The National Youth Service Corps (National Youth Service Corps) has announced that prospective corps members will now be required to present compliance certificates from the Nigeria Educational Repository and Databank (NERD) before they can be mobilised for national service.
The Director-General of NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Olakunle Nafiu, disclosed this in Abuja during a 2026 Batch ‘B’ Pre-Mobilisation Workshop focused on improving accountability and transparency in the mobilisation process.
According to him, the new requirement will take effect from the 2026 Batch B Stream One orientation exercise and is aimed at reducing certificate fraud and strengthening verification of academic records across institutions.
NERD, a Federal Government initiative, is designed to centralise academic records and ensure proper documentation of graduates, making it easier to verify qualifications and detect fake certificates.
Nafiu said the mobilisation process must evolve with changing realities in education and technology, stressing the need for stronger digital verification systems and inter-agency collaboration.
He also urged Corps Producing Institutions to properly sensitise students, ensure accurate certification of graduates, and avoid manipulation of academic records during mobilisation submissions.
Officials at the workshop noted that while improvements have been made over time, further reforms are still needed to ensure smoother and more credible mobilisation processes nationwide.
The NYSC leadership added that the reforms are intended to build trust in the system while ensuring that only genuinely qualified graduates are deployed for national service.