The Nigerian Education Repository and Databank (NERD), under the leadership of Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa, has hit a major milestone—over 10,000 student thesis submissions have been digitised within the first three weeks of the programme.
The figures rose to 11,000 submissions by the weekend, with 158 postgraduate entries from 242 active institutions, while more than 40,000 students have been successfully enrolled into the NERD system. So far, 135 tertiary institutions have also been onboarded for academic credential verification.
Among the institutions leading the charge, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti tops the list with 990 curated entries, followed by Bayero University Kano (611) and Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State (532). Other top contributors include Ambrose Alli University (493), Osun State Polytechnic (479), University of Ilorin (469), Bamidele Olumilua University (462), Kaduna Polytechnic (379), University of Benin (374), and University of Nigeria, Nsukka (282).
In terms of research themes, Science and Innovation leads with 5,952 entries, showing strong interest not just from STEM students but also from Arts and Social Sciences. Other popular areas include Multidisciplinary (2,091), Engineering & Technology (1,958), Tourism & Entertainment (1,392), Infrastructure & Sustainable Development (952), and Humanities (783).
NERD’s spokesperson, Haula Galadima, explained that the initiative also aims to enhance supervisory quality, as lecturers’ names now appear alongside student works, promoting accountability and recognition globally. The platform even offers precision metrics to track supervisory contributions for earned allowances in institutions.
Interestingly, female students are currently leading in submissions, with 6,142 entries compared to 4,995 by male students.
The platform can be accessed via the NERD portal at https://esmat.ned.gov.ng, where real-time data analytics are available for monitoring.
Since its launch under the Tinubu administration, NERD has set out to digitise, classify, and organise Nigeria’s research outputs for easy access by industries and researchers, ensuring higher-quality academic work and measurable contributions to national development.
The initiative also forms part of broader NERD mandates, including the National Academic Credential Verification scheme to combat qualification fraud, and the National Students’ Clearing House to centralise academic records for all students.
