Is’haq Oloyede and the JAMB revolution, By Kunle Akogun

There is no doubt that since his appointment as the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) five years ago, Prof. Is’haq Oloyede has remained one of the most visible poster boys of President Muhammadu Buhari’s war against corruption. The reason is simple: The Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin has so sanitised the operations of the tertiary institutions’ admission body in five years that it seems that the 44-years old Board had never been in any tangible operational existence before 2016! For this singular reason, his reappointment for another term of five years, announced on Friday, 20th August, did not really come as a surprise to many watchers of the great revolution going on in JAMB since August 1, 2016. Indeed, when his first tenure ended on July 31st, 2021, not a few discerning Nigerians openly canvassed his reappointment into the same office, if only to allow him consolidate on the unprecedented socio-economic revolution he initiated and sustained not only in JAMB but in any Nigerian public institution. For, which sane captain changes a winning team? In one of such altruistic advocacies, a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Peter Okebukola, said that Prof. Oloyede’s first term in office has “been marked by unprecedented success”, having elevated the quality of university education in Nigeria by ensuring improved quality of candidates for admission into the university system. Prof. Okebukola added that with 82 innovations in JAMB, Prof. Oloyede should be allowed to consolidate the gains of the last five years and see to the completion of his ongoing programmes and projects. It is a thing of personal joy for those of us who know this erudite scholar intimately that Prof. Oloyede did not disappoint his teeming admirers since his appointment. Rather, he shamed the vociferous opposition to his well-merited appointment. Not only did he institute an enhanced welfare scheme for JAMB staff that greatly boosted their morale, Prof. Oloyede’s messianic tenure substantially restored the sanctity of the Board’s main mandate: the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME). And, as evident in all the five admission exercises he superintended, JAMB’s technology considerably improved, with high level of transparency and advanced networking. The scrapping of the traditional scratch card system for checking results is also another positive rebellion by this audacious JAMB helmsman. And the drastic reduction in the application fees is a serious relief to sundry admission seekers and their parents and guardians. But by far the most remarkable feat by any non-revenue yielding MDA in the country is the consistent remittance by Prof. Oloyede’s JAMB of whopping sums of money in billions of naira to the Federal Government coffers in each of the last five years. This is indeed praise-worthy, especially in a country where even some MDAs that were specifically and originally established to collect revenue for the government often turn round to ask the same government for extra-budgetary bail-outs to supplement their overheads! By this feat, Prof. Oloyede merely lived up to his well-known credentials of administrative acumen, financial discipline and legendary transparency in public service. An erudite Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence and the first ever Unilorin graduate to make a first class degree in the institution, Oloyede became a household name during his tenure as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, having largely succeeded in turning the second generation University into a world class institution. This, he achieved by dint of hard work, resilience, consistency, tenacity of purpose and unparalleled team spirit. Indeed, Prof. Oloyede’s trajectory has been a study in service excellence, administrative acumen, religious commitment to the achievement of set goals, and unapologetic insistence on fairness for all. This much has been duly acknowledged by dispassionate watchers of his profile since he emerged the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin in 2007, especially with his sterling track records of achievements. It’s no surprise, therefore, that many well-meaning Nigerians continue to harp on the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to renew the appointment of this modern Midas to consolidate the good job he has been doing in JAMB in the past five years. After all, he is statutorily entitled to two terms of five years each, subject to the wish of the President. At a point, however, there were reports that Prof. Oloyede appeared not to be too keen on doing a second term, as he was said to have insisted that he had made his mark and would like to yield the ground for other persons to be given the opportunity to serve the nation at the JAMB level. The veracity of this report could be gleaned from the swiftness with which he handed over the Registrar’s baton, without any prompting whatsoever from any quarters, to the available most senior Director at the nick of the expiration of his FIRST term! The common sit-tight scheming among Nigerian public officials does not seem to hold any attraction for him! His reappointment is, therefore, a very commendable masterstroke by the President. For, Nigeria still needs the services of this highly cerebral and effective public officer for another five years at JAMB to personally nurse the several ongoing innovations, which he initiated in the organisation to irrevocable and unabortable fruition. For instance, such initiatives as the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) for automation of admission process; the institution of Equal Opportunity Group for the conduct of the Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for Blind Candidates; the expansion of the capacities of CBT centres for standardization purposes; the introduction of E-Ticketing (for Complaints; the introduction of the Integrated Brochure and Syllabus System (IBASS) for prompt delivery of admissions requirements; the use of Biometric Authentication to confirm validity of registration, the introduction of E-slip printing; the introduction of management dashboard to monitor registration and admission exercise real time; the use of CCTV cameras in all CBT centres to monitor the examination and registration process real time; and exemplary funds management; as well as prudent and judicious use of JAMB’s financial resources, all need to be consolidated upon in order to avoid the incidence of the well-known Nigerian syndrome of policy summersault and programme discontinuity that often characterize the advent of any new administration in this clime. Kunle Akogun, a former group news editor at ThisDay Newspapers, is the director of corporate affairs at the University of Ilorin

