So that JAMB may excel

Since his assumption of office as Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) on August 8, 2016, Prof. Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede has left no one in doubt, including the doubting Thomases. In the Nigerian space where public service is largely synonymous with self-service, Prof. Oloyede has remained constant as one of the exceptional […]

Since his assumption of office as Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) on August 8, 2016, Prof. Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede has left no one in doubt, including the doubting Thomases. In the Nigerian space where public service is largely synonymous with self-service, Prof. Oloyede has remained constant as one of the exceptional few who are passionate about their jobs, patriotic to the Nigerian nation and conscious of the fact that leadership is not a destination but a process.

This conviction about leadership being a process of continuous work has impassioned Prof. Oloyede’s commitment such that to him, hard work is a religious duty. And so much has JAMB been transformed under the charismatic Oloyede that the Board has now become synonymous with probity, integrity and excellence, a body being consulted now by respectable organisations within and outside Nigeria on their internal examinations.

It is therefore natural that awards and recognitions have been trailing JAMB as the exceptional leadership it has remains exposed under the sun for people to appreciate and imbibe from. This year alone, in January and February, two major newspapers in two consecutive weeks in two major cities have garlanded the astute former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin and ex-President of the Association of African Universities, along with the Board he heads, with their awards.

What the recognitions aptly symbolise is that JAMB cannot afford to be complacent because it is under the sun, in the glaring view of Nigerians who expect the examination body to consolidate on its recent gains and continue to reinvent itself to achieve more success now and lay a solid foundation for the future.

It is in furtherance of the meticulous planning, innovative management and exceptional leadership that JAMB seeks to make the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) the best in its annals. At a meeting held on March 18, 2019 with the critical stakeholders on its strategic planning and preparation for the supervision and administration of the 2019 UTME, the Registrar tasked all on the rules and regulations guiding the conduct of the exams.

Though the exams are to hold on April 11, 2019, with the mock exams scheduled for April 1, the quality of preparation made and the vibrancy of the various stakeholders mobilised to ensure the success of the examinations easily accentuated the centrality of proper planning, which prevents poor performance, in the operations of the examination body.

JAMB has itself got acquainted with the various innovations in the art of cheating and acquired alternative capacities to detect and forestall malpractice. As it is said that it is the today’s dog that can successfully hunt today’s hare, JAMB has invested in research and development such that for every new development in cheating artistry that candidates, in cahoots with the operators of the multi-billion naira industry “miracle centres”, come up with, JAMB has introduced a counter-measure to checkmate such fraud.

For instance, JAMB has unique information of each candidate’s registration data, the centre that did the registration, the person who did it, the computer used and the location of the registration. The measures put in place would definitely engender the credibility of the examinations such that the results obtained by each candidate will certainly be a true reflection of his or her ability.

Based on the threat of identity fraud, from 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), every candidate will pass through the Biometric Verification Machine (BVM) as the only authentic register and admittance requirement to the examination venue. Anyone who cannot be biometrically verified will not be allowed to sit the exam and on no account will the manual verification be allowed, based on experience.

There is little doubt that by the time Prof. Oloyede is done with JAMB, universities will themselves find no need for post-UTME again as confidence would have been restored based on the validity, credibility of the UTME and the correlation of JAMB results with actual student performance.

Adedimeji wrote from Abuja.

 

Rohr, what is Ezenwa’s offence?

After watching Super Eagles goalkeeper Ikechuckwu Ezenwa’s performance in the second half of Tuesday’s friendly match against Egypt, I began to get upset on why the Super Eagles manager Genhart Rohr has always been reluctant to feature him in Nigeria’s matches. Even in last year’s World Cup, Ezenwa was deliberately left out completely after helping Nigeria to qualify for the tournament. I did not see anything spectacular Francis Uzoho did that Ikechukwu Ezenwa wouldn’t have done in that World Cup, and seriously, I believe that if Ezenwa was allowed in the last match against Argentina, he would have performed better. Rohr, please stop blocking Ezenwa.

Titus Adiche, Awka, Anambra State

 

Ortom, please move to Orokam and perform

Now that Benue State Governor Ortom has been re-elected, I implore him to hurry to Orokam and indeed, Ogbadibo LGA and entire Idomaland and make his presence felt. The unending habit of Benue governors concentrating attention on Tiv areas is becoming intolerable, especially as the Idoma are hardly ever allowed to occupy the Benue Government House. Ortom should demonstrate that he is a different type of governor and a governor for all Benue by moving efforts towards Idomaland because what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. Ortom, show government presence in Idomaland.

Raymond Amuta, Apapa, Lagos

 

That pension plan for self-employed

I hear that President Muhammadu Buhari has launched a micro pension programme conceived for Nigerians in the informal sector.  He said it was meant for those that are not fully captured in the existing pension scheme, including trade associations, workers unions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the informal sector who he asked to join hands with the government in enlightening their members on the scheme’s importance. I wish to align with the president on this initiative as I see it benefiting the targeted groups. When the mandatory pension scheme came, some of us thought it was a farce, but now we can see that contributors have something to take home at the end of the day.  Government had in the past three years,  provided loans to farmers and others in the informal sector, I believe this micro pension plan is another step, so it needs to be embraced.

Virginia Ikeaba, Ikare-Ekiti

 

Will NNPC actually recruit well?

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)  spokesman Ndu Ugahmadu said on Wednesday that the corporation had closed its portal for ongoing recruitment exercise and begun shortlisting of applicants after the portal was opened on March 13. In the belief that the NNPC is an equal opportunity employer, it placed advertisements to recruit new hands like graduate trainees and other staff. The question now is; will the corporation actually invite truly qualified applicants for aptitude tests and recruit the right candidates irrespective of who they are or who they know or who are behind them, will it truly be equal opportunity recruitment? We pray that those who emerge successful would be actually those selected without any sentiment.

Dorothy Nwuneli, Owerri