When in August 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, as Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, not a few across board applauded the appointment.
Many described it as not only well-deserved but also that of a round peg in a round hole. Given his pedigree as an outstanding academic, a thorough-bred professional, a nononsense administrator with a knack for hard-work, dedication, truth and zero tolerance for corruption, the new JAMB Registrar had his job cut out for him – that of bringing back to life an ailing institution neck deep in admission malpractice and other vices, which hitherto threatened the very foundation of its existence.
Little wonder then that this brilliant University administrator whose two-term tenure as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin witnessed monumental developmental strides in the institution, took the bull by the horn, hitting the ground running and making no pretentions about his determination to redirect, refocus and transform JAMB.
Not one given to scratching a problem on the surface without going into its root cause, Professor Oloyede has tried in the last few months in office to identify the major problems of the agency and has already started taking steps to address them adequately.
The brilliant University administrator, whose twoterm tenure as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin witnessed monumental developmental strides in the institution, has made no pretentions about his determination to redirect, refocus and transform JAMB
For example, as an agency of the Federal Ministry of Education, JAMB is the sole body statutorily empowered to conduct entrance examination into the various tertiary institutions in the country.
The task of delivering a generally acceptable and ethically compliant examination yearly had been a task of the organisation.
To this end, successive administrations have strived to ensure that exams conducted by the body measured up to international best practice, thus the introduction of Computer Based Test by JAMB was widely applauded by stakeholders in the sector.
Laudable as the idea is, it has however been bedeviled by a myriad of challenges ranging from examination malpractice to admission fraud. However, under the stewardship of Oloyede, there has been a re- organisation of the Board’s processes aimed at repositioning the agency for optimal service delivery to the general public.
To ensure proper conduct of the 2017 CBT examination, the board resolved that certain conditions and standards must be in place before the commencement of the sale of its application.
In doing this, the board decided to review some of the processes; prominent among these is the standardization of its examination centres to 250 capacity. All Computer Based Test Centres are being upgraded to 250 capacity unlike what obtained in the past, where centres operated with different capacities with the ten dency for manual distribution of candidates with attendant prejudice and sharp practices by operators, local thugs and disloyal interns.
Moreover, in the pursuance of the realisation of the objective of ensuring standard examination environment for all candidates irrespective of their location, the Oloyede-led board met with the proprietors of Computer Based Test Centres and agreed on the issue of standardization of all centres in terms of capacity, equipment, materials, competent human resources and security appliances, including Closed Circuit Television system.
In order to show leadership by example and manifest its good faith, the board has started the upgrading of all its Computer Based Test Centres from 120 to 250 capacity and from 200 to 250 capacity.
Such centres are located in 15 towns across 14 states and FCT. That is not all. The board has also resolved to introduce CCTV cameras in all CBT centres for effective conduct of its examination as well as ensuring that examination malpractice is effectively curtailed.
In the area of elimination of admission malpractice and stress on candidates, JAMB has successfully automated services such as, late registration, change of course\institution, printing of admission letter, printing of result slip and correction of data all of which are now rendered online.
This is with a view to eliminating unnecessary waste of time and stress in travelling to Bwari, the Board’s Headquarters in Abuja. Another giant stride taken by the agency to bring sanity into its operations is the migration from scratch card to virtual (soft) transaction as JAMB now accepts payment for its services direct into Treasury Single Account through web payment, online Quick teller, ATM payment, Quick teller mobile application and Bank branch.
This is a complete departure from the use of Scratch Card for the services, a trend that has removed lack of transparency and accountability by vendors, service providers, producers and a few staff members. Apart from eliminating corrupt practices occasioned by scratch card racketeering, it has also saved the 30 per cent of sale, which use to be paid as commission to service providers who used to generate the PINS and print the scratch cards.
All a candidate needs do is to use the platforms earlier listed to pay for all services online or other e-payment channels available on the internet for any of the Board’s services via (www.jamb.org. ng).
Once payment is made, a transaction identification number is issued to the candidate and the service rendered. Sale of JAMB forms will commence in a few weeks while the CBT will be conducted in May.
Prospective  candidates should note that the new compact Disc being introduced with expanded facilities would ease the process of registration for 2017 Examinations and Admissions.
Talking about admissions, a major setback in the execution of one of the board’s core mandates is the abuse, which regularisation of admissions was subjected to in the past. Under Oloyede, this has now been streamlined and standardised with the aim of eliminating any form of abuse.
The process is now automated with the direct involvement of the Registrar for final approval. This has radically reduced the number and frequency of the request for regularisation.
As a practical demonstration of its zero tolerance for corruption and sharp practice, the agency recently handed over 10 officials to the police for investigation in connection with fraud associated with the sales of scratch cards.
The Board believes that this would sound as warning to some unpatriotic Nigerians who have been defrauding the public by selling false JAMB forms, which are yet to be issued for sale. Professor Ishaq Oloyede is no doubt a breath of fresh air and by all means the dawn of a new era in JAMB.
Hameed Adio, a Public Affairs analyst, writes from Abuja