Ishaq Oloyede: Snake charmer By Ray Ekpu

There are two tough positions in Nigeria’s public service whose incumbents deserve tons of public sympathy. The chairmanship of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is one of them. The other is the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). Politicians want to “win” elections at all costs so they use money and violence to get things to go their own way. Some parents want their children to get into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions by hook or crook so they and their children do anything fair and foul to secure admission. So the JAMB office is a yearly theatre of battle and whoever is the Registrar bears the brunt of that battle. Since JAMB was set up in 1978 as the sole examination board for tertiary level institutions, there has been plenty wahala principally for three reasons. One, there are more children eager to go into tertiary institutions than there are vacancies for them. Two, many of the students eager to get in do not qualify by JAMB’s examination standard to have a place. Three, as there are no facilities provided for remedial programmes for these under-achievers, the pressure on JAMB becomes almost unbearable. So why can’t the country provide a one year remedial programme for those who cannot get into tertiary institutions through JAMB? After one successful year they can get into the first year programme of the universities or polytechnics or colleges of education. I am not unaware of the fact that some universities offer one-year diploma programmes in some courses. Those who do well are promoted into the second year of that course. But you first have to be able to sell your mother into slavery to be able to pay the fees for such programmes. If you don’t have a mother or you have one that you do not want to sell into slavery or she is too old to be purchased as a slave, then I say to you “tough luck.” That is not the kind of programme I am referring to. I am talking of a year’s remedial programme that equips the student to be admitted into the first year programme of any of the universities. This means that the student who is unable to get into the university through JAMB can still get in through the remedial route. The only difference is that he has to put in one extra year to get there. Why is that not possible today? We used to have this programmes years ago. The answer is that in Nigeria we do things differently. That is why people get into the universities on ridiculously low cut off points. The good thing is that it is the universities that now have to decide on their cut-off points. The dregs will go into universities that do not have high standards while the brilliant ones will aim at the high-flying institutions. These are some of the complicated decisions that JAMB has had to contend with since its inception. One man who has faced these intractable problems with a great deal of courage, integrity and transparency is the current Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede. Oloyede, 66, is a thorough bred student of Arabic and Islamic Studies, having been trained in Islamic Studies in Agege, Lagos State, Offa, Kwara State and the University of Ibadan before he enrolled for a degree course at the University of Ilorin. In 1981 he was awarded a first class honours Bachelors degree in Arabic Studies. In July 1982, he was appointed an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Religions of the university. He went on to nick a Ph.D in Islamic Studies from his alma mater, University of Ilorin. During his student days he got several scholarships, prizes and awards as an attestation of his exceptional brilliance. Of course, his brilliance cannot be in doubt because Arabic, just as Mandarin or Russian uses its own peculiar alphabets, which are different from the regular alphabets that are used in the English-speaking world. Those hen-scrawls in Mandarin, Russian and Arabic look to me utterly undecipherable. How anyone could decipher them and still got a first class in it is a minor miracle. Arabic lacks the pin-point exactitude of mathematics or engineering so anyone who acquired a first class in it must have the attributes of a genius. It was no surprise that Oloyede rose like a meteor through the Unilorin university system to become a professor at 41 and the Vice Chancellor of that university at 52 years. He had also been chairman of the Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities. In 2015, he was appointed Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Fountain University. He is also Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. His tour of duty in various positions in the university system (he was also Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration as well as Academics) had amply equipped him for the JAMB job. And when it came he was ready for it. JAMB is a place where there is always a lot of bustle and brouhaha. There are crooks within the system, who want to corrupt and damage the system for their own selfish ends. There are also crooks outside the system who want to reap unmerited dividends from a corrupted and damaged system. They both work hand in gloves to bring JAMB to a place it does not deserve to be. That was the situation before Oloyede was appointed. Oloyede’s entry brought an electric spark to the place because he put smiles on the faces of the workers whose welfare he took care of. When he started remitting huge funds into the coffers of the Federal Government a blush of pleasure must have risen to President Muhammadu Buhari’s cheeks. Here are the figures: Between 2010 and 2016, JAMB remitted about N50.7 million to the Federal Government but in 2017 alone Oloyede remitted N5 billion, yes N5 billion, that is 10 times what was remitted by the preceding administration in six years. Let us look at more figures of remittances. In 2011, it was N11.5 million, in 2013 it was N25.3 million. According to the Accountant General’s office there were no remittances at all in 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016. But under Oloyede JAMB was turned into a cash cow. Between 2016 and 2020 Oloyede remitted a staggering N28 billion to the government eventhough during this period he had actually reduced the fee for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) from N5, 000 to N3, 500 in 2017. The impression that Nigerians got of JAMB before Oloyede’s arrival was not that of a possible moneyspinner. It was that of an organisation that needed to be pampered and bottle-fed by the government to do a difficult job that the nation wanted done for the good of all. However, when a former Registrar of JAMB, Professor Adedibu Ojerinde was arraigned on an 18-count charge of alleged fraud and alleged diversion of public funds to the tune of N5.2 billion the scales fell from our eyes. Even though the man is innocent and will remain innocent until convicted, most people never thought that there could be billions in JAMB that could be stolen without the place crashing like a pack of cards. Oloyede has proved that our public institutions can work if people of unimpeachable integrity manage them. JAMB was not set up as a money-making institution but Oloyede has brought top drawer quality to the management of its affairs and turned a near moribund institution into a thriving money-spinning enterprise. Other government organisations that were specifically set up as money-making enterprises but are gulping money certainly have questions to answer for their incompetence. Oloyede is said to have instituted about 80 innovations which have had the overall impact of blocking leakages, improving the central admissions processing system, curbing illegal admission by streamlining and standardising admission data and generally making JAMB more efficient than hitherto. This is not to say that JAMB is perfect. It is not. Many complaints still exist because JAMB is a human institution and it remains a work in progress. However, Professor Oloyede has brought unparalleled integrity, transparency and accountability to the management of the institution. He invites stakeholders in education and better society activists to JAMB’s meetings so that they can see, at close range, the range of problems he is dealing with, the methods of complaints resolution and he is willing to accept suggestions for the improvement of the institution. In the management of affairs in Nigeria’s public offices that is rare. That approach helps in fine-tuning ideas through interaction and it gives an inspirational impact to the organisation. It also puts the organisation at the cutting edge of educational admissions administration and makes it able to absorb new ideas and feedback from the viewing, critical public. Oloyede, a man of great courage did not allow himself to be encumbered by what has come to be known derisively as the “Nigerian factor,” the mean and obscene resort to unfair and unwholesome tactics in achieving results. That would have been the quest for worst practices. Instead he looked for innovations outside the system for examples of best practices. That is why JAMB seems to work. There are two things to remark about Oloyede. He is a muslim. He is a professor. Some Muslims in public office have failed Nigeria by stealing our money and mismanaging our diversity. Some professors have failed Nigeria by rigging elections or harassing female students for sex or male students for money. So Oloyede’s success has nothing to do with his religion or his professorial standing. He is just a good man because it is not the hood that makes the monk or the cassock that makes the priest or the turtleneck that makes the reverend. It is the integrity in him, that rare quality that made him to charm the snakes that were swallowing JAMB’s money before he took office. The snakes vomited the money and where they could not they were put in zoos where they cannot escape. That way he made JAMB’s money inaccessible to greedy snakes. © 2021 Guardian Newspapers

