By: AbdurRaheem Sa’ad Dembo
The Registrar of the Joints Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede has been a consistent academic and administrator. It usually takes me long period of time to write about anyone, because I should be convinced beyond mere rhetorics that the personality involved lives above board. Eating my words of conviction concerning a person will be the last thing that would happen.
Furthermore, Oloyede spent greater part of his life and occupied a significant space as a public servant in Ilorin, which is my hometown, so getting to know about his character of his consistency is easy. The former Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin has distinguished himself in his endeavours. His magic wand was monumental as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, particular with the introduction of the Computer Based Test (CBT) which still stands today. He also brought academic elevation to the university as the rating of the Ivory tower by the National University Commission (NUC) was consistent during his tenure.
Essentially, during my interaction with some of my friends, who are working at the University of Ilorin and my family members who are alumni of UniIlorin, they said Professor Ishaq Oloyede was an embodiment of discipline, justice and fairness. They explained that he provided a robust leadership with a clear cut direction as the head of the institution.
His appointment as the JAMB Registrar by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was a milestone in his administrative proficiency, because he introduced an unprecedented accountability and transparency in the institution. Oloyede broke the internet when the news about his remittance of billions of naira to the federation account first happened.
Believe it or not, Professor Ishaq Oloyede is synonymous with integrity. When the case of Mmesoma came up many Nigerians were wagging their tongues against JAMB. One of them is an Area father, Charley Boy who asked
JAMB to provide the girl’s exam papers for an external body to re-mark. He has forgotten that the exam was CBT, or one can say he is not conversant with the current trends in the academic space in the country.
According to Daily Trust newspaper, Ezekwesili was among those who spoke in favour of Mmesoma amid raging controversy. The former Minister of Education had said a probe was needed to reveal the nature of the interface between Examination body’s system/database and the centre where the teenager sat for the exam. But after the report of the panel which Governor Charles Soludo set up to probe the case was made public, Ezekwesili made a U-Turn and expressed support for the measure JAMB took against Mmesoma.
Equally, a top notch social media influencer, Dr Zara Onyinye also postulates that Oby Ezekwesili should not just congratulate JAMB but also apologize to that great institution for all she posted earlier.
Interestingly, a former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka has this to say:
“I doff my hat for JAMB. They came out forcefully and defended their integrity vigorously. They shared the USSD communication between Nmesoma’s phone and their servers with timestamps. Mr. Fabian Benjamin, the JAMB spokesperson, did a yeoman’s job in explaining how their system works and the security of their result portal. He even asked anyone who cares to crosscheck with AIRTEL, the network provider of Nmesoma’s phone. Their transparency was compelling and disarming.
The JAMB Registrar, Professor Oloyede, issued statements based on facts and defended the integrity of a foremost Nigerian institution whose failure would have had a catastrophic effect on Nigeria’s educational and CBT systems. I was impressed. JAMB’s reaction and responsiveness should be made a minimum benchmark for government agencies. Our universities should write case studies of this saga so other institutions can learn how to navigate social media and information management in the face of unrelenting attacks”.
A former Minister of Labour and Employment, Festus keyamo also lent his voice on the raging controversy: “I deliberately waited for the end of this investigation before commenting on this unfortunate case of our daughter, Mmesoma Ejikeme. She’s a brilliant girl, judging by her actual score of 249. The nation should be careful not to destroy her. What she needs is counselling, correction and guidance. She obviously did not know the weight and gravity of what she was doing. As teenagers, most of us made juvenile mistakes that never came to light. The parents should encourage her to do a public apology to JAMB, to her family and to Nigerians after which she should be allowed to get her admission based on her actual scores. Anyone still pushing other narratives over this issue is not helping her and her family. It is time to close this very unfortunate chapter and move on. This is my plea”.
It is important to say that Prof Ishaq Oloyede’s integrity, consistency and accountability had helped JAMB to navigate through the controversy that would have buried the integrity of the organization and her management. As a leader you must be ready to do the right thing all the time, it is not because of anything but for the good of the system and for a day like this.
It will go down in history that Oloyede has taken JAMB to a new height, given his accountability and transparency. One can imagine what would have happened if JAMB had not won in this kind of storm and controversy. People would have been calling for the professor’s head but thank God, that was not the case.
Some commentators across social media platforms have commended Oloyede and that they were sure JAMB could not have been a culprit in such a misdemeanor, given the kind of leadership Oloyede had been known for since his days as the Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin.
JAMB came out clean amid this controversy as Mmesoma and her father came out publicly to apologize. As a leader you must have principles that will help in elevating your organization no matter the situation.
Professor Oloyede is an astute academic and administrator, the aim of adversaries to drag his name to the mud has failed. I pray to Allah to guide and protect him against evil plotters.
