The Federal Government of Nigeria has rolled out a mandatory registration requirement on the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) for graduating students and new graduates. The policy now requires all eligible graduates to register and upload academic outputs — including final-year projects, theses, or dissertations — on the national education databank before they can be mobilized for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
The NERD platform is part of a broader national initiative to centralise and secure academic records, preserve scholarly works, and ensure verifiable credentials across Nigerian tertiary institutions. It is designed to reduce fraud, provide a single source of verified academic data, and make educational records easily accessible to employers, regulatory bodies, and government agencies.
What Is NERD and Why It Matters
The Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) is an electronic platform serving as a national repository for academic records and academic outputs from Nigerian tertiary institutions — including universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and other post-secondary schools. Among its core functions are the preservation of theses, dissertations, project reports, and other scholarly documents; verification of credentials; and analytics that support educational planning and quality control.
The Federal Government has mandated that all graduates seeking mobilization for NYSC from Batch C 2025 and beyond must obtain a NERD clearance slip. Without this clearance, graduates will not be processed for NYSC registration or mobilization, and their names may not appear on official mobilization lists maintained by the NYSC.
Key Requirements for NERD Compliance
Graduating students and new graduates must take the following general steps to comply with the NERD requirement:
- Register an account on the NERD portal.
- Verify personal and institutional details.
- Upload your academic project, thesis, or dissertation.
- Process your NERD clearance.
- Print and retain your NERD Clearance Slip for NYSC mobilisation and other verification purposes.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Register and Upload on the NERD Portal
Below is a detailed walk-through of what graduates should do to complete their NERD registration and upload their academic work successfully:
1. Visit the NERD Registration Portal
Begin by accessing the official NERD onboarding portal. This is where you will create or initiate your registration. Once registered, you can proceed to the main upload dashboard to begin submitting your academic work.
2. Create Your NERD Account
On the registration page, provide the following:
- Full name and contact information
- Valid email address (preferably your official school email if available)
- Date of birth, gender, and National Identification Number (NIN)
- Your institution, faculty and department information
- Password that meets platform requirements
- Passport photograph and means of identification photo
Complete all required fields and submit the form to create your account. Your account may require backend validation by your institution before you can proceed with uploads.
3. Log In and Verify Your Details
After successful registration, log in with your email and password. Once on your dashboard, confirm that your name, institution, department, and other personal details are correct. If any detail is inaccurate, contact support immediately to avoid delays.
4. Upload Your Academic Work
Within your account dashboard:
- Select the type of submission (project report, dissertation, thesis, or other academic output).
- Enter your project title, summary, and relevant keywords.
- Upload the signed certification page showing your supervisor’s and Head of Department’s signatures.
- Copy and paste the major sections of your work — abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, findings, discussion, conclusion, and references — into the provided fields.
- Optionally upload a PDF version of your complete work if required.
5. Run System Checks (Where Available)
Some parts of the system allow for anti-plagiarism checks and AI learning recommendations before final submission. These tools help ensure originality and improve the quality of your submission.
6. Submit for Supervisor Review
Once you have uploaded all required content, submit the work to your supervisor or designated reviewer. The system will notify them to review and approve your submission.
7. Process Your NERD Clearance
After your academic work has been verified and approved:
- Navigate to the Process NERD Clearance section on your dashboard.
- Ensure all supervisory and institutional confirmations are complete.
- Print or save your NERD Clearance Slip, which includes a National Document Number (NDN) as proof of successful submission and verification.
8. Keep Your Documentation Safe
You will need your NERD Clearance Slip — alongside your NYSC Call-up Letter, Statement of Result, NIN slip, and other required documents — when reporting for NYSC camp registration.
What Students Should Know
The process is entirely online, and students are not expected to visit any physical office unless directed by their institution. Some schools may manage parts of the validation internally, so graduates should always follow additional instructions provided by their departments or records offices.
Why This Matters for NYSC Mobilisation
The Nigeria Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has integrated NERD verification into its mobilisation process. This means graduates must present their NERD Clearance Slip during NYSC registration and camp documentation. Without this slip, a graduate’s eligibility for mobilisation may be delayed or rejected.
Conclusion
The introduction of mandatory NERD registration marks a major shift in how academic data is stored, verified, and preserved in Nigeria. It ensures that students’ academic work is authenticated and contributes to a trusted national education record. For new graduates, compliance with NERD is now just as important as obtaining a statement of result or NYSC call-up letter.
We will continue to monitor this development closely and keep updating students and graduates as more official information and clarifications are released by institutions and relevant authorities.
