Ishaq Olarenwaju Oloyede The Outstanding Public Servant of High Repute

I am extremely selective in accepting gifts from even personal friends. My
needs are limited and my legitimate income is sufficient to spend on my
volunteer work”–Oloyede

It is no longer news that the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and
Matriculating Board (JAMB) Prof. Ishaq Olarenwaju Oloyede; the
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Universities Commission, Prof
Abubakar Rasheed and 12 heads of other agencies in the Ministry of
Education had, on Monday August 2, 2021, handed over their
responsibilities to the most senior officials in their agencies thus signifying
the end of their tenures except, perhaps, any of them secures the buy-in of
President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term in office. What is indeed a
celebration of some sort are the numerous accolades, encomiums and

commendations which have continued to trail the sagacious dance steps of
Prof Oloyede, one of Nigeria’s most accomplished public servants as he
steps down from his glorious service as JAMB Registrar, an assignment
which he accomplished with panache. Oloyede’s successes at JAMB
succeeded in transforming the examination board into becoming the envy
of most government agencies in the manner that the late Dora Akunyili
escalated the values and relevance of the National Agency for Food and
Drug Administration (NAFDAC) thus lending credence to the fact that
success is never an orphan.
We should recall the declaration by the legendry Nelson Mandela, a former
president of South Africa that: “The world will never respect Africa until
Nigeria earns that respect. The black people of the world are looking up to
Nigeria to be a source of pride and confidence. Every Nigerian citizen
should be made to understand this”. Mandela was actually giving credence
to the unquantifiable capacity of an average Nigerian to make the
difference in every sphere of human endeavor. The late sage, Chief
Obafemi Awolowo who was in the same mould with Mandela brought this
thinking closer home when he prophesied that “a day will come when
Nigerian masses from the north and South, Christians, Muslims, and
Animists will merge as a force for progress and unity, and to kick against
rigging, corruption and tyranny”.

The choice and eventual appointment of Professor Ishaq Oloyede as
Registrar of JAMB on August 2, 2016, has without doubt,
demonstrated integrity and probity in the administration of
government agencies. Oloyede as Chief Executive Officer of JAMB
brought to fore, many of the empirical advantages of merit-based
appointments where religion, tribe and colour were never made part
of the contents of measurements.
Simply put, Oloyede is dignity and integrity personified. It is therefore not
surprising that many people who were never Oloyede’s fan like the former
Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof Peter Okebukola have commenced
campaign for his possible reappointment against the background of his
unquenchable drive for work excellence.
Accomplishments
An erudite scholar, administrator and a man who lives by the principles and
tenets of his religion, it is refreshing to note that Professor Ishaq
Olarenwaju Oloyede, before coming to JAMB, have had a distinguished

career as an academic. He obtained B.A. Arabic (First Class Hons) in 1981
from the University of Ilorin and later, a doctorate degree in Islamic Studies
from the same university in 1991. The great scholar got to the peak of his
academic career when he was elected the Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Ilorin on October 15, 2007, for a single term of five years.
While in office, he set up the ICT centre, which became a model for other
universities. It is to his credit, during his tenure, that the University of Ilorin
was ranked among the best in Africa.
These are stories for another day for what is worth celebrating today is that
during his tenure as the Registrar of JAMB, that Oloyede succeeded in
proving himself to be an exemplary public servant with zero-tolerance for
corruption. Apart from setting up a new order of transparency in the running
of the agency, he tremendously improved the activities of the government
agency, remitting billions of naira to the coffers of the Federal Government
from the sale of forms and other services.
Oloyede turned JAMB from what, the banks will call a loss center to one of
government’s cash cows next to the oil and gas industry in terms of
revenue. The saying goes that a man of success achieves his goals but a
man of significance changes his world. Oloyede changed much more than
his world during his service as the helmsman at JAMB. He indeed changed
our world, Nigeria’s education system for the better.
JAMB under his watch was either remitting huge sums of money into the
government coffers as proceeds from its activities or is retooling its work
processes to the extent that candidates for university admissions do not
have to wait for months on end for the release of their entrance
exterminations. Sale of JAMB forms has become as seamless as the sitting
for the extermination itself kudos to the selfless services and integrity of the
board’s management team under the control of a man who knows where
he wants to be.
Not even the allegation of fraud totaling more than N2 billion among such
others which included pension fraud, unremitted deductions, extortion from
students, contract inflation and kick-backs; as well as unlawful payments to
ex-principal officers of the university leveled against him by the University
of Ilorin chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities could slow him
down for making positive impacts of monumental proportion on JAMB, a
government agency which was hitherto considered, a will never do well.

