Directory & Institution Terms
Last updated: 1 September 2026
This document describes how the SMS Naija platform actually works today. It is provided for transparency and is not a substitute for independent legal advice — if you need a legal opinion on how this applies to your school or your use of the platform, please consult a qualified lawyer.
This page explains the terms specific to SMS Naija's national education directory — how an institution gets listed, what appears publicly, and what SMS Naija does and does not guarantee about a listing. It supplements our Terms & Conditions.
1. Institution registration and profiles
Any institution — Primary, Secondary, Tertiary (University, College, Health/Nursing School, or other tertiary institution), Vocational, Tech, or Virtual School — can register a profile by providing a valid CAC number, accurate contact and location details, its institution category, and its ownership type (public or private). The profile an institution creates — name, description, location, programmes/faculties/courses/trades where applicable, logo, and other details it submits — is what appears in directory search results and on its public listing page.
2. What is, and isn't, part of this directory
This directory covers Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Vocational, Tech, and Virtual School institutions only. Event Organizer profiles are not institutions and are never listed here — hosting virtual events has no directory, verification, or search provisions of its own and is instead governed entirely by our Terms & Conditions, Section 7. A Virtual School's own Digital Services and ICT Club Creator API curricula (Terms Sections 8 and 9) appear only on that Virtual School's own directory profile page, never as separately searchable directory entries.
3. Directory visibility and default categories
Primary and Secondary schools are the directory's default category — they appear first, without needing a category filter applied. Tertiary, Health Education, Vocational, Tech, and Virtual School institutions are discoverable by selecting their category filter, and each category exposes search fields relevant to it (for example, programme or department search for Tertiary institutions, trade/course search for Vocational and Tech schools). An institution's visibility in search results does not depend on its selected subscription mode — Directory Only, Digital Compact, and Automated Campus institutions are all searchable — but an active, non-suspended listing is required to appear.
4. Search and filtering
Directory search supports filtering by category, state/LGA, ownership type, and free-text search across institution names and, for non-default categories, programme/department/trade names. Search results are drawn directly from what institutions have entered into their own profiles and academic-engine records (for example, a Tertiary institution's registered faculties and departments).
5. Institution-provided information and verification
Most information shown on a listing — description, programmes, contact details, fees shown for reference — is provided directly by the institution and not independently verified by SMS Naija beyond the CAC-number check performed at registration and any manual review our team applies during onboarding. Where a listing or a specific claim (such as an accreditation or affiliation) has been explicitly checked and marked verified by SMS Naija, this will be indicated on the listing. Absent that explicit marking, SMS Naija does not guarantee or endorse claims an institution makes about itself. If you spot inaccurate or misleading information on a listing, report it to info@smsnaija.com.
6. Institution claims and representations
An institution is solely responsible for the accuracy and legality of everything it represents on its listing and within the platform — accreditation status, programmes offered, fees, admission requirements, and any other claim. Misrepresentation is a breach of these Terms and may result in listing suspension or removal.
7. Removal, suspension, or modification of listings
SMS Naija may suspend, modify, or remove a listing where: the institution provided false registration information; the institution's account is suspended or terminated for a Terms violation; we receive a credible complaint (including a copyright or impersonation complaint) about the listing's content; or the institution requests removal itself. Where practicable, we will notify the institution owner before or promptly after any such action.
8. Directory fees
An institution selecting the Directory Only platform mode pays an annual fee, set by SMS Naija and shown at the point of selection, for a directory listing with no management tools — this fee may be set as low as ₦0. Institutions on the Digital Compact or Automated Campus modes are listed in the directory as part of their subscription, at no separate directory fee. Directory and subscription pricing is configured in-app by SMS Naija and may change without requiring a rewrite of these Terms — a price change applies only to new subscriptions and renewals from its effective date, never retroactively — see our Terms & Conditions, Section 3, for how platform modes and pricing work.
9. Institution responsibilities
Institutions are responsible for the accuracy and legality of everything they provide to the directory and the platform, including: institution and staff information, student and applicant information, fees, programmes and courses, results, certificates, admission information, digital-learning content (including linked YouTube playlists), examination content they upload (such as their own past-question sets, where applicable), and logos/branding. An institution must have the appropriate rights or permissions for any third-party content it connects to its listing or programmes.
10. Platform limitations for directory services
SMS Naija provides a platform for discovering institutions; it does not make admissions decisions, does not guarantee institution quality or outcomes, and is not a party to any enrollment agreement between a learner and an institution found through the directory. See our Terms & Conditions, Section 13, for the platform's general responsibilities and limitations.
11. Changes to this page
We may update these Directory & Institution Terms as the directory evolves; the "Last updated" date above reflects the latest revision.
12. Contact
Questions about a listing or the directory: info@smsnaija.com or our support page.