One of the very few honest men appointed by the late President Mohammadu Buhari is Professor Ishaq Olanrewaju Oloyede. He became the Chief Executive Officer of JAMB in 2016. His appointment was renewed for another five years in 2021. A decade of innovation, transparency and accountability. Oloyede rebranded the Federal Government agency to the envy of all.
Few months after his appointment he remitted billions of naira to government coffer, a feat seen as direct indictment on his predecessors. Yes! A total of 50 million naira was recorded as revenue by others before him. In those dark eras, snakes were alleged to swallow millions of naira while scratch cards were being recycled.
Not only did Oloyede generate revenue; he reduced the cost of UTME fees for candidates. He also did not stand on the neck of government for allocation. He introduced innovations that help to reduce examination malpractices to the barest minimum.
A good leader who owns up to errors. It happened in the 2025 JAMB/UTME when glitch caused unanticipated error. Oloyede wept as he spoke on the issue. Adjustments were later made to correct the error. Professor Ishaq Olanrewaju Oloyede is leaving JAMB better than he met it. He is ‘Probitas doctrina’- better by far.
Interestingly, that’s the motto of the University of Ilorin where he served as a two-term Vice Chancellor.
As we are thanking Oloyede for a job well done, we want to charge the new Registrar, Professor Segun Aina to raise the bar of achievements.