Nigeria Launches Digital Platform to Connect All Universities

• Upgraded NgREN and TERAS connects universities, polytechnics, research institutes nationwide.
• Features in online learning, cloud, plagiarism tools, digital libraries, HPC, analytics.
• Pilot 2025 full rollout 2026; supports tablet program, 47M DLN devices.

Through​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ digitization of the higher education sector, Nigeria has unveiled an enhanced Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN) that is combined with the Tertiary Education, Research, Applications and Services (TERAS) platform.

With this nationwide ultra-high-speed digital infrastructure, universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and research institutes will be connected to one another, thus, sparking collaboration, innovation, and easier access to advanced digital resources throughout the country.

According to the Education Minister Alausa, the modernized NgREN is going to provide a wide range of state-of-the-art services, such as real-time online courses, cloud computing, plagiarism detection, access to digital libraries, high-performance computing for research, institutional analytics, and shared research databases. "The space will be a tool that will change the way knowledge is created, shared and used by closing the gaps in educational and research capacities," Alausa remarked at the unveiling.

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The project will pilot the first phase in 2025, where it will be limited to some institutions in six geopolitical zones to evaluate the extent and functionality. By 2026, all tertiary institutions nationwide will be connected to the internet with the government education digital transformation strategy as the vehicle for that. The government has already outlined the plan to ensure that all public schools will have digital literacy and the necessary infrastructure by 2027.

The ministry is not resting on its laurels, as on October 30, 2025, it announced a program for tablet distribution in public schools. In September, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) entered into a partnership with the U.S.-based Digital Learning Network (DLN) to provide almost 47 million students and teachers with digital devices. With NgREN-TERAS coordination, Nigeria is positioned to bypass the conventional impediments and thus improve research output and global competitiveness in a $50 billion African edtech market by ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌2030.