Pursuant to the persistent outcry by notable academics and reputable institutions, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has intensified its crackdown on certificate racketeering and abuse of academic honours
Towards this end, it has directed a nationwide enforcement of the regulations as contained in the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) regarding academic credential verification processes, effective October 6.
This directive was contained in a service-wide circular issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume (CON), dated 8th of August 2025, a copy of which was sighted by our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday.
The circular stated that effective from the 6th of October 2025, all Ministries, Department and Agencies as well as all higher institutions in Nigeria, whether civilian, military, private or public, are to commence the implementation of an intensive but structured verification of the academic credential of all staff and intending staff through the National Credential Verification Service (NCVS) of the NERD programme and thereafter ensure compliance for each new recruitment by obtaining an instant NCVS clearance affirming the authenticity of each academic credential presented anywhere within the Federal Republic of Nigeria before confirmation of appointment.
The circular also directed that, henceforth, an NCVS clearance becomes part of the documentation for each employee.
The clearance is to, among other things, contain a national credential number (NCN) that belongs to that credential and ancillary document security codes assigned to each verified and validated academic credential for record-keeping purposes.
This major reform implies that each certificate, diploma, honour, or award paraded by anyone anywhere in Nigeria must be earned from an accredited institution and must be identifiable, traceable, verifiable, and validatable with the click of a button.
While the nation has had several interventions in the past, this new directive departs from the usual reliance on the affected agency or an institution, but fundamentally establishes a new regime of quality assurance that is outside the control of a single institution or the usual culprits.
It invokes Section 10(1) of the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions Act 1985) regarding governance of national education standards and the safeguard of academic integrity and assigns the responsibility for its enforcement to the newly established N.E.R.D., which was proposed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in May 2023.
The National Credential Verification Service is a key component of the NERD programme.
It was introduced to Nigerians by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, in March 2025, following his successful memorandum that was approved by the Federal Executive Council, which heralded a National Proclamation and Declaration of Effectiveness for the NERD programme.
In the Declaration, Alausa announced the decisive “launch of the NCVS as a systemic quality assurance check nationwide to curtail academic fraud which threatens the integrity of the education sector due to the activities of merchants of fake degrees, qualification fraud, phoney certificates, as well as bogus unearned honours from unaccredited institutions and diploma mills.”
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Better
Long overdue