National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has unveiled an initiative that will use blockchain technology to authenticate National Youth Service Corps certificates.
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director general, NITDA, on Wednesday, announced the project during the stakeholders’ policy dialogue event on the ‘Implementation of the national blockchain’ in Lagos.
To address the challenge of certificate forgery and fraudulent issuance, NITDA said it was collaborating with Brigadier-General Yusha’u Ahmed, director-general, NYSC, to pioneer the development of an advanced blockchain-based certificate authentication system.
“The NYSC certificate has been a concern due to widespread cases of forgery and fraudulent issuance,” Kashafu stated
According to Abdullahi,, the revolutionary approach was designed to ensure the integrity and validity of NYSC certificates, thereby enhancing transparency and trust in the certification process.
Abdullahi, emphasised blockchain technology’s potential to bring about a paradigm shift in certificate verification.
He said, “We recognise the urgent need to combat the prevalent issue of forged NYSC certificates in Nigeria.
“By leveraging blockchain’s power, we aim to establish a secure, tamper-proof system that will enable individuals, institutions, and employers to easily verify the authenticity of NYSC certificates.”