What makes eNaira different from money in your bank account by Victoria Edeme

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s eNaira website has gone live ahead of the October 1 official launch. According to the website, www.enaira.com, “eNaira is a CB -issued digital currency that provides a unique form of money denominated in Naira.” Find out what makes the eNaira different from the money in your bank account — according to the apex bank itself. What is eNaira? eNaira is a central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria as a legal tender. It is the digital form of the Naira and will be used just like cash. What is an eNaira wallet? The eNaira wallet is a digital storage that holds the eNaira. It is held and managed on a distributed ledger. The eNaira wallet is required to access, hold and use eNaira. Is eNaira wallet safe? Yes. The eNaira system uses a two-factor authentication system in addition to cryptographic encryption to ensure the safety of customers’ wallets and the eNaira holding. Read Also eNaira website goes live, displays CBN digital currency features e-Naira offers cheaper, fast remittance option, says CBN SEC defeat CBN to win 2021 financial institutions' football cup How are eNaira wallets created? For smartphone users, download the eNaira app (termed “Speed”) from either the Google Play Store or Apple Store and complete the registration process. For feature phone users, utilize USSD codes and follow the registration prompts. How do I connect my eNaira wallet to my bank account? The eNaira app allows customers to identify a bank of their choice, connect to their bank accounts and perform transactions. What makes eNaira different from the money in my bank account? eNaira is the digital form of the cash and is a direct liability on the Central Bank of Nigeria while the customer deposits are direct liabilities on the financial institutions. How do I resolve failed transactions or raise enquiries on eNaira? Reach out to the customer support of the bank you selected when registering for eNaira through their available channels which include: phone, email, whatsapp, etc. Disputes will be resolved as soon as possible. If issues are not resolved within 48 hours, send an email to CBN’s eNaira Customer Support via helpdesk@enaira.com What are the different tiers of eNaira wallets that I can open as an individual? These are different tiers of wallets and they include: September 2021 TIERS CATEGORY REQUIREMENT DAILY LIMIT CUMULATIVE LIMIT 0 No Existing Bank Account NIN verified telephone number 20,000 120,000 1 No Existing Bank Account 50,000 300,000 2 Has an Existing Account BVN + valid means of identification 200,000 500,000 3 Has an Existing Account Tier 2 requirement + public utility receipt 500,000 5,000,000

