JAMB, Oloyede and integrity question

BY SHUAIBU GIMI

Another big proof of integrity in Ishaq Olanrewaju Oloyede’s personality and conduct in public office has manifested, making a lot more Nigerians believe that a better future for the country is, after all, achievable.

As the registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the swiftness of his response to the current controversy over the results of this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Board recently has indicated a resolve to serve Nigeria with absolute integrity.

JAMB is an examination body that is in the minds of most Nigerians because the kind of examinations it conducts are the bridge that links the lower level of education to the higher, and therefore the one that is most critical to the future of the youths and the development of the country.

By showing more than adequate remorse for the failure of more than 75 percent of the candidates to get fifty percent of the total score, which is 400, he has demonstrated a kind of courage that is rare among public officers, but which is required to put the systems back to proper shape.

He was widely reported to have said, at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday 14th May 2025, that the unfortunate incident happened because the “service provider did not properly apply the patch to some centre servers in these centres” which, according to him, caused disruption in the timely upload of the performances of the candidates, particularly those in Lagos and Owerri zones. He convincingly ruled out sabotage and identified technical glitches over which JAMB had no control as the cause of the problem.

Naturally, Oloyede had hoped that this year’s UTME would be an improved version of the previous ones, especially on the basis of the fact that, as he stated, “we upgraded our system from form-based to the single item-based, the latter of which is the international. standard now.”

It must have been his sensitivity to the feelings of the candidates and their parents over this unforeseen disappointment that made him to weep while addressing journalists on the matter.

But Nigerians have already understood the constraint faced by JAMB and are therefore adequately sympathetic to the registrar, whose apology has been fully accepted.

The concern humbly expressed by Professor Oloyede has led several stakeholders in the education sector to show tremendous understanding to JAMB over the UTME issue.

Peter Okebukola, who is the former executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and now chairman of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Equal Opportunity Group–a non-governmental body that monitors examinations conducted by JAMB–said the “candour, courage and transparency” of the registrar are exemplary.

He expressed the group’s total solidarity for Oloyede at this critical moment of JAMB’s existence as an examination body.

The decision to reschedule the examination for the affected candidates is another demonstration of responsiveness by the Oloyede-led Management of JAMB that has also been highly appreciated by Nigerians.

All those candidates must have now been hopeful that their ambition to move higher in the pursuit of education will eventually be achieved, which means that public confidence in the examination body is still intact.

The concern humbly expressed by Oloyede has made several stakeholders in the education sector to show tremendous understanding of JAMB over the UTME issue.

Shuaibu Gimi, a public affairs analyst, based in Kaduna can be reached via [email protected].