The Federal Government of Nigeria has intensified its efforts to combat certificate racketeering and abuse of academic honors, setting an October 6 deadline for enforcement.
According to Senator George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the enforcement of the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank regulations will commence on October 6.
The policy requires academic credential verification processes to ensure the authenticity of certificates. All ministries, departments, and agencies, as well as higher institutions in Nigeria, will commence the implementation of an intensive but structured verification of the academic credentials of all staff and intending staff through the National Credential Verification Service of the NERD program.
Ms. Haula Galadima, Executive Director in charge of Communication and Cybersecurity for the NERD program, stated that the various services of the NERD Programme are now ready. She implored all post-secondary schools and tertiary institutions in Nigeria, as well as MDAs and the organized private sector, to heed the directive of the Federal Government and enroll their NERD Focal Persons, Record and Digitisation Officers on the agency’s website.
The government emphasizes that each certificate, diploma, honor, or award paraded by anyone anywhere in Nigeria must be earned from an accredited institution and must be identifiable, traceable, verifiable, and validatable. This move aims to restore the integrity of the education sector and ensure that only qualified individuals occupy positions in public and private institutions.
Dr. Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, had earlier introduced the National Credential Verification Service, describing it as a systemic quality assurance check nationwide to curtail academic fraud. The NCVS clearance will contain a national credential number and ancillary document security codes assigned to each verified and validated academic credential for record purposes.
The Federal Government’s decision to clamp down on fake certificates is part of its efforts to restore the integrity of the education sector and ensure that only qualified individuals occupy positions in public and private institutions. As stated by Ms. Galadima, “NERD is a quality assurance tool. NERD is a federation initiative. NERD is the federation’s standard for higher education digitisation with the objective of protecting national security and prestige, education integrity, and digitally enhancing the economic values of Nigeria’s education for global competitiveness.”
