The re-appointment of Prof Is’haq Oloyede for a second term of five years as Registrar/CEO of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has elicited reactions from different quarters. While some praised President Muhammadu Buhari for the re-appointment, critics of the professor of Islamic Jurisprudence and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin think otherwise. They point to his “highhandedness” and “autocratic” approach in running the affairs of the 44-year-old Board since his first appointment in August 2016.
We believe that no human is infallible and no individual is indispensable. There could be many Oloyedes out there doing equally great things, even better, in their duty call. There could also be many more that are prepared to tread the same path of excellence on point of personal principle and unalloyed patriotism.
But we support the re-appointment of Prof. Oloyede, principally, for his singular efforts to restore the integrity of our public examinations which had been massively compromised. And this is the core mandate of JAMB.
In the past, JAMB examinations constituted a bazaar of fraud and all manner of malpractices where invigilators were attacked by hoodlums. JAMB employees were also said to be colluding with security personnel to perpetrate the obnoxious acts. Parents were ready to pay any amount for their children to participate in all sorts of examination malpractice to achieve high scores, using dubious facilities called special centres.
This, in the first place, led to the introduction of the Post-UTME screening by the universities, which has now become another cash-cow for the tertiary institutions. The exercise exposed many candidates who paraded results with high scores that they did not earn. These anomalies are now reduced to the barest minimum.
Prof Oloyede confirmed at a press briefing in October 2020 that JAMB had put effective checks in place against identity theft in the admission process into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. Through this measure, incidents of impersonation and other forms of identity theft during the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) dropped from 74,000 in 2019 to 4,900 in 2020, a 93 per cent reduction, Oloyede said.
The success of Oloyede’s tenure is hinged mainly on the introduction of the Computer-Based Test (CBT) to replace the fraud-tainted pen and paper examination.. It was a dramatic turnaround that brought sanity to the highly corrupt system. Before now, the CBT was hardly conceived as a practicable alternative in the conduct of our public examinations. The success has helped to restore the sanctity of the Board’s main mandate and this should be the focal point in assessing Prof Oloyede’s performance.
It is on record that the adoption of technology has helped in attaining a high level of transparency and advanced networking in the system. The scrapping of the traditional scratch card system for checking results is an offshoot of this initiative. We also recall that Oloyede introduced a drastic reduction in the application fees formerly paid by UTME candidates. Yet, JAMB now remits more funds to the coffers of the Federal Government than in the previous years to offset the cost of technology and other measures needed to overhaul the system for the benefit of the candidates and the general public.
Other strategic initiatives under Oloyede include the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) for automation of admission process; the institution of Equal Opportunity Group for the conduct of UTME for Blind Candidates; the introduction of e-Ticketing (for Complaints) and the expansion of the capacities of CBT centres for standardisation purposes.
Noteworthy, also, are the use of Biometric Authentication to confirm validity of registration; the introduction of e-slip printing Integrated Brochure and Syllabus System (IBASS) for prompt delivery of admissions requirements; the use of CCTV cameras in all CBT centres to monitor the examination and registration process real time and the introduction of management dashboard to monitor registration and admission exercise real time.
The Board has taken steps to punish bad behaviour among the candidates. Between 2018 and 2019, not less than 80 candidates were prosecuted for proven examination malpractice. The Board also announced last February that about 200 culprits were to be prosecuted in 2021. Last July, JAMB announced the withdrawal of the results of 13 candidates who were alleged to have been involved in examination malpractices during the 2021 UTME.
These constitute proof of radical steps to sanitise and reposition the foremost tertiary entrance examination body. It now conducts recruitment, promotion and other examinations for other establishments who are impressed with the integrity of the JAMB system.
We urge Prof Oloyede to use his second tenure to consolidate on the transformation he instituted at JAMB. It is a sad commentary that many candidates still undergo challenges in sitting for the UTME examinations as a result of network hitches. This is worse in the rural areas where candidates are often extorted.
Next is the problem of linking UTME with the National Identity Number (NIN), which still poses a challenge. Earlier, we had urged JAMB to partner with the National Communication Commission (NCC) and the telecoms service providers to solve this problem. We also urge JAMB to look into the alleged admission racketeering in the universities, which has turned into an illegal cash-spinning process to the detriment of candidates who ought to be admitted on merit.
We wish Prof Oloyede and his team a successful second term at JAMB.
About the Author
