Accolades poured in for the immediate past Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is-haq Oloyede, as President Bola Tinubu, the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), political office holders, Islamic scholars and other dignitaries celebrated his 10-year stewardship of the examination body.

The tributes came at a civic reception organised in honour of Oloyede in Abuja, where they described his career in public service as an example of integrity, accountability, fiscal discipline and commitment to institutional development.

Tinubu was represented at the occasion by the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi.

The event, organised under the theme, “The Oloyede Blueprint: Integrity, Innovation and Accountability in Public Service,” also featured the Oloyede Legacy Tribute Lecture, which examined the place of ethical leadership and fiscal discipline in public administration.

Former Governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, who congratulated Oloyede, described him as a worthy ambassador of MSSN and an example of the organisation’s values.

Shekarau said one of the objectives of MSSN was to put into practice the teachings of Islam, adding that Oloyede had demonstrated those values in his career.

“We congratulate you. We thank Allah for you. You are indeed a very good example and ambassador of the MSSN,” he said.

The former governor recalled that Oloyede had initially indicated that he would not accept a second term as JAMB registrar after completing his first tenure. According to him, the then Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, had made efforts to persuade Oloyede to continue in office because of his contributions to the examination body.

Shekarau said Oloyede had expressed concerns about the demands of supervising the institution and travelling from one part of the country to another, but that he personally advised him to accept the second term.

The former Kano governor said: “I remember when he finished his first time he said he wouldn’t do second time, but the minister then, Adamu, was running helter-skelter to ensure he accepts. “He narrated the trouble in supervising and travelling from one place to another. And I told him he has to accept and he did. The reward for hard work is more work.”

Shekarau urged the current leadership of MSSN to ensure that veterans of the organisation were carried along in its activities, saying their presence and lifestyles could inspire younger members.

“I challenge the current national leadership to ensure that in all their events they should ensure that veterans of the MSSN are carried along. Their presence and lifestyle will serve as inspiration to the younger ones,” he said. He also urged Oloyede to remain available for national service, saying Nigeria still required people with his experience and values. “We are not begging for any appointment. If appointment comes, you will have to take. You are not yet done.

“Your presence is needed looking at the governance issues in Nigeria and we need a lot of Oloyedes,” he said.

Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Muzzamil Sani Hanga, said Oloyede’s conduct in public office reflected prudence, accountability and commitment to service. Hanga praised the former JAMB registrar for what he described as his prudent management of resources and ability to mobilise support for causes he believed in.

He said Oloyede had also contributed significantly to the development of MSSN and had demonstrated that leadership could be exercised without personal demands for appointments or material benefits.

“He is very prudent with money without having any worry of accounting. He can also raise donations.

“For the first time in the history of the Supreme Council, he has been able to rally millions for the council”, he added. Hanga described Oloyede as indefatigable, saying there were many lessons younger members could draw from his life and service. He said the former JAMB registrar had remained committed to MSSN and Islam without using his position to seek personal favours.

“One thing is that he remains true to MSSN and Islam. He is not begging for anything and we are contented with him like that. He is not looking for any appointment from anybody,” he said.
Rather than seeking another appointment for Oloyede, Hanga said the society wished him peace of mind and hoped he would be reunited with his children.

The National Amir of MSSN, Mustapha Olumide, said the reception was organised to celebrate Oloyede as a scholar, administrator and public servant whose career had been associated with integrity, innovation and accountability. He said Oloyede’s experience demonstrated that ethical leadership could produce measurable improvements in public institutions.

Olumide cited Oloyede’s tenure as Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin and his 10 years as JAMB registrar as examples of how technology, ingenuity, transparency, efficiency and accountability could be deployed to improve public institutions. He said Oloyede’s record showed that integrity should be regarded as an asset in public service rather than an obstacle to achieving results.

According to him, public officers should understand that decisions taken while in office could affect institutions and citizens long after they had left. He said the true measure of leadership was not the privileges attached to an office but the strength of the institutions and systems left behind.

Delivering a part of the Oloyede Legacy Tribute Lecture, titled “Public Office as Public Trust: Lessons in Fiscal Discipline from the Oloyede Era,” Dr. Usman Bugaje said Oloyede’s career demonstrated the importance of meritocracy, responsible leadership and institutional discipline.

