So much has been said and written about Prof Ishaq Oloyede’s financial reengineering at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). This has made it possible for the board to remit billions of naira into the government’s coffers, a thing unheard of since the board was established 41 years ago. JAMB has been remitting on the average about N7billion since the advent of Oloyede’s tenure in 2016. Although there have been controversies that the board was not set up to remit money to the Federal Government, Oloyede’s predecessors have explanations to make on what happened to the money that they made in their time. At least Nigerians deserve to know what happened to the billions. Even if it was swallowed by snakes, we should know.
It is not enough to tell us that the board was not set up as a money-making venture. But it is interesting to know that even after reducing application fees, billions still went back to the government’s coffers from the same institution which for about 40 years remitted a paltry N52million to the government. Without doubt, Oloyede’s predecessors must be busy in their rooms praying to whatever god they are serving for President Muhammadu Buhari not to open the book of remembrance on their tenures, since the government promised to beam the searchlight into the board’s past, to see where the billions that Oloyede is now remitting, ended up.
For Oloyede, the current registrar and chief executive of JAMB, the reforms continue. For instance, he has moved to involve other stakeholders in the conduct and monitoring of UTME. In his effort not to become a sole administrator, he has expanded the decision-making committee to give room for cross-fertilisation of ideas so as to be able to give the Minister of Education the ingredients with which to take informed decisions on JAMB matters, to justify the confidence reposed in him by the minister.
Having substantially sanitised the board’s finances and reduced waste and pilfering, JAMB has moved on to the next level of sanitising its core mandate, the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The board is a clearing house of sort, for candidates seeking admission into the country’s higher institutions – the polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education and the universities. The vehicle through which the admissions are made is the (UTME), which, according to Wikipedia, is “a computer-based standardised examination for prospective undergraduates in Nigeria. It is designed to assess problem solving, critical thinking, knowledge of scientific concepts and principles significance of each subject taken.”
Like most other examinations in Nigeria and other climes, UTME was riddled with malpractices before the advent of Oloyede in JAMB. But, just as he is sanitising the board’s finances, he is equally paying attention to the core mandate of ensuring high standard for its examination.
But, nothing here suggests that examination malpractice is peculiar to Nigeria. It is a global challenge. As a matter of fact, I remember some students (I think in Thailand) protested sometime in the late 80s or early 90s when the university authorities rejected their request for “friends to help friends” in examination halls. I wrote a satirical piece in my column on the issue at The Punch. If I can remember, the topic then was ‘Let friends help friends’. Obviously, that was a satanic request which no school authority would embrace. In Ireland, figures from the examinations body show a leap from 55 penalties from examination malpractice in 2014 to 115 in 2018, with mobile phones accounting for more than a third of all incidents of malpractice in that year. In that country, mere entering the examination hall with a mobile telephone attracts punishment, even if it is not used. Perhaps it was the tough stance on examination cheats that has salutary effect on the number of students entering examinations which dropped by more than 72,000.
Prof Oloyede told stakeholders at JAMB’s 2019 Critical Stakeholders’ Meeting held at the Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, on March 18, the steps so far taken to arrest the scourge of examination malpractice that has been with us for long. Indeed, it is another form of corruption that has been plaguing the country for decades. On the basis of the malpractice, many examinations, especially those conducted by external bodies, have had to be cancelled; the results of many candidates have been withheld, sometimes permanently. It has come in various shapes; sometimes with external candidates helping others to sit for their examinations, often for mouth-watering fees. Sometimes, it is rich parents that look frantically for questions ahead of examinations for their wards, which they are prepared to pay through their nose for.
One major point to note in this year’s UTME is the no-discretion on biometric policy, which is good for the system. This is one area that examination cheats had exploited in the past. But JAMB has found out that it is only two out of about 250 cases fail the biometric test whereas about 50 of every 250 usually reported that they could not get through with the biometric. JAMB has somewhat debunked this, with only 24 candidates coming to Abuja in respect of biometric challenges and the board paid their air fares and other costs. Such candidates are now to write their examination in Abuja only.
Moreover, the board has procured many of the devices usually used to cheat in examinations. Many would expect the board to have bought anti-cheating devices. But Oloyede said it was better to buy the real things and give to those knowledgeable in their applications to deploy for the board’s benefit. The idea is to be ahead of the cheats. As a matter of fact, and to demonstrate the board’s zero-tolerance for cheating in its examination, it held an International Strategic Roundtable in Lagos in December, 2017, with a view to identifying the various technology devices used for examination malpractices and the measures to proactively address them. The board has held two follow-up retreats in Dakar, Senegal, in November, 2018, and Transcorp, Abuja, in February, 2019, to let fraudsters know that the heat is on them. As a Yoruba proverb says, “a child who says his mother will not sleep will himself not know sleep.”
As usual, pen/biro, phones or similar devices, calculators or similar devices, USB, CD, hand discs and similar storage devices, books or any reading/writing materials, cameras, recorders. microphones, ear pieces, ink/pen readers, smart lenses, smart rings/jewelleries, smart buttons, and blue tooth devices remain banned from all UTME centres during examinations. ATM cards, erasers, and key holders have similarly joined the long list, while spy reading glasses and watches are now to be scrutinised.
Indeed, JAMB is now partnering security operatives and relevant agencies on cyber crimes, engaging their machineries and sponsoring them in order to tap from their fountain of knowledge. It has also moved some services to the registration portal in order to prevent extortion of candidates.
But, in all of these, Nigerians have President Buhari to thank for the giant and bold steps Oloyede has been able to take in bringing sanity to the operations of JAMB so far. The other pillar of support, as Oloyede revealed at the meeting, is the board’s chairman, Emmanuel Ndukwe. Without doubt, no one who wants to fight corruption in a country like ours (where the cankerworm has become the main menu of especially our corrupt elite who ‘wash’ same down after a heavy dose with exotic wines), can do so standing on shifting sands. The JAMB registrar could not hide his debt of gratitude to both men as he told this writer who had asked him at the forum what happens if as a result of all these efforts to bring JAMB to par with its counterparts in the civilised world he is suddenly moved to the ‘next level’ (promoted into Siberia/oblivion) out of the board. You don’t do such reforms without stepping on the toes of powerful people (who, like an old woman that never feels at ease when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb), can never like what is happening in JAMB, and would always fight back to return the board to the ancien regime. Oloyede’s answer? Your guess is as good as mine.
It is impossible to capture Oloyede’s presentation at the ceremony which lasted about two hours in a single write-up. But then, it is not possible to miss the priority given to efforts to bring to naught the efforts of fraudsters hell bent on compromising the integrity of the board’s examination. Given Oloyede’s antecedents as JAMB’s helmsman, some things are as good as certain about 2019 UTME. One, the chaos that used to characterise UTME before his appointment as JAMB registrar has gone for good. It is just that in our kind of country, people forget so soon. Before now, parents and candidates would have been apprehensive of what shape the examination would take. It is no longer so. Two, Oloyede would not allow friends to help friends. Once you are in the examination centre, you are on your own. As one church programme puts it, it is you and your God. Then third, the JAMB boss has made a solemn promise that the exercise will be conclusive.
So help him, God.