The federal government has introduced the Nigerian Education Repository and Data Bank Annual National Laureate Prize and Awards Programme, offering prizes ranging from ₦5 million to ₦20 million for outstanding undergraduate, Master's, and Doctoral theses on data.
Dr Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, announced the initiative on Thursday in Abuja during the 2026 national capacity building programme on the implementation and enforcement of the Nigeria Education Repository and Data Bank policy, revealing that the maiden edition will hold in November 2026. He described NERD as critical national infrastructure designed to protect the credibility of Nigeria's academic qualifications and strengthen the integrity of educational records.
The November event will spotlight students whose verified credentials exemplify the platform's push for academic integrity, according to the minister.
Alausa disclosed that within just four months of enforcement, NERD has curated and preserved close to 100,000 digital student submissions that might otherwise have been lost to obscurity, with more than 250 universities, polytechnics, monotechnics, and colleges of education now connected to the system, enabling real time credential verification.
Speaking on the theme, "Strengthening institutional compliance and academic records integrity", the minister stated that compliance with the repository data bank has become mandatory for participation in the National Youth Service Corps and for accessing funds from NUC, NBTE, NCCE, and TETFUND.
"It is important to clarify that while NERD compliance is now a prerequisite for participation in, or exemption from, the National Youth Service Corps, enforcement extends far beyond NYSC. Agencies such as TETFund, the National Universities Commission, the National Board for Technical Education, the National Commission for Colleges of Education, and the Industrial Training Fund, as well as all accredited tertiary institutions, are mandated to ensure compliance as a condition for accessing their services," Alausa explained.
The minister emphasised that academic certificates represent a national guarantee of educational standards and due process, stating that when a certificate is issued, it is not merely a piece of paper but a national guarantee that due process has been followed and academic standards have been upheld.
Over 133,000 students and over 6,800 lecturers are now enrolled on the platform, supported by over 665 focal persons nationwide, with the November maiden edition scheduled to spotlight students whose verified credentials exemplify the platform's push for academic integrity.
The minister revealed that to protect institutional autonomy, the government approved that 40% of revenues generated from credential verification services will be returned to participating institutions.
Through collaboration with Nigerian digital entrepreneurs, NERD has established over 1,000 Digital Service Centres across the country, creating more than 3,000 direct jobs within four months.
