The tenure of the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Oloyede, ends on July 31, 2026. He departs the agency having demonstrated what Nigeria’s public service can achieve whenever it is led by genuine conviction. Marked by fiscal discipline, transparency, technological reform, and integrity, his tenure, over two terms of five years each, has drawn considerable commendation, understandably, as the nation reaped the benefits of an institutional leader who understood that public office equals public trust. Now is the time to defend his standard and ensure it is not swallowed up in mediocrity.

Oloyede’s tenure is reminiscent of the First Advent. Christ walks into the temple, an institution in Jerusalem, and uncovers an entrenched network of illicit commercial enterprise. He makes a whip of cords and drives out the unscrupulous merchants, insisting the institution must live up to its reputation for integrity. Oloyede never had to physically trounce his predecessors, but he achieved no less when, in his first full year alone, he remitted N7.8 billion into federal coffers. Put in proper perspective, the agency, in its four decades of existence since 1978, had only managed to remit a cumulative total of less than N50 million into the treasury.

He followed up on the financial ‘miracle’ with N8 billion in 2018, N5 billion in 2019, and N7 billion in 2020. Thus, the Registrar punctured the myth that JAMB was just another of many Nigerian institutions that needed to be bottle-fed with yearly allocations but never grow past the cradle into accountability. As the curtain is drawn, he scores a total contribution of over N20 billion in operating surplus remitted to the government. Meanwhile, recall that one of Oloyede’s predecessors faced prosecution for the alleged misappropriation of over N900 million in public funds.

The Oloyede years become even more interesting when one considers that the surplus — against the prevalent methodology for boosting revenue — did not come by heaping extra burdens on ordinary Nigerians, such as an increase in examination fees. Having argued that charging N5,000 for the application fee was unnecessary, he initiated a process that reduced the cost to N3,500. As such, he took the path less trodden by many Nigerian leaders: eliminating leakages, enforcing financial discipline, and holding every naira of public revenue to account.

Prof Oloyede understood the delicate balance between integrity and technology. Rather than treating technology as an end in itself, he embraced it as a means of protecting credibility. He introduced and sustained the expansion of computer-based testing, transforming the examination environment and making large-scale malpractice significantly harder. In 2025, the board’s advanced anomaly detection tools exposed and thwarted attempts by fraudsters, including 4,251 cases of finger-blending and 190 artificial intelligence-assisted cheating.

He demonstrated a feature of principled leadership when, in the 2025 UTME, a technical glitch compromised the integrity of results. He was unlike many leaders who grandstand, deflect, or make excuses. Oloyede, in tears, admitted the error publicly and took steps to correct it. This is “a clear demonstration of accountability, honesty, and courage — values that are rare but deeply needed in today’s public service,” writes the Association of African Universities in a commendation. The Association added: “In openly taking responsibility and showing empathy…you have not only elevated the standard of public leadership in Nigeria but have also restored confidence in institutional integrity across Africa.” Millions of young Nigerians have passed through JAMB’s gateway into higher education. The fairness of this passage, its transparency, and resistance to manipulation speak volumes about whether the country’s education system is in consonance with merit or remains a conduit for privilege and corruption. President Tinubu was therefore right when he observed, in his tribute, that Oloyede “pioneered and sustained a series of reforms and technological innovations that have made the admission process in Nigeria transparent and credible…and demonstrated an uncommon commitment to financial integrity and accountability in public service.”

Prof Oloyede has proven that if JAMB can be turned around, then a major cause of institutional failure in Nigeria is inept leadership. Some agencies, like the Nigerian Customs Service, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and a few others, have, at various points, demonstrated similar possibilities. Oloyede’s tenure adds to that body of evidence that public service in Nigeria is not impervious to integrity when integrity is actually present. Ministries, departments, and agencies that have persuaded themselves otherwise have a lesson to borrow from. Laudable as they are, Oloyede’s achievements will not be sustained automatically. If there is to be no regression to the shadows of fraud of the past in JAMB, it will be because the incoming Registrar, Prof Segun Aina, consciously treats his mandate as a civic obligation, and that he has the continued support of the Federal Government and the majority of the citizenry. The 40-year-old professor of computer engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, a specialist in digital systems, examination integrity, and public-sector reform, must acknowledge that Oloyede’s standard is now the minimum. There should never be a descent below transparency in financial reporting, prompt publication of results, aggressive anti-malpractice enforcement, and genuine care for the welfare of staff.

Prof Oloyede will be remembered as having left behind both a rebuke and a template. His example reproves leaders who see office as an opportunity for self-enrichment. He affirms that all heads of MDAs can and should leave footprints of integrity. If an institution as large, as historically compromised, and as politically exposed as JAMB can be turned around, then heads of the Universal Basic Education Commission, the National Universities Commission, the West African Examinations Council, the National Health Insurance Authority, and every other agency that touches the lives of ordinary Nigerians must study and replicate the model.

Nations get the institutions they are willing to defend. The incoming registrar, the supervising ministry, the National Assembly, and the public that depends on JAMB must hold the institution and its new leadership to the standard set by Prof Ishaq Oloyede. An outstanding record has been achieved. As July 31, 2026, closes in, this record must not be allowed to fade into the background noise of encomiums that Nigeria performs over departing officials. It is time to remember and, with remembrance, recommit to what is right.