He said the qualities of merit and integrity were increasingly important in a society facing challenges associated with declining standards and tolerance for corruption. He also drew attention to Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit and broader governance challenges, arguing that the country needed stronger institutions and greater accountability. Bugaje said the values demonstrated by Oloyede should encourage public officers to place institutional interests above personal considerations.

The National Missioner of the Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh AbdulRahman Ahmad, in a separate lecture titled “Faith in Action: The Role of Muslim Intellectuals in Nation Building,” said MSSN had played an important role in producing leaders across different sectors of Nigerian society.

He said former members of the organisation could be found among governors, professors, judges, ministers, permanent secretaries and other professionals. Ahmad, however, raised concerns about the continuity of the leadership development model that shaped previous generations of MSSN members.

He asked whether the organisation was still providing young members with the kind of training, exposure and leadership opportunities that had helped shape earlier generations. “If we have grandfathers becoming president of MSSN, where is the training of our young ones?” He asked.

Ahmad said the society needed to deliberately prepare younger members to take over leadership responsibilities rather than allow older generations to dominate its structures. He also used Oloyede’s career as an example of how faith, conviction and integrity could influence conduct in public office.

According to him, Oloyede demonstrated that it was possible to confront corruption and exercise authority without making the pursuit of appointments or political influence the primary objective.

He said the former JAMB registrar’s experience showed that individuals who remained committed to their values could attract responsibilities without aggressively seeking positions. The Director-General of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, also paid tribute to Oloyede, recalling his support during the early stages of the commission. Dabiri-Erewa said Oloyede was among the first people to assist NiDCOM when it commenced operations, including by providing space for the commission. “One of the first persons to help us when we started NiDCOM is Oloyede. He gave us a space,” she said. She described him as a selfless person and expressed appreciation for his contributions to public service. Dabiri-Erewa said his career provided an example of how public officials could serve the country while maintaining personal and institutional integrity. Responding to the tributes, Oloyede called for the restoration of the values and structures of the old MSSN, saying the organisation played an important role in developing the leadership capacities of his generation. He urged former members to contribute their experience, resources and networks to rebuilding the organisation and creating opportunities for younger Muslim boys and girls. “I want to appeal to us, I want to beg us to do whatever we can to make sure that we restore MSSN to boost young boys and girls,” he said.

Oloyede expressed concern that the present MSSN had changed significantly from what obtained when he was a young member. He recalled that the society had exposed young people to responsibilities and experiences that sometimes placed them ahead of their contemporaries, including some older people around them.

The former registrar said such opportunities were partly responsible for the emergence of many former MSSN members who later became prominent professionals and public servants. He urged older members who had benefited from the organisation not to become reluctant to trust younger members with leadership responsibilities. “Those of us who have benefitted from the MSSN, we are still not confident that they can do it,” he said. He called on former members to create room for younger people to lead, make mistakes, acquire experience and develop the confidence required to contribute to national development.

Oloyede also appealed to the current leadership to look beyond ceremonial recognition of former members and focus on rebuilding the structures and values that enabled MSSN to produce generations of leaders.

Oloyede served as JAMB registrar from 2016 to 2026, following a long academic and administrative career that included his tenure as Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin.

His career began in academia after he graduated from the University of Ilorin with first-class honours in 1981. He subsequently obtained a master’s degree in 1985 and a doctorate in 1991 before becoming a professor of Islamic Jurisprudence in 1995. He served in several administrative positions at the University of Ilorin, including Director of Academic Planning, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice Chancellor.

As vice chancellor, he introduced computer-based testing at the university in 2008, an innovation later adopted by several institutions, including JAMB.

At JAMB, his decade-long tenure was associated with the expansion of computer-based testing, greater use of technology in examination administration and changes in the board’s operational and financial management.

According to the biography presented at the event, JAMB remitted close to N8 billion to government within a year of Oloyede’s assumption of office, compared with less than N50 million remitted over the preceding 40 years.

The biography also credited his administration with reforms that attracted commendations from the Presidency and National Assembly.

Oloyede has received several honours, including the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), National Productivity Order of Merit (NIPOM) and UNESCO’s 2022 award for Best Advocate of Equal Opportunity in Higher Education in Africa, according to the biography presented at the occasion.

He has also held several national and international academic and interfaith responsibilities, including serving as national coordinator and executive secretary of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC).

He is the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).