JUST IN: Jurors find R. Kelly guilty of all charges

Jurors in R. Kelly’s sex trafficking trial in New York said have found him guilty of sex racketeering, involving a scheme to recruit and sexually abuse women, girls and boys. He was convicted on all nine counts including violations of the Mann Act, which prohibits the transport of “any woman or girl” across state lines for any “immoral purpose.” He faces life in prison. The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about nine hours across two days before reaching their unanimous verdict, New York Post reported. Prosecutors had painted Kelly, 54, as a “predator” who used his fame and a cadre of employees to prey on young victims. “This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot,” Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez said in her opening statement last month. Related News R. Kelly gave me herpes, I couldn't walk: Witness Jane Doe Jerhonda Pace: What R. Kelly did to me, T-shirt of semen tendered in court R.Kelly told me to lie I was 19: Jerhonda Pace now 28 “This case is about a predator,” she said. According to reports, the jurors began Monday by sending the judge a note asking for transcripts of testimony by two former Kelly employees and for a legal clarification. Deliberations first began on Friday, before the panel of seven men and five women took the weekend off. The 54-year-old Kelly had pleaded not guilty to the charges. Kelly is best known for the 1996 hit “I Believe I Can Fly”.

COVID-19: Protesters shut down Edo over compulsory vaccination by Adeyinka Adedipe

Members of civil society organisations and students on Monday took to major streets in Edo State to protest against the compulsory COVID-19 vaccination policy put in place by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration. The protesters, who grounded vehicular movement in the metropolis, carried placards bearing inscriptions as: ‘We need security in Edo, not vaccine’; ‘We will resist any form of executive rascality’; ‘Hunger is killing us, not COVID-19’; ‘Obaseki obey court order’; ‘My body is my right’; ‘Share COVID-19 palliative’. They also threatened to completely shut down government houses, government agencies/parastatals, corporate organisations enforcing ‘no vaccine, no entry’ policies, stressing that the protest of Monday was just a warning. Speaking at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Edo State Council, the coordinator of the Freedom Ambassador Organisation, Curtis Ogbebor, said they were out to express their displeasure over the compulsory vaccination in the state, noting that other pressing issues such as security should be the governor’s priority and not COVID-19 vaccination. He said, “We have come out today to send a warning and an advice for him to urgently withdraw that enforcement order. If he refuses to withdraw that order in 48 hours, we will mobilise to shut down the economy of the state. We cannot fold our arms and watch the act of illegality happen in our state. “There are issues of urgent concern like security which is enshrined in the constitution that the governor is under the law to secure the lives and properties of its citizenry. But as we speak, the governor is not concern about the security and welfare of the people. “As of now, no street light is working in Edo State; Benin-Auchi Road is not safe to travel on because of bandits, herdsmen and other criminal elements.” He urged the state governor to also focus on infrastructural development rather than enforcing COVID-19 vaccination. Also speaking on behalf of students in Edo, National Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Student and Youth Association, Osamudiamen Ogbidi, said students in the state reject the forceful COVID-19 vaccination. While noting that the protest was just a warning and that students would be mobilised to shut down the state, he said all other youths in the state also reject the compulsory vaccination.

