By Yisa Usman
The appointment of a new Registrar for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) represents more than a routine leadership transition. It is a significant institutional moment that offers an opportunity to reflect not only on the achievements of the past decade, but also on the broader lessons surrounding leadership, accountability, staff welfare, and the responsible exercise of power in public institutions.
There is little doubt that the outgoing administration introduced reforms that transformed certain operational areas of the Board. Increased remittances, technology-driven examination processes, and administrative restructuring became recurring reference points in public discourse. These achievements, where deserved, should be acknowledged.
However, institutional history is most valuable when examined with balance and honesty. Public institutions do not become stronger by celebrating successes while ignoring painful internal realities experienced by many within the system.
The true measure of leadership extends beyond financial surpluses, public commendation, or favourable media narratives. It also lies in how leaders manage power, tolerate dissent, apply rules fairly, protect staff welfare, and build institutional trust.
One of the major lessons from the past decade is the danger of personality-driven administration in public institutions. Strong institutions should never depend excessively on the preferences or personal dispositions of individuals in authority. Systems must always take precedence over personalities. Once institutions begin revolving around individuals rather than established laws, policies, and collective responsibility, the risks of abuse, fear-driven administration, and institutional imbalance become heightened.
The period also underscored the need for stronger internal accountability mechanisms within public service institutions. Administrative efficiency should never come at the expense of transparency, fairness, due process, or humane leadership.
Public servants are not merely instruments for operational delivery. Their dignity, welfare, career progression, emotional wellbeing, and sense of belonging directly affect institutional productivity and stability.
Across many public institutions in Nigeria, staff members silently endure toxic workplace cultures, prolonged stagnation, selective disciplinary practices, insensitive postings, uneven opportunities, and suppression of constructive dissent. Though such realities may not always appear in official reports, they significantly shape morale, productivity, and institutional trust.
Another key lesson is the importance of strict adherence to extant laws and regulations guiding public administration. Whether in procurement, financial management, staff discipline, postings, or welfare administration, compliance with established rules should never depend on the personal disposition of leadership. Institutions function best when regulations are institutionalised rather than selectively applied.
It is equally important to address the growing perception of JAMB as a revenue-driven institution rather than a public service agency established to facilitate equitable access to tertiary education.
While financial accountability and operational sustainability remain important, JAMB was fundamentally created to serve the educational interests of Nigerians, not to operate as a profit-maximising entity. That distinction is critical in shaping future policy direction and operational priorities.
The incoming leadership therefore has an opportunity to redirect institutional priorities from excessive revenue emphasis toward policies that genuinely reduce the financial burden on candidates and their families, especially at a time of severe economic pressure on households.
Although the outgoing administration received commendation at certain points for reducing some application-related charges, many Nigerians still incur significantly higher cumulative costs for JAMB-related services than existed before those reforms, with total expenses in some cases exceeding ₦7,000 after associated charges are added.
Over the years, the Board’s revenue streams expanded considerably, with numerous payable services introduced under the aggressive revenue drive of the last decade. While revenue generation itself is not inherently improper, public trust becomes affected when citizens perceive that essential educational access services are becoming increasingly commercialised.
More concerning are persistent complaints from candidates and parents regarding payments for services that were delayed, inadequately delivered, or in some instances reportedly not provided without corresponding refunds. Complaints surrounding data correction services, particularly date-of-birth corrections for which substantial fees are charged, have remained recurring issues among affected applicants.
An institution established to support the educational aspirations of young Nigerians must remain sensitive to the realities faced by ordinary citizens. Financial surplus should never overshadow service satisfaction, accessibility, fairness, and public trust.
The incoming leadership therefore has an opportunity to review JAMB’s existing revenue philosophy and pursue a more balanced approach that prioritises service delivery, affordability, operational efficiency, transparency, and public confidence alongside financial accountability.
Correcting the growing perception of JAMB as a revenue-maximising institution rather than a service-oriented public agency will be essential to restoring institutional focus and public trust.
The transition currently taking place at JAMB presents a rare opportunity not merely for administrative continuity, but for institutional healing and recalibration.
Healing, in this context, does not imply hostility toward the past or denial of achievements recorded. Rather, it involves honestly acknowledging areas where institutional relationships weakened, where staff morale declined, where fear replaced trust, where silence overtook constructive engagement, and where welfare concerns deserved greater attention.
A new leadership era offers an opportunity to rebuild confidence across all cadres of staff by promoting fairness and transparency in promotions and deployments, ensuring lawful welfare structures, strengthening compliance with Public Service Rules and Financial Regulations, deepening respect for institutional processes, encouraging responsible internal engagement, and fostering a healthier balance between operational efficiency and staff wellbeing.
Perhaps most importantly, the transition provides an opportunity to strengthen a culture where professionalism is valued above sycophancy, competence rewarded above loyalty networks, and constructive criticism viewed not as rebellion, but as an essential part of institutional growth.
No public institution can sustainably thrive where employees operate primarily under fear, uncertainty, or perceived injustice. Lasting institutional success is built on trust, fairness, accountability, professionalism, and mutual respect.
As Nigeria continues to demand greater efficiency and accountability from public institutions, the lessons from JAMB’s last decade should contribute meaningfully to broader national conversations about public sector leadership and institutional governance.
Leadership tenures will always come and go.
What ultimately matters is whether institutions emerge stronger, fairer, more transparent, and more humane after every transition.
That remains the true test of public service leadership.
Yisa Usman is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN). He is a governance, procurement, and accountability professional, as well as a Ph.D. candidate in Accounting with research focus on corporate governance and sustainability reporting quality. He was the closest runner-up for the 2026 Ellsberg Whistleblower Award in Germany. He writes from Abuja.
Email: topusman@gmail.com
