Ishaq Olarenwaju Oloyede : When hard work meets luck

The outstanding public servant of high repute

There is no gainsaying that hard work has its reward. But it is only left for one to add that there are some elements of luck in most of human endevours to the extent that the holy book urges the faithful to work and pray.

When on Monday August 2, 2021 the then Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculating Board (JAMB) Prof.  Ishaq Olarenwaju Oloyede and 13  other heads of agencies in the Ministry of Education handed over their responsibilities to the most senior officials in their respective agencies thus signifying the end of their tenures, little did anyone imagined that Ishaq Olarenwaju will be getting back his in less than one month. But he did. President Muhammadu Buhari has just reappointed Ishaq as the chief executive officer of JAMB for what promises to be another four years of resounding success for the nation’s apex examination board which by its status, determines and defines the faith of many youths who thirst for higher education.

Yes; Prof Ishaq Olarenwaju Oloyede had worked hard as the manager of JAMB just as he did in most of his previous assignments, it have to be with his been at the right place at the right time for policy makers not to have been beclouded in the politics of zoning and job allocation for him to have won the confiudence of the presidency as to be allowed to return to the job for which not less than a dozen other qualified technocrats have submitted applications for engagement.

When the legendry Nelson Mandela, a former president of South Africa declared 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”, he was actually giving credence to the unquantifiable capacity of an average Nigerian to make the difference in every sphere of human endevour. 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 for the first tenure on August 2, 2016 had 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 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.

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 in his tenure as the Registrar of JAMB is 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 lose 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 initial 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 recently reappointed Registrar of JAMB in the person of Ishaq Oloyede demonstrated integrity and hard work with the N7.8 billion his agency remitted, against N3 million annually remitted by his predecessors. Perhaps, part of his inspiration for being who he is lies in the words of Bill Cosby: “I don’t know the secret of success but the secret of failure is trying to please everybody”.

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

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.

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.

For a better society