The Federal Government has directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to use the National Credential Verification Service (NCVS) to authenticate academic certificates of staff and new hires starting October 6.
The directive, approved by the Federal Executive Council on February 4 and conveyed in an August 8 circular by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, is to enforce compliance with the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) policy.
All verified certificates will be issued a National Credential Number (NCN). MDAs must also file annual NERD compliance reports by March 30. NERD will provide regulations in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and the National Council for Colleges of Education (NCCE).
The circular noted that mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will now require proof of NERD compliance, regardless of where graduates obtained their certificates.
MDAs are to appoint NERD Focal, Record, and Digitisation Officers to oversee onboarding, manage records, and digitise academic works for preservation. Details of these officers are to be submitted to the NERD Governing Council for documentation and training.
NERD-indexed journals will also be treated as national flagships, with recognition equivalent to global indexes like SCOPUS. MDAs must allocate budgets to support NERD activities.
Compliance will be mandatory to access government privileges and services, with inter-agency data exchange supported by bodies such as the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) through APIs for validation.
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