IN a badly governed clime like Nigeria, there usually aren’t many heroes. But even the strictest of analysts would readily admit that Ishaq Olarewaju Oloyede (CON,OFR), Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is a hero by any standards. An academic and administrator par excellence, Oloyede comes across as one of those few Nigerians who have left giant strides on the sands of time and hewn for themselves a pride of place in the history of nationhood. At the helm of affairs in JAMB, an examining body whose leadership was at a time associated with mindboggling, monumental sleaze, Oloyede has earned plaudits as an administrator unflinchingly dedicated to the cause of probity, accountability and forthrightness, and as he turns 70, his story is one that inspires by the sheer resonance of its beauty, a shining light, as it were, in a dark terrain, and we join millions of Nigerians in acknowledging and celebrating his genius.
Born on October 10, 1954, in Abeokuta South Local Government Area of Ogun State, Oloyede attended the Progressive Institute, Agege Lagos, for his secondary education (1969–1973), and then proceeded to the Arabic Training Centre, Agege, Lagos (1973–1976), where he received instruction in Islamic and Arabic studies. He received a certificate in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Ibadan in 1977 and a B.A. in Arabic at the University of Ilorin in 1981. It was at the institution that he started his teaching career as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Religions in 1982, earning a doctorate in Islamic Studies in 1991 and becoming a professor in 1995. In 2007, he became the first alumnus of the University of Ilorin to serve as its vice chancellor. Oloyede served as the Chairman of the Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities and the Committee of Vice Chancellors between 2011 and 2012. He would go on to serve as the president of the Association of African Universities (AAU), deputy chairman of the governing board of the International Association of Universities (IAU); member of the board of the Association of Commonwealth Universities; secretary-general, Association of the West African Universities (AWAU) and pro-chancellor and chairman of the governing council of Fountain University, Nigeria.
A distinguished academic with numerous publications in local and international journals, Oloyede is a Fellow of the Islamic Academy of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Nigerian Institute of Management; Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies; Association of Islamic Religious Studies; the Nigerian Academic of Letters, and the Academy of Entrepreneurship. He is a member of the Nigerian Association of Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies (NATAIS) and the editorial board of the Centre for Islamic Legal Studies, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, among others. He has also served with distinction at the National Inter–Religious Council (NIREC) and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).
In his birthday tribute to Oloyede, President Bola Tinubu said his “invaluable contributions to the nation through academia and public-sector administration have significantly impacted the academic community.” He added: “His impactful tenure at the University of Ilorin, during which he introduced landmark ideas and innovations that helped the institution attain enviable heights, is on record…His selfless sacrifices and innovative approaches to learning and leadership give hope for a brighter future. Perhaps more remarkable is Prof. Oloyede’s transformative leadership at JAMB. He pioneered and sustained a series of reforms and technological innovations that have made the admission process in Nigeria transparent and credible. In his eight years of stewardship at the board, thus far, Prof. Oloyede has demonstrated an uncommon commitment to financial integrity and accountability in public service. He has also raised the bar in administration and management.”
The president’s submission is hard to fault. As JAMB Registrar, Oloyede is credited with the creation of the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG), a body tasked with ensuring that no one is discriminated against at any point in the board’s assessment and admission process on account of mobility challenges; the computer-based test, and the nine-key initiative, which simplifies the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination by ensuring that candidates use only nine computer keys. Under Oloyede’s stewardship, the examination body which had previously remitted less than N50 million to the coffers of the Federal Government between 1978 and 2016, remitted N7.8 billion in 2017. By that action, he opened a new vista in the national appreciation of the operations of the board. To date, it has remitted operating surplus of N20.7 billion to the Federal Government while undertaking massive physical and human development from its internally generated revenue, causing the Federal Government to reduce the UTME application fees by 30 percent. The National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) Award winner has been garlanded with numerous local and international awards for his honest and exemplary leadership at JAMB.
To be sure, we have had occasion to critique certain drawbacks witnessed during the UTME examinations. Still, the point cannot be disputed that in a country where the ministries, departments and agencies of the government have acquired notoriety as cesspools of corruption, Oloyede’s JAMB has been a refreshing departure from the norm. The JAMB registrar has been keen to prove the fact that even today, honesty, as they say, is the best policy. He has chosen to make a clean break from the massive and monumental sleaze in official circles that has hobbled national development and left the Nigerian masses literally gasping for breath. As he turns 70, we wish him sound health and many more fruitful years in the service of his fatherland.
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