Ondo State Commissioner for Education and former Vice-Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, has applauded the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration for finally implementing the long-delayed Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) programme.
Speaking to journalists in Akure, Ajibefun commended President Tinubu and the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, for what he described as “uncommon courage, doggedness, and a deep understanding of the corrosive effects of certificate racketeering.
“Corruption includes academic fraud—unearned honours and the unmerited advantages they confer. We have moved beyond talk; this is the era of action. The deployment of technology and targeted regulations by the Minister’s team is commendable.
” It will ensure no institution in Nigeria operates as an illegal diploma mill. This is one of the most significant reforms in the education sector since our return to democracy in 1999,” he said.
Mr Ajibefun, who served as a resource person during the drafting of the NERD policy, urged academics to embrace the initiative.
He described it as transformative—ending certificate fraud, enhancing transparency in tertiary research, strengthening indigenous governance of the research space, and unifying academic credential verification.
He explained that NERD would embed digitisation into Nigeria’s academic culture, covering both current and historical records, including theses, dissertations, and project reports from the inception of higher education in the country. Ondo State, he added, intends to be among the first to fully align with the programme.
Mr. Ajibefun also praised the creation of the National Publication Index, noting that for over a century, academic publishing in Nigeria had been dominated by foreign platforms such as Elsevier and SCOPUS.
“While we must remain part of the global academic community, we also need to build indigenous capacity. Establishing a national indexing platform, run with private sector involvement, is a bold and strategic use of state power to close a critical development gap,” he stated.
Under the NERD policy, publications in journals indexed nationally will now be officially recognised for promotions, grants, and other academic purposes. Ajibefun described this as “a figurative atomic-grade shift” for Nigerian academia—providing a high-quality local alternative, curbing foreign exchange losses, and setting new standards to combat predatory publishing.
He assured that the Ondo State Government will work with all post-secondary and tertiary institutions to ensure compliance, adding that contact has already been made with NERD’s management team.
The NERD programme, approved by the Tinubu-led Federal Executive Council in February 2025, is a mandatory national digitisation initiative for the education sector. The Minister of Education, Dr. Alausa, declared it effective in April 2025.
Its key components include: National Credential Verification Service with embedded security codes on all certificates, National Student Number for real-time student validation, National Thesis Digitisation and Depository Service, National Publication Indexing Service and National Student Clearing House.
In an email response, Haula Galadima, Executive Director (Cybersecurity and Programme Communication) for NERD, confirmed that all services are ready, awaiting presidential flag-off. She urged the public—particularly the academic community—to explore the programme’s features at ned.gov.ng.
