FG Launches N5m-N20m Awards for Academic Excellence

The Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the establishment of the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank (NERD) and its inaugural awards program, set to take place in November 2026. The program will reward outstanding undergraduate, master's, and doctoral theses on data with prizes ranging from N5 million to N20 million.

This initiative aims to strengthen academic integrity and combat certificate forgery, ensuring that academic records are digitized and verifiable. The NERD program will also implement a national credential verification service, which will operate in real-time and link 350 tertiary institutions, verifying the credentials of approximately 133,000 students.

The initiative is part of a broader strategy to enhance the educational infrastructure in Nigeria, with a commitment to zero tolerance for academic fraud. The NERD program is expected to create 3,000 direct jobs and establish 1,060 digital service centers across the country within four months of its implementation.