In less than a decade, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Is-haq Oloyede, a Professor of Islamic Studies, would be having on his well-stocked award shelves, three medals of Nigeria’s national honour.

Just a day after his 68th birthday on Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari will be conferring on him the Commander of the Order of Niger (CON). It is apparently in recognition of his sterling performances at the examination board and general contributions to national growth and development.

The new feat has, therefore, been described by many of his associates, mentees, friends, and well-wishers as “another feather befitting of a well-decorated cap.”

Some of these individuals who applauded the government’s decision include a former Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Olanrewaju Fagbohun; the Vice-Chancellor of Ahman Pategi University, Kwara State, Mahfouz Adedimeji; Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian University (SSANU), University of Ilorin chapter, Olusola Falowo, and a Professor of Mass Communicatuon at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Ismail Ibraheem.

Familiar terrain
Mr Oloyede is not new to national honour, and it is arguable that he is the first educationist in the country to receive three national honours within a space of a decade.

In 2014, about three years after his tenure as the vice-chancellor of his alma mater, University of Ilorin, Mr Oloyede was conferred with the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (OFR) by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The government’s action was said to be in recognition of the turnaround recorded at the university during his five-year tenure between 2007 and 2011. Within the period, the ivory tower was dubbed “Nigeria’s most sought-after university” due largely to heavy subscription by admission seekers.

The national honour could not have been based on Mr Oloyede’s achievements at the university alone as he also flew the nation’s flag at national, regional, continental and global levels, advancing the cause of quality and affordable education.

While serving as the UNILORIN helmsman, the Islamic scholar also served as the chairman of Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), President of the Association of African Universities, Secretary of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of West African Universities, and was a member of the board of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.