A retired Deputy Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr. Kayode Olagunju, has applauded the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, for publicly admitting errors in the recently concluded 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
In a statement released on Thursday, Dr. Olagunju described Oloyede’s decision to take full responsibility for the errors and provide remedies for affected candidates as a display of rare courage and integrity in public service.
“Not everyone possesses the courage to publicly admit their mistakes,” Dr. Olagunju wrote. “Many will rather blame others or try to ‘explain’ the situation… Some will even go into history and cite many occurrences of such mistakes in the past.”
According to him, he saw Prof. Oloyede moved to tears over the failure to detect the errors earlier, noting that “he took full responsibility with an apology and provided a remedy to the victims. That is pure courage.”
Drawing parallels from his time at the FRSC, Dr. Olagunju recounted how his former boss, Chief Osita Chidoka, then Corps Marshal, demonstrated similar courage in 2013 when the agency discovered discrepancies in its road traffic crash data. He explained that upon his assumption as Head of the Policy, Research and Statistics Department of FRSC, he discovered that three years’ worth of crash data had been underreported.
Despite resistance from some members of the FRSC management, who feared reputational damage and backlash from global stakeholders, Chidoka then approved a public repudiation of the incorrect data.
“Osita Chidoka said, ‘Gentlemen, since this is a genuine mistake and we did not falsify or intentionally mislead, I am ready to go with Figaro [Olagunju] to repudiate the data with explanation and offer necessary apology.’ That was a great courageous moment,” he said.
He added that even when FRSC was being praised internationally for its data management, Chidoka insisted on transparency. “He ruled, ‘There is no going back… Other nations should also learn transparency from us. Data credibility is key.’”
Dr. Olagunju said he believed Prof. Oloyede would have faced similar pressures to avoid making the issue public but chose honour and accountability instead. “Some of his friends could have warned him of the consequences, but our cerebral Prof took the path of honour even though painful… That is the way to go. Highly commendable,” he concluded.
