FG makes thesis submission mandatory for NYSC participants

Abuja—President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has activated provisions outlined in Sections 2(4)(4) and 16(1)(C) of the NYSC Act, thereby endorsing a comprehensive reform that mandates adherence to the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank, NERD, as a prerequisite for both mobilization into and exemption from the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC.

The directive for compliance was detailed in Item 2(ix) of an enforcement circular recently disseminated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who communicated the approval for the modification of the "NYSC mobilization criteria in alignment with the President’s regulation necessitating proof of NERD Policy compliance for all prospective Corps members, irrespective of their educational background."

In addition to the provisions within the policy aimed at curbing certificate fraud and the misuse of honors awarded by academic institutions, one of the newly mandated requirements for Nigerian students, as outlined in the federal government’s policy, is the submission of academic outputs, which encompass thesis or project reports.

Section 6.1.23 of the policy stipulates that this requirement is intended: "as a quality assurance measure and as an annual independent verification of ongoing academic enrollment and affiliation," as it is anticipated to reliably timestamp scholarships, academic endeavors, and footprints regardless of geographical location.

It is noteworthy that in March 2025, during the announcement of the effectiveness of NERD, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, remarked that "the established requirements for the mandatory submission of academic outputs as delineated in Sections 2.3, 4.3(1), and 7.6.11(c), among others, of the sanctioned National Policy for the NERD Programme shall become compulsory in Nigeria.

“The NERD Policy applies in equal measures to all education delivery institutions regardless of ownership type (public, private, military or civilian) whether within or outside the direct supervision of the federal ministry of education, such as colleges or schools of nursing, agriculture, specialised research institutions and institutes, etc.”

The circular issued by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, has now clarified that, effective from October 6, no Nigerian graduate – whether from a Nigerian university, polytechnic, college of education, or an overseas institution will henceforth be mobilised for or exempted from NYSC without proof of NERD compliance.

This step aims to safeguard the nation’s intellectual assets while restoring credibility to academic processes and qualifications.

The directive does not, however, affect serving Corps members or those enrolled before the October 6th enforcement date.

A copy of the approved NERD policy obtained by our correspondent revealed that President Tinubu also approved an academic output monetisation and reward mechanism for students and their lecturers, which Alausa proposed to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to ensure students and lecturers can earn lifetime revenues from their academic deposits.

The policy encourages each higher institution to set up its local repository.

Specifically, the policy created an illuminated pathway with a well-structured collaborative framework where the various autonomous institutions had hitherto operated as silos.

The federal government’s circular to Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), and higher institutions of learning (public and private, civilian and military alike) directs full enforcement of the NERD Policy.

In addition, critical data bodies, including the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, are required to provide inter-organisation data exchange support via Application Programming Interfaces, APIs, to facilitate onboarding and data validation.

While underscoring the significance of the directive, spokesperson for NERD, Haula Galadima, explained that each item deposited by a student shall feature the full name of the student, and those of his supervisor, co-supervisor, if any, and that of the Head of Department, as well as the sponsoring institution and department.

She further stated that, “apart from the mandate to verify for authenticity as a national flagship, the NERD digitisation programme has a clear objective – to raise the bar in the quality of academic content, output and presentation nationwide.

“One way NERD intends to accomplish this task, based on its mandate, is to strengthen the supervision processes in the nation’s higher institutions without getting involved in the processes.
If our eminent scholars are aware that their names will appear next to those of the students they supervise on a globally available digital platform, there is the likelihood that each lecturer would up his or her standard.

“Very few lecturers would want their names associated with poorly produced academic works. NERD is therefore poised to help each lecturer earn his ‘earned allowances’ by providing thorough supervision.”