“I am extremely selective in accepting gifts from even personal
friends. My needs are limited and my legitimate income is sufficient to
spend on my volunteer work.
“I have never in my life collected bribe, inflated contracts, extorted anyone
nor accepted gifts beyond “Thank You greeting cards” from any contractor,
dead or alive.” Prof Oloyede who had served as Chairman of the
Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities as well as initiator
of the Association of West Africa Universities and President of the
Association of African Universities, had confessed.
Prof. Oloyede stands tall as one of the greatest symbols of President
Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade. It was therefore not
surprising that when the Presidency released a statement on December 30,
2017, to showcase the achievements of the Federal Government, JAMB’s
name was conspicuous in it. Subsequently, when the Minister of
Information and National Orientation made an intervention in response to a
statement, JAMB under Prof. Oloyede still featured prominently as a major
achievement of Mr. President.
It is a fact that the outgoing Registrar of the Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board, Is-haq Oloyede, demonstrated integrity and hard work
with the N7.8 billion his agency remitted, against N3 million annually
remitted by his predecessors.
A workaholic, a man of no dull moments, a talented scholar and
cerebral intellectual, Prof. Oloyede is an academic genius and
administrative guru, who dominates his world with well-reasoned
arguments and visionary ideas. He is also a shrewd judge of men and
matters. He accepts no half measures just as he smashes reputations
and sets standards and records.
BACKGROUND
Born on October 10, 1954, to the family of Alhaji and late Madam Oloyede
in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede started his formal
education at Ta’limul Islam Ahmadiya Primary School in 1961 after which
he proceeded to Progress Institute, Agege, where he bagged his First
School Leaving Certificate with distinction in 1969. He perfected his training
as an Arabist at the famous Arabic Training Centre (Markaz) between 1973
and 1976. His insatiable quest for knowledge took him to the University of
Ibadan, where he bagged a Certificate in Arabic and Islamic Studies while

his passion for higher learning brought him to the University of Ilorin in
1978, where he graduated as Best Graduating Student in 1981. The
University of Ilorin scrupulously engaged him as Assistant Lecturer in 1982
and he subsequently obtained his higher degrees in 1985 and 1991, rising
through the ranks in the process till he became a professor in 1995.
A true scholar to the core, Prof. Oloyede is a keen advocate of training and
in this respect; he leads by example as the prodigy is never ashamed of
being a student. He obtained his Postgraduate Diploma in Education just
in 2003 and became a Certified Teacher by Teachers’ Registration Council
of Nigeria in 2005. Between 1994 and 1995, he received Special
Proficiency Training on Information and Communication Technology at the
International Centre for Communication Art and capped his ICT proficiency
with a Certificate in Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme – Tertiary
(ADAPT) at the International Centre for Communication Studies and Digital
Bridge Institute, Abuja, in 2007.
Lessons
A man of unimpeachable integrity, he has received several awards and
honours in his dazzling and inspiring career and he is a member of many
professional bodies. He is a recipient of the Arab League Prize for the Best
Certificate Student in Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Ibadan;
recipient of Merit Award by Islamic Mission of Africa, proprietors of
Crescent University, Abeokuta; Fellow, Islamic Academy of Cambridge,
United Kingdom; Fellow, Academy of Religion; Fellow, Society for Peace
Studies and Practice; Fellow, Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies,
Nigeria; Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Management; and Fellow, Nigerian
Academy of Letters.
Prof. Oloyede has been a long-time member of the Nigerian Association of
Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Professors World Peace Academy
of Nigeria and the Nigerian Association for the Study and Teaching of
Religion and the Natural Sciences. He is a Board Member of the African
Center for Religions and the Sciences and representative.
It was Marcus Tullius Cicero who noted in his work titled De Natura
Deorum that “Those things are better which are perfected by nature than
those which are finished by Arts.” From all intents and purposes, Prof
Oloyede is one of nature’s best gifts to Nigeria going by his capacity to pay
attention to those things that matter the most not minding how insignificant

that other people might perceive them. And there lays his intrinsic desires
to be a change agent and a catalyst for great accomplishments.