The Federal Government is moving to link education records with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) as part of a broader effort to tackle certificate fraud and ensure genuine graduates are not shut out of national service or employment opportunities.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed the plan on Tuesday during a meeting with NYSC Director-General, Brig Gen Olakunle Nafiu, and his delegation in Abuja. He said the digital reforms were aimed at closing gaps in the management and verification of academic records.
Alausa said the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank (NERD) was already collecting and verifying university certificates, tracking learners and supporting tertiary institutions. He added that the Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure would connect records across different stages of a learner’s educational journey.
The minister said the Education Ministry and NYSC were discussing an application programming interface (API) that would allow both institutions to exchange relevant information and verify qualifications faster. The system is expected to reduce delays and help resolve cases where legitimate graduates face problems during NYSC mobilisation or when seeking employment.
Several record-keeping problems are also being targeted. Alausa cited discrepancies in names, issues involving graduates of part-time National Diploma programmes and the admission of National Certificate in Education holders into Higher National Diploma programmes among the challenges requiring attention.
The government plans to work with the National Board for Technical Education, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and National Identity Management Commission, among other agencies, to establish a national Learner Identification Number. The proposed system would also create a consistent approach to recording names across education and identity databases.
The move follows previous government efforts to make credential verification part of NYSC mobilisation. In September 2025, Ministries, Departments and Agencies were directed to use the National Credential Verification Service for academic certificates of staff and new recruits. By March 2026, the Education Ministry said prospective corps members would need NERD authentication of their qualifications before registering for national service.
The need for tighter checks has been highlighted by cases of alleged credential fraud. Former JAMB Registrar Prof Is-haq Oloyede said in November 2025 that about 15,000 candidates had allegedly forged admission letters in attempts to qualify for NYSC mobilisation. The Federal Government also investigated the academic credentials of former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, with a panel concluding in March 2026 that his University of Nigeria, Nsukka degree certificate was forged.
Nafiu welcomed the reforms and said NYSC was ready to deepen its partnership with the Education Ministry. He said the Corps had pursued digitalisation since 2014 and that technology, including the introduction of QR codes, had strengthened its document security and had “virtually eliminated document cloning” within the scheme.
