FG Mandates Thesis Submission for NYSC Mobilisation 2025
- Education
- 29.09.2025
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FG Mandates Thesis Submission for NYSC Mobilisation
The Federal Government of Nigeria has approved a new policy requiring all graduates to submit their theses and final year projects into the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) as a compulsory condition for NYSC mobilisation.
According to a circular issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, and approved by President Bola Tinubu, the policy takes effect from October 6. No graduate—whether trained in Nigeria or abroad—will be mobilised for or exempted from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) without proof of compliance.
The circular states that “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.”
Under the policy, all students are mandated to deposit their academic outputs—including theses, dissertations and project reports—into the national NERD database. According to Section 6.1.23 of the NERD guidelines, this measure serves both as a quality assurance check and as independent proof of continuous academic enrolment and affiliation.
Speaking on the policy, NERD spokesperson Haula Galadima explained that the programme’s objective is not only to verify authenticity but also to improve the quality of academic output nationwide. “The NERD digitisation programme raises the bar in the quality of academic content, output and presentation,” she said.
The database will capture every detail of academic work deposited, including:
- Full name of the student
- Names of supervisor and co-supervisor (if any)
- Head of Department
- Sponsoring institution and department
Galadima stressed that the policy would also enhance the quality of academic supervision. “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 raise his or her standard. Very few lecturers would want their names associated with poorly produced academic works.”
Back in March, while declaring the NERD policy effective, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, emphasised that submission of academic outputs would become obligatory. He noted: “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.”
The approved policy also reveals that President Tinubu endorsed an academic output monetisation mechanism to reward students and lecturers. This ensures that both students and lecturers can earn lifetime revenues from their academic deposits in the national database.
According to the SGF’s circular, the enforcement will apply to all graduates from Nigerian universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and foreign institutions. The circular clarifies that the new rules “do not affect serving corps members or those mobilised before the October 6 enforcement date.”
Anybody who presents any fake document will be demobilized and decamped and handed over to law enforcement agencies for prosecution.
Prospective corps members should ensure that Passport photographs used meet the following specifications:
Ensure your face (eyes, nose, ears, mouth and jaw) is fully shown without bending
Ensure the picture fills the frame and centralized
Ensure the Photo background is white or off-white with no shadow.
On no account should prospective corps members register by PROXY. They should also remember the fingers used for their biometric capturing as these will be used for verification at the orientation camps. Those who cannot be verified with their biometric at the orientation camp will not be registered.
Only prospective corps members who want their call-up numbers sent to them through SMS and wish to PRINT their call-up letters on-line are expected to pay N2,786.24 (see NYSC Portal on how to make payment).
Prospective Corps members who do not want to pay the N2,786.24 have the option of going to their schools to collect their call-up numbers and call-up letters
All prospective corps members who paid for the online registration before but were not mobilized need not pay again.
Married female prospective corps members (whether locally or foreign-trained) should upload copies of their marriage Certificates, evidence of Change of name and their husbands’ place of domicile during registration.
The orientation camp is highly not ideal for pregnant and nursing mothers. Prospective corps members in this categoriy are therefore to note that they will not be accommodated.
With this reform, the Federal Government aims to curb certificate racketeering, secure Nigeria’s intellectual property, and strengthen the credibility of higher education qualifications. It also enhances transparency in academic standards and improves the quality of graduates mobilised for the NYSC scheme.
