Oke Ogun Dev Council extols qualities of JAMB’s boss

The Oke Ogun Development Council (ODC) yesterday described the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB), Prof. Dibu Ojerinde as a goal-getter, an innovator and an achiever with a golden touch.

The ODC, in a statement by its Acting President, Oladoja Oladele and Secretary, Jare Ajayi against the backdrop of the controversy generated by JAMB’s recent prescription for reducing the agonies of candidates who could not secure admission into tertiary institutions of their choice in Nigeria, maintained that the seasoned administrator acted with the best of intentions.

ODC is a community-based organization consisting of about 1.7 people of Oke Ogun area of Oyo State.

In the statement, the body maintained “Ojerinde has proved his mettle as Nigeria’s first Professor of Tests and Measurement in terms of the unprecedented innovations he has brought to examination management especially at the secondary and matriculation levels.

“Besides midwifing the second school certificate final examination, the National Examination Council (NECO), Dibu Ojerinde introduced an accelerated result of examinations regime to Nigeria.”

The Oke Ogun spokespersons went further to state that the Computer Based Test (CBT) introduced by JAMB under Ojerinde “brought Nigeria into the same orbit with what is obtainable in advanced countries globally as far as tests and examinations are concerned”.

They claimed that through the introduction of computerized system, results of JAMB-conducted examinations come out within a few days, if not hours.

“Indeed, Professor Ojerinde’s feat in examination administration was underscored not just by various awards and recognitions he got but also by his election as President of the International Association for Educational Assessment, (IAEA) and as Vice-President of the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa, (AEAA).

Commenting on the recent controversy, the Oke-Ogun scions asserted that the misconception would not have arisen were the matter and reason that informed it fully understood by those concerned.

It would be recalled that JAMB decided to send some candidates to other universities besides the ones they applied for with a view to enhancing their chances of securing admission.

The admission would be based on the candidates’ JAMB scores and on their performance at the Post UTME tests that individual university conducts.