FG Launches NERD Data Bank, Announces ₦5m–₦20m Prizes for Best Student Theses

The Federal Government has launched the Nigerian Education Repository and Data Bank (NERD) and announced cash prizes ranging from ₦5 million to ₦20 million for outstanding undergraduate, master’s and doctoral theses focused on data and academic research.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during the 2026 National Capacity Building Programme on the implementation and enforcement of the NERD policy.

According to the minister, the new repository is designed as a national digital infrastructure aimed at securing, standardising and authenticating academic records across Nigeria’s post-secondary and tertiary institutions.

Alausa said the initiative would also serve as a major tool in combating certificate forgery by linking institutional access to verified academic records.

He added that the government has approved the establishment of the NERD Annual National Laureate Prize and Awards Programme, which will reward exceptional academic theses with prizes ranging from ₦5 million to ₦20 million. The maiden edition of the awards is scheduled for November 2026.

The minister explained that compliance with the repository has now become mandatory for participation in the National Youth Service Corps as well as for accessing funding and services from agencies including the National Universities Commission, National Board for Technical Education, National Commission for Colleges of Education and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.

“With the approval of the Federal Executive Council, NERD was established as the digitisation vehicle of Nigeria’s education sector,” Alausa said.

He noted that the platform administers National Credential Numbers, a National Credential Verification Service, a National Students Clearing House, and a federated repository of academic texts and abstracts, alongside a national academic publication and indexing database.

According to the minister, more than 350 universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education have already been integrated into the system, enabling real-time credential verification.

So far, over 133,000 students and more than 6,800 lecturers have been enrolled on the platform, supported by 665 focal persons nationwide.

Alausa revealed that within four months of enforcement, the system had already curated and preserved nearly 100,000 digital student submissions that might otherwise have been lost.

He added that the platform also supports institutional autonomy through a profit-sharing arrangement, under which 40 per cent of revenues from credential verification services are returned to the originating institutions.

In addition, the government has partnered with Nigerian digital entrepreneurs to establish 1,060 Digital Service Centres across the country, creating more than 3,000 direct jobs within four months.

The minister emphasised that the initiative represents the Federal Government’s commitment to education data ownership, transparency and zero tolerance for academic fraud.

He further disclosed that NERD has developed indigenous repository software and an anti-plagiarism system, stressing that it would be against national interest to rely solely on foreign alternatives when local solutions are available.