By Opeyemi Adelakun
The Federal Government has stepped up efforts to eliminate loopholes in academic record management, with plans to connect the education system directly with the National Youth Service Corps for faster verification of graduates’ qualifications.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the planned collaboration on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting with NYSC Director-General, Brig Gen Olakunle Nafiu, and his delegation.
The proposed digital connection is expected to allow relevant information to move between the Ministry of Education and NYSC more efficiently while helping authorities detect fraudulent credentials before they are used for national service or employment.
Alausa said the government’s broader digital transformation programme was aimed at improving the credibility of academic qualifications and ensuring that legitimate graduates were not punished for administrative shortcomings.
“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 already being used to collect and verify university certificates, track learners and support tertiary institutions.
He explained that the Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure would further connect information generated at various stages of a student’s educational journey.
According to Alausa, the ministry has also digitised its Education Support Services from end to end, including certificate verification and procedures involving foreign applicants.
A key component of the latest plan is an application programming interface being discussed with NYSC to enable seamless data exchange.
“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,” the minister said.
He said the reforms were necessary because several graduates had encountered difficulties arising from administrative and data inconsistencies.
Among the problems identified were differences in the way names were recorded, issues affecting graduates of part-time National Diploma programmes and challenges involving the progression of National Certificate in Education holders to Higher National Diploma programmes.
To tackle these issues, the ministry plans to work with NBTE, JAMB, NIMC and other agencies involved in education and identity management.
Alausa also announced plans for a national Learner Identification Number that would give students a consistent identity throughout their education.
The minister said a uniform system for recording and sequencing names across government education and identity databases would help establish reliable records from the beginning and prevent discrepancies from following graduates into employment and other public services.
The move comes after a series of government actions aimed at tightening the use of academic credentials.
In September 2025, Ministries, Departments and Agencies were directed to adopt the National Credential Verification Service for checking academic certificates belonging to staff and new employees.
The Federal Government later moved to incorporate NERD authentication into NYSC mobilisation, with Alausa announcing in March 2026 that prospective corps members would need authenticated academic qualifications before registration.
The NYSC announced in June that it would enforce the requirement strictly to prevent fraudulent or unqualified graduates from entering the national service programme.
Concerns over fake academic documents have intensified following several investigations. Former JAMB Registrar Prof Is-haq Oloyede disclosed in November 2025 that about 15,000 candidates had allegedly forged admission letters in attempts to secure NYSC mobilisation.
The credentials of former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, also came under government scrutiny, with a panel reporting in March 2026 that his University of Nigeria, Nsukka degree certificate was forged. The investigation also raised issues surrounding an NYSC certificate.
Meanwhile, Nafiu said the NYSC remained committed to supporting the Federal Government’s digitalisation drive.
He said the Corps began its digitalisation efforts in 2014 and had since developed systems for managing information on corps members and their deployment.
Nafiu disclosed that NYSC had complied with the Federal Executive Council’s directive on collaboration with NERD and was prepared to deepen the relationship with the Education Ministry.
He also highlighted the impact of technology on the Corps’ document-security measures, saying the introduction of QR codes had “virtually eliminated document cloning” within NYSC.
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