top undergraduate, master’s and doctoral theses with prizes ranging from N5m to N20m.
The minister said compliance with the repository system would become a requirement for a wide range of federal education processes, including participation in the National Youth Service Corps.
Other agencies, including the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, the National Universities Commission, the National Board for Technical Education, the National Commission for Colleges of Education and the Industrial Training Fund, have also been directed to enforce compliance as a condition for accessing their services.
Alausa described the repository as a transparency tool that would create a digital footprint for every academic qualification issued by accredited Nigerian institutions.
“The national credential verification service will maintain a digital record of every academic award. We will aggressively enforce compliance to end credential falsification and eliminate disputes over academic records,” he said.
He also urged institutions to prioritise locally developed technology platforms in line with the government’s policy on domestic innovation.
The minister praised the reform agenda of the president, Bola Tinubu, saying the administration was pursuing “difficult but necessary decisions” to strengthen public institutions.
The chief executive of the repository, Tunji Ariyomo, said the initiative was crucial to preserving Nigeria’s academic knowledge and research output, noting that many valuable records had historically been lost due to weak documentation systems.
“Nations that preserve knowledge over long periods of time, and where that knowledge can be validated, are the ones leading the world,” he said.
Nigeria has long struggled with certificate fraud and weak verification systems, with periodic investigations uncovering forged or unverifiable degrees used to secure employment, particularly in government institutions.
The issue gained renewed attention after reports exposed the spread of illegal degree mills in parts of west Africa, prompting a federal crackdown and the latest attempt to build a transparent national database for academic credentials.
