Thursday, March 28, 2024

JAMB registrar and the integrity lesson

In a society where people display unrestrained avarice and corruption, there are a few people who refuse to jump on the bandwagon. Such people will insist on walking tall and remaining unblemished all the time. They will prefer to be law abiding, patriotic, selfless and be shining examples to others who think the right thing to do is to be on the wrong side of the law.
In a society where corruption is almost a norm, it is good to celebrate, once in a while, the few who are models of good conduct. This is why we are celebrating Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, current Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board. A big achievement in this clime for the JAMB registrar was the return of a whopping N5 billion to the coffers of the Federal Government, by an institution, which had, for years before his administration, spent all monies collected for UTME forms, the subvention received from Government and still ended up borrowing.

 

It was after hearing at the FEC meeting, of what JAMB remitted to the coffers of the FG, that the President ordered the probe of past heads of JAMB and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, over poor remittances in the past

Oloyede had also told the staff of JAMB that, beginning from 2018, the Board would rely on fees charged for UTME forms and on its Internally Generated Revenues for the payment of salaries of its staff. In other words, JAMB will no longer depend on the Federal budget and grant for the payment of staff salaries. Why will the government not like such a prudent and transparent man?

In a way, Oloyede is a trailblazer. He is succeeding where others have failed. Speaking on his decision to remit about N5 billion profits to the Federal Government, the highest in JAMB’s history, media reports quoted the registrar as saying, “I am a Nigerian and I am loyal to my country.”

An elated Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, while briefing the Federal Executive Council on the performances of some government agencies, said JAMB, for the first time, remitted N5 billion to the coffers of the government with a balance of N3 billion still to be remitted. It was after hearing at the FEC meeting, of what JAMB remitted to the coffers of the FG, that the President ordered the probe of past heads of JAMB and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, over poor remittances in the past.

How was Oloyede, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, able to ensure a transparent, acceptable and fair admission process? The professor and his management team were said to have designed a software known as the Central Admissions Processing System, so as to remove human interference and give credibility to JAMB results. The admission criteria were keyed into the software. The software selected “candidates blindly, according to the institutions’ requirements, without any primordial consideration.”

How did the JAMB boss achieve this feat? Oloyede and his management team were said to have embarked on massive negotiation for discounts with banks on the commission and other fees payable for safe keeping of examination materials. The management team also blocked all loopholes in the procurement of all items, including appliances and stationery used for the examinations. Unlike under the past administrations, when only very few favoured contractors were engaged, this time, there was also pre-qualification of all contractors and opening up of the contract process.

As a way of improving staff motivation, all staff posted out-of-station were promptly paid their allowances. This, insiders at JAMB said, was unlike in the past when staff would return from such external posting and would have to engage in negotiating what they should be paid as their legitimate allowances.
The current registrar also devised a new set of staff appraisal system, which made every JAMB staff member to sit up and do their work as opposed to the past when workers got busy seeking contracts for supplies in JAMB.

On people’s observation that JAMB was making too much revenue for the government, Oloyede had replied, “The Board is not interested in the candidates’ money as is being insinuated by certain group. We are more interested in the credibility of the examination and not the money. If money is our concern, we will not be returning over five billion naira to the Federal Government coffers.’’

Perhaps, we need to also peep into Prof. Oloyede’s antecedents to give us a better understanding of the kind of person he is. We can reveal here that he got a First Class degree from the University of Ilorin and was awarded a Federal Government scholarship as an undergraduate. We can also reveal that he was appointed Professor at the age of 41 years.

Oloyede was, for many years, a member of the UNILORIN Governing Council; after serving as 1st and 2nd Vice President, respectively, for various terms before he was elected National President of UNILORIN Alumni Association. He was also a member of many important committees and task forces at UNILORIN, and has held various top flight positions in the academia, both locally and internationally.

His upward swing in the academic circles reached a summit when he was appointed Vice Chancellor of UNILORIN. He had also been a visiting professor to several universities in Nigeria and abroad. He was a professor in the School of Arts and Social Sciences at the National Open University of Nigeria, after his tenure as Vice Chancellor of UNILORIN. He is now the Registrar, JAMB.
Oloyede has no doubt left indelible marks on the sands of time, as his achievements and honesty will continue to speak for him across the country and internationally. He is our role model for the year.

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