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By Gabriel Ameh
Abuja — The Federal Government has announced a cash reward ranging from N5 million to N20 million for outstanding undergraduate, master’s and doctoral theses focused on data-driven research, as part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s digital knowledge ecosystem.
The initiative is designed to encourage high-quality academic research on data science, transparency, and digital innovation within Nigerian tertiary institutions.Speaking on the initiative, officials emphasized that protecting institutional autonomy remains central to the reform.
As part of the framework, the government has approved that 40 percent of profit generated from credential verification services will return to the originating institution.According to the government, although the National Education Repository and Databank (NERD) is federally owned, the platform is structured to operate as a collectively beneficial and participatory system that supports all tertiary institutions in the country.Authorities reiterated that the future of Nigeria’s education system will rely heavily on data, transparency and digitally verifiable academic records.
To support this transformation, more than 350 universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education have already been onboarded into the NERD platform for real-time credential verification.The system currently hosts over 133,000 students and more than 6,800 lecturers, coordinated through 665 focal persons nationwide.Beyond academic records management, the platform is also contributing to job creation.
Through partnerships with Nigerian digital entrepreneurs, NERD has established 1,060 Digital Service Centres across the country, generating over 3,000 direct jobs within four months.Officials described the development as a major reform with measurable economic and educational impact.In addition, NERD has developed a robust national academic repository software alongside an indigenous anti-plagiarism system, aimed at strengthening research integrity across institutions.
Authorities stressed that it would be against national interest to overlook locally developed digital solutions in favour of foreign alternatives, noting that Nigeria now possesses the capacity to manage its own academic verification systems.
