When giants walk the earth, the ground remembers their steps long after they are gone
There are public servants who occupy offices, and there are those who redefine them. Emeritus Professor Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede firmly belongs in the latter category. As he exits the stage after a decade as Registrar/Chief Executive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), he leaves behind not just an institution, but a transformed system that has reshaped public confidence in Nigeria’s tertiary admission and education system.
When Oloyede assumed office on 9 August 2016, JAMB faced persistent criticism over inefficiency, corruption, and poor public trust. Through determined leadership, technological innovation, and a commitment to accountability, he steered the Board in a different direction. For instance, he streamlined the Board’s examination delivery by jettisoning the cumbersome VSAT technology he met on the ground in favour of the VPN of two major telecommunication giants – MTN and Airtel. Consequently, test items could be transmitted through a more secure and affordable platform to the over 900 examination centres across the nation. Hence, he made the computer-based testing system adopted by JAMB in place of the paper-and-pencil test in 2013, a more robust, streamlined and user-friendly process.
Additionally, he revolutionised the Board’s admission process by making it more transparent, fair and equitable. As a consequence, gone were the days when admissions officers from various tertiary institutions across the country pored over huge tomes of application documents to match candidates’ qualifications with requested programmes/courses, a situation that was consigned to the dustbin of history with the introduction of the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS). Through the CAPS platform, JAMB was able to restore the autonomy of tertiary institutions, as they now have a say in the admission of candidates since they are the ones to recommend candidates for admission, while JAMB ensures that their recommendations align with extant national admission policies. Additionally, the platform gives candidates the power to accept or reject their admissions at the click of a button! These reforms put JAMB in the spotlight and in national discourse, leading the Board to emerge as one of the federal agencies frequently cited as models for operational reforms.
A distinguished scholar of Islamic Studies and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Oloyede brought to JAMB not only academic excellence but also administrative discipline. His years in academia had already demonstrated his ability to build institutions, and he replicated that experience at the national level. His emphasis on integrity, innovation, and service became defining features of his administration.
Perhaps one of his greatest achievements was restoring public confidence in an examination body that millions of Nigerians interact with every year. Under his watch, JAMB embraced digital technologies that reduced human interference, such as the introduction of CAPS, while also strengthening examination security by insisting on the use of candidates’ National Identity Number sourced from the database maintained by the National Identity Management Commission. This is not all, as he mandated CCTV coverage of the registration and examination processes of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to check impersonation, as well as the creation of a ticketing platform for candidates and the general public alike to register complaints or seek redress. Another critical milestone of the Oloyede-led administration in JAMB was the simplification of the admission processes for candidates with special needs, leading to the increase in the number of candidates living with disabilities from 142 in 2016 to 484 by the 2024 admission year. Further, there is an increased overall admission ratio of candidates from 598,837 in 2016 to 1,012, 944 in the just-concluded 2025 admission year – the highest in the nation’s history. These successes could be attributed to the Board’s enhanced deployment of technology in all aspects of its operations, a development that has contributed to improved efficiency, transparency and significantly improved the Board’s reputation both at home and abroad.
Leadership, however, is not measured solely by successes but also by how challenges are handled. During the 2025 UTME technical glitches that affected candidates in parts of the country, Oloyede publicly accepted responsibility and apologised to affected students. That moment, while difficult, reflected a leadership style that recognised accountability as an essential part of public service. The gesture has since set a precedent in institutional accountability and accepting responsibility when things did not go as expected.
His tenure also demonstrated that government institutions can operate efficiently while maintaining transparency in financial management. Under his leadership, JAMB reformed its hitherto archaic and corruption-prone processes, such as the use of scratch cards for payment for its services, into a more transparent format; renegotiated exploitative agreements; and exercised prudent financial management, resulting to humongous savings in operational costs and the consequent unprecedented remittances to the tune of over ₦50 billion by 2025 from a paltry ₦52 million remitted by his predecessors to the Federal Government since the establishment in 1978 leading the Buhari-led administration to approve the reduction of the cost of UTME/Direct Entry registration forms from ₦5,000 to ₦3,500. Meanwhile, he also invested significantly in the modernisation of its operations and infrastructure nationwide to boost service delivery.
Beyond statistics and reforms, Oloyede’s legacy lies in the standards he established. He showed that competence, discipline, and ethical leadership remain powerful tools for institutional transformation. For many Nigerians, especially students and parents, JAMB gradually evolved from being viewed as a problematic agency into one recognised for continuous improvement.
As he bows out after completing the statutory tenure spanning 10 years, history is likely to remember him as more than just a Registrar/Chief Executive of JAMB. He will more likely be remembered as an institution builder, a reformer, and a public servant who demonstrated that meaningful change is possible when leadership is driven by vision rather than fleeting ambition.
Oloyede’s exit marks the end of a remarkable chapter in Nigeria’s educational administration. Yet, like all titans, his true legacy will not be found in the office he vacates, but in the institutions he strengthened, the systems he reformed, and the enduring example he set for others and his successors.
