Lessons from a Decade of Leadership at JAMB: Leadership Transition and the Opportunity for Institutional Healing

By Yisa Usman

The announcement of a new Registrar for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) marks more than the end of an administrative tenure. It represents a defining institutional moment, one that invites reflection not only on achievements recorded over the past decade, but also on the deeper lessons public institutions must learn about leadership, accountability, staff welfare, and the exercise of power.

There is no doubt that the outgoing administration introduced reforms in certain operational areas of the Board which became recurring reference points in public discourse. Developments such as increase in remittances, technology-driven examination processes, and administrative restructuring have been widely acknowledged and, where deserved, should be recognised.

However, history is most useful when it is balanced. Institutions do not become stronger merely by celebrating successes while ignoring painful internal realities experienced by many of those who work within them.

The true measure of leadership in public institutions extends beyond financial surpluses, public praise, or media narratives. It also includes how leadership treats dissent, manages power, applies rules, protects staff welfare, ensures fairness in career progression, and builds institutional trust.

One of the greatest lessons from the last decade is the danger of personality-driven administration within public institutions. Strong institutions must never become dependent on the preferences, emotions, or personal dispositions of individuals in authority.

Systems must always be superior to personalities. Once institutions begin to revolve excessively around individuals rather than established laws, policies, and collective responsibility, the risk of abuse, fear-driven administration, and institutional imbalance becomes significantly heightened.

The past decade also revealed the urgent need for stronger internal accountability mechanisms within public service institutions. Administrative efficiency must never come at the expense of transparency, fairness, due process, or humane leadership.

Public servants are not merely tools for operational delivery. They directly affect institutional productivity and stability with their dignity, welfare, health, career progression, and emotional wellbeing.

Many staff members across public institutions in Nigeria silently endure toxic workplace cultures, prolonged stagnation, selective disciplinary practices, insensitive postings, uneven opportunities, and suppression of constructive dissent. Such conditions may not always appear in official reports, yet they profoundly shape morale, productivity, and institutional trust.

Another important lesson is the need for strict adherence to extant laws and regulations guiding public administration. Whether in procurement processes, financial management, deployments, staff discipline, or welfare administration, compliance with the law must never depend on the disposition of leadership.

Public institutions are healthiest when rules are institutionalised rather than selectively applied.
It is critical to also address the growing misconception and institutional positioning of JAMB as though it were a Government Enterprise primarily established for aggressive revenue generation, rather than a public service agency created to facilitate equitable access to tertiary education for Nigerians. While financial accountability and operational sustainability remain important, JAMB was never fundamentally created as a profit-oriented or revenue-maximising institution. Its core mandate is service delivery in the national interest, and this distinction must be properly appreciated in shaping future policy direction and operational priorities.

The incoming leadership therefore has an important opportunity to shift institutional priorities from excessive revenue emphasis towards policies that genuinely alleviate the financial burden on Nigerian candidates and their parents. This is particularly important at a time when economic realities continue to place enormous pressure on households across the country.

Although the outgoing administration has often been credited with securing reductions in application-related charges at certain points, many Nigerians today still pay significantly higher cumulative costs for JAMB-related services than what existed prior to those reforms, with total application-related expenses in many cases exceeding ₦7,000 when associated charges are considered.

Over the years, the institution’s revenue-generating streams expanded considerably, with numerous service categories and payable items introduced under the aggressive revenue drive of the last decade.

While revenue generation itself is not inherently improper, public confidence becomes affected where citizens perceive that essential educational access services are increasingly commercialised.

More concerning are persistent complaints from candidates and parents regarding payments for certain services that were either delayed, inadequately delivered, or in some cases reportedly not ultimately provided, without corresponding refunds being made.

Complaints surrounding data correction services, particularly correction of date-of-birth processes for which substantial fees are charged, have remained recurring concerns among affected applicants.

An institution established to support the educational aspirations of young Nigerians must remain deeply sensitive to the realities faced by ordinary citizens. Financial surplus should never become more celebrated than service satisfaction, accessibility, fairness, and public trust.

The incoming leadership therefore has an opportunity to review the existing revenue philosophy of JAMB 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 entity rather than a service-oriented public institution will be essential to restoring proper institutional focus and public trust.

The transition currently taking place at JAMB thus presents a rare opportunity, not merely for administrative continuity, but for institutional healing and recalibration.

Healing, in this context, does not mean hostility toward the past or denial of achievements recorded. Rather, it means honestly acknowledging areas where institutional relationships weakened, where staff morale suffered, where fear replaced trust, where silence replaced constructive engagement, and where welfare concerns deserved greater attention.

A new leadership era offers a valuable opportunity to rebuild confidence across all cadres of staff by promoting fairness and transparency in promotions and deployment, ensuring lawful and equitable welfare structures, strengthening compliance with Public Service Rules and Financial Regulations, deepening respect for institutional processes, encouraging open but responsible internal engagement, and fostering a healthier balance between operational efficiency and staff wellbeing.

Perhaps most importantly, the transition offers an opportunity to strengthen a culture where professionalism is valued above sycophancy, where competence is rewarded above loyalty networks, and where constructive criticism is viewed not as rebellion, but as part of institutional growth.

No public institution can sustainably thrive where employees operate primarily under fear, uncertainty, or perceived injustice. A 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 each transition.
That is the true test of public service leadership.

Yisa Usman is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. He is a Governance, Procurement and Accountability Professional and 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 Germany. He writes from Abuja and can be reached via topusman@gmail.com.