By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem
The Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has assured stakeholders in the education sector that his fantastic reforms will not go away as soon as his tenure is over.
Fielding questions from a cross-section of senior journalists, editors and columnists in Lagos, at the weekend, Professor Oloyede explained in details the situation he met in JAMB and how he had to revolutionise the system to eliminate illicit practices and elevate the standard of examination conduct as well as impose strict discipline in the whole process.
He urged the media to keep criticizing the organization if the criticisms are constructive and in national interest, adding that they should also commend the work he and his men are doing in JAMB when they are worthy of such commendation.
Asked if he had put any structure or measures in place to ensure that the system does not revert to the old, corrupt ways after his tenure, Oloyede said he had reasons to believe it will not.
It would be recalled that the Professor of Arabic and Islamic Jurisprudence was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2016 and within the five years of his first term, he was said to have remitted about 30 billion naira to the government coffers.
This sterling performance, according to stakeholders, earned him a second term of five years in August last year.
“We pay 7 billion naira to the Federal Government annually and we are hoping to do more. If any other Management comes and begins to remit 5 billion naira or so, I am not sure the government will accept that.
“We pay 750 million naira to support the Universities, if any Registrar comes and tries to pay less, it may cause an uproar,” he said.
The JAMB boss added that the uproar will be both internal and external if his successor decides to drop the standards that have been set under his watch.
He continued: “Even in terms of staff welfare, I started giving every worker at JAMB office lunch everyday. If anyone comes in the future and tries to stop that, people will ask him.
“We pay both 13th and 14th month salary to all our staff members by the end of every year and this is unprecedented. So how do you stop that without incurring the wrath of the staff?
“Though the signals I get are conflicting sometimes but a lot of the people are happy with what we are doing and will like to sustain it.
“For example, I was surprised the way the staff members welcomed me with applause when I returned for my second term. I thought they were happy to see the back of a troublemaker, someone who is changing everything. But the way I was honoured showed that majority of the people are committed to moving this country forward.
“Though there are still some of our staff members who are involved in all manners of criminal acts, defrauding parents and all that but we will keep improving the system to continue to expose and punish such bad eggs,” he assured.
