The federal government has approved new guidelines for the mobilisation of graduates for national service organised by the National Youth Service Corps.

President Bola Tinubu invoked provisions in Sections 2(4)(4) and 16(1)(C) of the NYSC Act, and approved a far-reaching reform that makes compliance with the National Policy for the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) a mandatory requirement for mobilisation into or exemption from the NYSC.

One of the new mandatory requirements of Nigerian students in the policy is the deposit of academic outputs, which include thesis or project reports.The new policy is meant to check certificate racketeering and honour abuse.

The compliance directive was Item 2(ix) in an enforcement circular recently issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who conveyed the approval for the adjustment of “NYSC mobilisation criteria in accordance with the President’s regulation requiring proof of NERD Policy compliance for all prospective Corps members, regardless of where they were educated.”

In Section 6.1.23 of the policy, the requirement is designed “as a quality assurance check and as a yearly independent proof of continuous academic enrolment and affiliation” as it is expected to inviolably time-stamp scholarship, academic activities, and footprint regardless of location. Earlier in March 2025, while issuing the Declaration of Effectiveness for NERD, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, stated that following the declaration, “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.”

He further stated that “the NERD Policy applies in equal measures to all education delivery institutions regardless of ownership type (public, private, military or civilian) whether within or outside the direct supervision of the Federal Ministry of Education, such as Colleges or Schools of Nursing, Agriculture, specialised research centres and institutes, etc.”

The SGF circular has now clarified that, effective from October 6, no Nigerian graduate – whether from a Nigerian university, polytechnic, college of education, or an overseas institution will henceforth be mobilised for or exempted from NYSC without proof of NERD compliance.