By BASHIR ADEFAKA
It was all emotion-laden situation albeit joyfully Tuesday 24 August, 2021 as workers of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) trooped out in their hundreds, singing and drumming to welcome Prof. Is-haq Oloyede back to office.
The two-vehicle convoy of Oloyede was captured from the street as it approached the main gate to ride into the waiting excited management and staff, who immediately surrounded his black SUV car as it ride to stop by the laid red carpet on which the second term comer stepped and ushered into the building of the examination body’s headquarters in Bwari, Federal Capital Territory.
Prof. Oloyede was returning to the office since Jul 30, 2021, when he handed over the baton of JAMB leadershi to the Director of Information Technology Services, Mr. Fabian Okoro, at the expiration of his first five-year-tenure.
The registrar was reappointed on Friday 20 August, 2021 by President Muhammadu Buhari, following his recommendation by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu.
Also reappointed alongside Oloyede were the extecutive Secretaries of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Ababakar Rasheed and Hameed Boboyi, respectively.
The statement by the ministry which was signed by the director of press and public affairs, Ben Goong, also confirmed Ifeoma Isiugo-Abanihe as registrar and chief executive officer of the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB).
New director and chief executive officer, Promise Mebine, a professor, was appointed for the National Mathematical Centre for a tenure of five years.
A media report has it that within 19 days before Prof Is-haq Oloyede’s reappointment was announced, many Nigerians had demanded the return of a man they described as “Mr integrity.”
The quest for the registrar’s return is not unconnected with Nigerians’ admiration for his administrative skills, which they claimed had restored the establishment’s lost glory.
The former executive secretary of the NUC, Peter Okebukola, a professor, had urged the government to reappoint the duo of Oloyede (JAMB) and Rasheed (NUC).
Welcoming the registrar on Tuesday, the head of the agency’s public affairs and protocol, Fabian Benjamin, described Prof Oloyede as a Godsent. He thanked him on behalf of his colleagues for the innovations introduced to the body and the welfare packages for the workers.
Other management and staff members also took turns to shower praises on the professor, who is Secretary General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), and commended President Muhammadu Buhari for what they described as putting a round peg in a round hole.
Ironically,. while Oloyede is enjoying public support in his efforts to reposition the examination body, his predecessor, Dibu Ojerinde, a professor of measurement, is currently facing trial over allegations bothering on financial misappropriation for the time he was registrar of JAMB.
Some properties have also been seized from the former helmsman by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC). The anti-graft body said the items were acquired with proceeds of fraud.
