Mixed reactions have begun to trail the decision of the Federal Government of Nigeria to mandate thesis and project submission for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) mobilisation.
This comes as the policy, effective from October 6, 2025, ties NYSC mobilisation and exemptions directly to compliance with the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD).
The Nigerian government announced that under the NERD framework, graduates from Nigerian universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, or foreign institutions must deposit their final-year projects, theses, and other scholarly outputs into a national digital repository.
The new directive mandating project submission for NYSC mobilisation was contained in a circular issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who conveyed President Bola Tinubu’s approval on Saturday.
The circular added that Tinubu approved the reforms, invoking Sections 2 4 (4) and 16(1)(C) of the NYSC Act.
According to the circular, the new policy is aimed at preserving intellectual assets and elevating research quality nationwide.
The circular stated that the “NYSC mobilisation criteria [have been adjusted] in accordance with the President’s regulation requiring proof of NERD Policy compliance for all prospective corps members, regardless of where they were educated.”
Aside from mandating project submission for NYSC mobilisation, the circular also revealed that President Tinubu endorsed an academic output monetisation mechanism to reward students and lecturers.
“This ensures students and lecturers can earn lifetime revenues from their academic deposits,” the document stated.
Explaining the intent of the new reform, NERD spokesperson, Haula Galadima, said: ”Apart from the mandate to verify for authenticity as a national flagship, the NERD digitisation programme has a clear objective, to raise the bar in the quality of academic content, output and presentation nationwide.”
She added that the database will capture every detail of academic work deposited.
“Each item shall feature the full name of the student, that of his supervisor, co-supervisor if any, and that of the Head of Department, as well as the sponsoring institution and department,” Galadima explained.
On why the move matters for university supervision, she stressed:
“If our eminent scholars are aware that their names will appear next to those of the students they supervise on a globally available digital platform, there is the likelihood that each lecturer would up his or her standard.
“Very few lecturers would want their names associated with poorly produced academic works.”
Recall that in March 2025, while declaring the NERD policy effective, Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, had emphasised that submission of academic outputs for NYSC mobilisation would become obligatory.
In his explanation then, Alausa had disclosed that under the new policy, each entry will include the student’s full name, supervisor, co-supervisor (if applicable), head of department, and institution for transparency and verification.
“The approved stipulations for mandatory submission of academic outputs as provided in Sections 2.3, 4.3(1), and 7.6.11(c), among others, of the approved National Policy for the NERD Programme shall become obligatory requirements in Nigeria,” Alausa said.
Below are some reactions to the latest policy from the Nigerian government;