Police threaten clampdown as IPOB declares sit-at-home on October 1 by Tony Okafor and Edward Nnachi

The Ebonyi State Police Command has threatened to deal with any group that foments trouble in the state on October 1, 2021. Nigeria celebrates its Independence Day annually on October 1. Ahead of this year’s celebrations to mark Nigeria’s proclamation of independence from British rule on October 1, 1960, the Indigenous People of Biafra, in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, on Saturday, issued a sit-at-home order in the five South-East states. The secessionist group also banned the flying of the Nigerian flag in the region on that day. He said, “IPOB has declared October 1, 2021, total shutdown in Biafraland as a sign of our rejection of the evil construct called Nigeria and there shall be no movement in Biafraland on this day. “Also, IPOB has declared from September 25, 2021, that all Nigerian flags mounted anywhere in Biafraland must be brought down, banks exceptional. IPOB leadership will communicate to banks directly and give them the reason they must peacefully bring down the Nigeria flag on their banking premises before we do it ourselves in our own way.” But the state Commissioner of Police, Aliyu Garba, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abakaliki, on Saturday night, said operatives of the command will not fold their hands and watch a group of persons unleash illegality in the state. He said, “This portrays illegality and we will not allow it. It is not the norm in our country and it’s unconstitutional. Our job is to maintain law and order so we will not take it lightly with anybody or group of persons who try to disrupt the peace of the state. We will deal with such a person or group of persons.” According to the police spokesperson in the state, DSP Loveth Odah, the commissioner had rolled down an operational order to men of the command to prevent crimes or illegality in the state during and after the Independence Day celebrations. She said, “We have been briefed and we are ready to contain every illegal act of any group of persons come October 1. We have already been given operational orders to this effect by the Commissioner of Police and we will not tolerate any act capable of causing a breach of the peace. On October 1, we will prevent any group from removing the Nigerian flag in the state.” Meanwhile, IPOB has urged residents in the South-East states to celebrate Ambazonia’s 4th independence anniversary on October 1, 2021. Ambazonia, also known as Ambaland, is a secessionist, self-declared nation in Cameroon, comprising the English speaking North-West and South-West Region of Cameroon. The two separatist groups formed an alliance in 2020 to drive their push for self-determination from the two West African neighbours. The statement read in part, “In line with the Memorandum of Understanding and alliance between Ambazonia and Biafra nations, we wish to ask Biafrans to support and celebrate Ambazonia’s Independence anniversary on October 1, 2021. We advise Biafrans to stand with the Ambazonian people as they celebrate their God-given freedom and independence.” IPOB’s sit-at-home observed every Monday has grounded socio-economic activities in the South-East states namely Ebonyi, Imo, Anambra, Enugu and Abia with many residents abiding by the order. Despite the governors’ assurances to the people to ignore the order and go about their normal business on Mondays, they continued to obey it even when IPOB suspended the order. The group announced the order in the region to protest the Federal Government’s prosecution of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, for offences bordering on treasonable felony. Kanu is advocating Igbo Nation. After announcing the suspension of the sit-home which the people didn’t obey perhaps in solidarity or for fear of attack, IPOB noted that the order would be observed only on the days Kanu would appear in court. It also threatened a one-month sit-at-home protest in the region if Kanu was not brought to court on October 2, 2021. t PUNCH.

Why dead Nigerians’ names are still on voter register – INEC chair by Solomon Odeniyi

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has said the inability of the commission to get adequate data on death in the country has hindered it from removing names of dead Nigerians from the voter register. He added that INEC had been periodically removing ineligible persons and multiple registrants using technology but the technology cannot assist the commission to identify and remove dead persons from its record. Yakubu said this when he received the Chairman of the National Population Commission, Nasir Kwarra, at the headquarters of the commission in Abuja on Friday. He, however, called on the NPC to ensure that data on dead persons in the country is made available to the commission for a proper clean up of the voter register. He said, “Perhaps you may wish to start by availing us with the list of prominent Nigerians who have passed on, civil and public servants compiled from the official records of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other Nigerians from hospital and funeral records across the country. “We appreciate that this is a herculean task but that is partly why we have the National Population Commission. We are confident that the NPC has the capacity to do so. This information is critical for INEC to enhance the credibility of the National Register of Voters”. Read Also INEC maintains dead govs, ministers, others on voter register LASIEC shouldn’t have access to INEC voter register –Resident Voter registration: 203,497 requests received in one week - INEC According to Yakubu, the NPC and INEC have embarked on one of the most imaginative and extensive inter-agency collaborations in Nigeria in the area of delimitation of boundaries of electoral constituencies. Earlier, Kwarra said the NPC was awaiting the approval of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), to conduct a national census by the first quarter of 2022. According to him, the Enumeration Area Demarcation exercise which is a prelude to a national census was still ongoing, adding that INEC aims to complete the enumeration by October. Copyright PUNCH