Graduating students of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, are set to comply with a new nationwide policy that directly affects National Youth Service Corps mobilisation, following an official directive mandating clearance from the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank. The policy, approved by the Federal Executive Council, introduces a major shift in how graduates are documented and cleared for national service from 2026 onward.
According to the university’s service-wide circular, only graduates who successfully obtain a NERD clearance slip will be eligible for NYSC mobilisation beginning with the 2026 Batch “A” exercise. This development places FUT Minna among institutions already implementing the federal directive aimed at strengthening academic data integrity and national education records.
Understanding the New NERD Policy
The Nigeria Education Repository and Databank was established to serve as a central digital archive for academic outputs produced within Nigerian tertiary institutions. Under the new policy, graduating students are required to upload their academic projects or theses into the national repository as part of a verification and documentation process.
The Federal Executive Council’s decision to link NERD clearance to NYSC mobilisation underscores the government’s intention to improve transparency, curb academic fraud, and create a reliable national database of academic records. By enforcing this requirement, institutions are expected to ensure that only properly documented graduates proceed to national service.
FUT Minna’s Compliance and Official Directive
The Federal University of Technology, Minna, has formally notified all prospective corps members that compliance with the NERD policy is now compulsory. The directive applies to all graduating students, regardless of programme or faculty, who intend to participate in the NYSC scheme.
University management has made it clear that failure to obtain the NERD clearance slip will automatically disqualify affected graduates from being processed for mobilisation. This positions the clearance as a critical administrative step alongside existing graduation and clearance requirements.
How Graduates Are Expected to Obtain Clearance
Graduating students are required to initiate the clearance process by accessing the official NERD onboarding platform. The process begins with preliminary uploads and verification of personal and academic details before the final project or thesis submission is completed.
Once the required information is submitted, the system verifies the graduate’s academic status. Only after successful verification will the upload link for the thesis or project be activated. At the completion of the process, a NERD clearance slip is issued, serving as proof of compliance.
Documents and Information Required
To ensure a smooth clearance process, students are expected to prepare essential documents in advance. These include a functional email address, a soft copy of their final year project or thesis, certificate or statement of result or an official letter of attestation, a recent passport photograph, and a valid National Identification Number.
The university has advised students to ensure that all documents are clear, accurate, and consistent with institutional records, as discrepancies may delay verification and clearance approval.
Implications for NYSC Prospective Corps Members
The new requirement significantly raises the importance of early preparation for final-year students and recent graduates. Unlike previous mobilisation exercises where project submission remained an internal institutional process, the new policy extends documentation to a national platform with strict verification standards.
Graduates who delay or neglect the NERD clearance risk missing their mobilisation batch, regardless of having completed academic and institutional clearance. This makes the NERD process not just an academic formality but a decisive factor in national service participation.
