In 40 years, JAMB generated N52 million under my ‘certified thieving’ predecessors – Oloyede

For forty years preceding the commencement of the tenure of Is’haq Oloyede at the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board in 2017, the examination body generated N52 million, a nugatory amount compared to the N9 billion generated in 2017, it has been disclosed.

Mr Oloyede made the disclosure at a ceremony marking the 61st birthday anniversary of Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola in Osogbo on Sunday.

Mr Oloyede, who spoke on “Functional Education as a Tool for National Development and a Gateway to Freedom” said the commanding height of Nigeria’s education sector was dominated by ‘certified thieves’.

He said corruption had become a bottleneck to the delivery quality education service in the country.

“Nigeria is dominated by thieves at the helms of affairs,” he said. “I mean certified thieves; let me talk about JAMB, for instance. Since over forty years that JAMB has been established, the total money generated before we came in was N52 million”

“After we finished our examinations for 2017, we generated N9 billion, in which I returned the total sum of N7.8m to the Federal Government. Members of the National Assembly marveled at this feat; they wondered how I came about the figure. For this year also, I have realised over N9bn,” said Mr Oloyede, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin.

However, there has not been any known effort by the country’s anti=graft authorities to investigate Mr Oloyede’s predecessors, most notably ‘Dibu Ojerinde, over how they managed revenues while they led JAMB.

Speaking further, Mr Oloyede emphasised the imperative of quality and functional education.

He said: “You don’t need to use a bomb to destroy a nation, just lower the quality of education and allow cheating by students in examinations. Education, being the art of acquisition and utilisation of knowledge, is also an instrument in training individuals purposely to make them socially responsible.

“Functional education must be geared towards the liberation of humanity from poverty and misery. All in all, education must be functional before it is adaptable.”

He charged stakeholders to ensure that students practice what they are taught as education is not only about the certificate but its functionality.