When the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, announced the appointment of 39-year-old Prof. Segun Aina as the new registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board four days ago, it was a major story that immediately went viral. Though the relatively young age of the newly appointed registrar might have been an attraction, considering his academic title and experience, many people agreed that the weight of the news had more to do with the outstanding image that had been created for the hitherto back-seat agency by the young professor’s predecessor, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede.
Aina holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Kent, an MSc in Internet Computing and Network Security, and a PhD in Digital Signal Processing, both from Loughborough University, United Kingdom. He has also completed the Lagos Business School’s senior management programme, according to Onanuga’s statement.
This background, his membership of various engineering professional bodies, and experience with JAMB and other examination bodies, should ordinarily give the comfort that after 10 years of Oloyede, JAMB is still in very safe hands. However, the sterling record of transparency, integrity and mandate delivery performance left by the former registrar, no matter what a few critics may think, goes beyond what just academic profiles and experience in relevant fields can effortlessly break.
