JAMB: Understanding Ojerinde's Innovative Leadership
By Philip Agbese
Of
all the government agencies and parastatals, the Joint Admission and
Matriculation Board (JAMB) ranks among those that have been responsive
to innovating to meeting the changes and challenges that evolved with
time. Arguably, the larger part of this responsiveness took place under
the watch of Professor Dibu Ojerinde as the Registrar of the examination
body.
There was a time when the brochure that accompanied the
application forms was large enough to constitute a course of study on
its own. In those days, one would have to go through the tedious process
of completing the forms with the least amount of errors as possible –
too many errors and you have a form that cannot be used and the window
for the sale of forms might have closed. Eraser and correcting fluid
were good companions to have at hand while completing the forms at that
time.
Then JAMB introduced online application. It was resisted.
It was condemned. It was poorly understood. People wanted to continue
applying for the examination the old way. Fears were expressed as to the
risk of applicants completing the online form and still not have their
names on the list of those to write the examination. Of course, there
were hitches that were resolved as there was better understanding of the
system over time. It must be noted that what some called hitches were
errors made on the part of some applicants as they complete the online
application. Today, applying online is taken for granted.
Then
there was notification of result. Those who wrote JAMB in the nineties
can attest to those many trips to the local post office to check for the
arrival of their result slips or their none-arrival. Those were painful
years when one could score high marks in the examination and lose out
on admission because it took forever to know about the score. This was
after it would have taken JAMB the better part of three months to
release results. But in the mould of Professor Ojerinde’s penchant for
innovation, advancement in technology was deployed to make it possible
for candidates to get access their result using interactive platforms
like SMS short codes. Again, there were hues and cries. People
questioned the cost. We queried the authenticity of the results. But
ultimately came to realise that it was one innovation tertiary
institution applicants needed.
Talking about saving costs, we
used to write Universities Matriculation Examination (UME) after buying
the form for the particular examination. As a sort of insurance,
prospective tertiary students will hedge their option with the
Monotechnic, Polytechnic, and Colleges of Education Examination (MPCE)
and also pay for another round of forms. Candidates then read for both
examinations with slightly varied syllabi and possibly travel to two
different locations on different dates for the tests. It takes the
innovativeness of an Ojerinde to replace both tests with the Unified
Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and save all stakeholders the
hassles. But as usual, people kicked against the innovation that ensured
candidates write one single examination and have shots at institutions
across board.
The most recent is the Computer Based Test (CBT) that
became universal for all UTME candidates after pilot phases of it being
optional. Even at the pilot phase, people had tried to shoot down this
innovation, which was no surprise given our history as a people who
dread change. As Andrew Smith aptly put it, “People fear what they don't
understand and hate what they can't conquer.”
Similar to the
previous turning points, the CBT for 2016 had its hitches and one
expects that JAMB would act on all reported cases of glitches since it
has shown the needed responsiveness under other circumstances before.
While JAMB as an institution is responding to these issues, Professor
Ojerinde must make sure he remains unbowed as he should be used to the
kind of hullabaloo that follow in the wake of the series of innovations
he has brought to JAMB.
The advice became necessary given the
scale of coordinated protests that have been organised to cast aspersion
on the recently concluded examination in efforts to see the use of CBT
dropped. When there is room for refining the process and system for
efficiency it would be counterproductive to bow to the wishes of owners
of miracles centres, who have been identified as being the brain behind
the protests. The CBT means JAMB has in addition to other benefits been
able to break the circle of cheating that the miracle centres typified.
Those
who understand Professor Ojerinde’s innovative leadership at JAMB would
appreciate the need to ensure that his landmark achievements are
national assets that must be maintained and possibly modified for
adaptation by agencies to which it will be beneficial. His true worth as
a leader is thus his role as a pathfinder for other agencies that are
in need of innovation. This is what those who have genuine interest in
the quality of education available in Nigeria must find ways of tapping
into. His creativity in managing how people get into tertiary schools
could be explored for improving how students learn in our ivory towers.
Then we would have put this understanding of this man’s innovative
leadership to good use.
Agbese is an international affairs analyst based in the United Kingdom.
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