FG To Deepen NYSC Digital Integration, Tackle Certificate Racketeering

The Federal Government is set to deepen digital integration of education records with the National Youth Service Corps to tackle certificate racketeering, strengthen qualification verification and prevent genuine graduates from being denied opportunities. Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa disclosed this on Tuesday during a meeting with NYSC Director-General Brig Gen Olakunle Nafiu, who led a delegation to the ministry in Abuja.

Alausa said the digital reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda are closing loopholes in managing and verifying educational records. He explained that the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank is collecting and verifying university certificates and tracking learners, while the Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure would link records across a learner’s educational journey. Discussions were ongoing with the NYSC on an API to enable faster verification and data exchange between both institutions.

The minister identified challenges requiring urgent attention, including name discrepancies, issues affecting part-time National Diploma graduates, and the admission of National Certificate in Education holders into HND programmes. He said the ministry would work with NBTE, JAMB, NIMC and other stakeholders to introduce a national Learner Identification Number and a consistent framework for recording names across government databases, alongside strengthened measures against examination malpractice.

The move follows earlier steps to tighten credential authentication, including a September 2025 directive for MDAs to use the National Credential Verification Service and a March 2026 requirement for prospective corps members to present NERD-authenticated certificates before NYSC registration. Nafiu commended the ministry’s reforms, noting the NYSC’s digitalisation efforts since 2014 and disclosing that QR codes had “virtually eliminated document cloning” within the Corps.