Sam Philip
The outcry by a section of the public that the Registrar of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board(JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede should be sacked because of the system glitch that affected the results of some candidates who wrote the last University Matriculation Examination(UME) has been dismissed as no solution.
National President, University of Ilorin Alumni Association, Dr. Stephen Fasakin described the call by the South-East members of National Assembly and others as throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
He deferred with the federal lawmakers, suggesting that the validity of UME results should cover three academic sessions.
According to Dr. Fasakin, this would reduce pressure on the service providers, the examination body, parents and candidates.
He noted that the innovation introduced to the unified examination body by Prof. Oloyede could not be wished away on grounds of systemic glitch which happened for the first time since the model was introduced.
Dr. Fasakin, who’s the 1st National Deputy Chairman, Association of Nigeria Universities Alumni, ANUA, noted that other examination bodies, West Examination Council(WAEC) and National Examination Council(NECO) craved and planned to adopt examination system introduced by the JAMB Registrar.
He said on Wednesday that “JAMB has conducted same examination with good ending for many years and Professor Ishaq Oloyede has been widely acclaimed for his innovation and evolution of various positive developmental stages JAMB has evolved through since he assumed office.
“While it is quite unfortunate that the previous Board’s examination exercise didn’t go the way of others, Nigerians should be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater since errors can still be corrected to produce an ending that can match or surpass the previous exercises.
“System glitch is not willful and the typical Professor Ishaq Oloyede will not compromise his integrity over issues like this, given it can be avoided.
“I will suggest the sustainability of a candidate’s score to run for three years as it will reduce a lot of pressure on the Board, parents, applicants and service providers in the cause of examination exercise.
“Professor Oloyede has established CBT in the public examination space of Nigeria such that other examination bodies like WAEC and NECO can have a blueprint to work with as they prepare to opt for CBT in their examination exercises too.
“I think Nigerians should salute the courage of Professor Oloyede to have tendered an apology publicly. It is rare to find leaders who expressly own up to faults that easily in this country.”
Dr. Fasakin, however, sympathised with the affected candidates, saying, “I sympathise with the candidates who are affected by the error. I wish them best of luck in their endeavours.”