Mrs. Flora Usoh is a woman worthy of emulation as she had made her mark in both her public and private life.
She is a successful public servant capable of inspiring the upcoming generation and leaders alike to imbibe the concept of hard work, probity, accountability, resilience and selfless service. These concepts, no doubt, epitomised the career of this Amazon while in the service of the Board.
Mrs. Usoh, who recently retired from the services of the Board as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Zonal Director, gives glory to God for retiring in grand style. Mrs. Usoh, in this interview with JAMBulletin, bares her mind on her journey as a lecturer from Plateau State Polytechnic to JAMB, the paper-pencil era and its challenges, the introduction of CBT, her trying moments and divine intervention.
The unassuming but soft-spoken lady commended the indefatigable JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, for the uncommon transformations he had brought to bear in JAMB, the education sector and the country at large.
The former Director, who was visibly impressed with the achievements and selfless service rendered by the Registrar, described him as a messiah to the country and JAMB in particular. She had put it succinctly: “Oloyede is God’s answer to the prayer of the oppressed not only in JAMB but also the country in general.” On life after retirement, she said, “Life after retirement is very pleasant and peaceful for a person of stable character, because you have ample space to plan and execute your passion.”
On her journey to JAMB, she said, “It all began in 1997, when I transferred my services from the Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin Ladi, where I was Lecturer 1 to JAMB in order to join my military officer husband at the Air Force Barracks, Kaduna. JAMB offered me a place as an Assistant Chief Administrative Officer and posted me to the Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Department. In 2003, I was transferred to the Test Development Department. In January, 2020, I was promoted to the rank of Director and posted to the FCT Zonal Office. The position I held until my retirement in September, 2020.”
“The two Departments where I had worked also provided me ample opportunities for learning and research. This is especially true of the Test Development Department, where the job schedules were very tedious.”
“However, my experience as a lecturer enabled me to cope very well. Work was, indeed, very interesting especially when spiced with embarking on long journeys on assignments and, of course, I love travelling.”
While recounting her experience as a Team Leader during the paper-pencil testing era, Mrs. Usoh said, “One memorable experience was the supervision of an exam in Oleh, Delta State. After the exam, we were collating answer sheets when all of a sudden, hoodlums came in and snatched a box containing answer sheets of five hundred and forty ( 5 4 0 ) c andidates and disappeared into the surrounding bush. We were very frightened, so the team had to leave the exam centre to finish the remaining collation in the bank. Such was the hazards of conducting paper and pencil examination type.”
Another remarkable experience was the one that happened while I was in the Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Department. On that particular day, I came into the office to find a letter of adjustment of rank from Assistant Chief to Principal Administration Officer; this was a clear demotion by a grade level. I could not believe my eyes, I was shocked and confused at the same time. So, I sat down, prayed and then wrote a letter of appeal to the then Registrar, Prof. Bello Salim, pleading with him to intervene in my case as I had never received any query or warning since my appointment into the Board. To my greatest relief, within 24hours, another letter was written to me restoring my rank. It was quite an experience and I would advise people with similar problems to appeal instead of writing petitions.”
Continuing, Mrs. Usoh shared yet another remarkable and positive experience which is the introduction of the computer- based test (CBT) in place of the crisis-ridden paper-pencil test (PPT). There is no gainsaying the fact that the innovation brought sanity into the conduct of the Board’s examinations. It had sanitise the very chaotic situations witnessed during the PPT era when examination malpractice by both candidates and parents was very rampant.”
Still on her perception of the current leadership of the Board, Mrs. Usoh stated, “Today in JAMB, the era of “this is how we have been doing it” is over for good! The current leadership came on board in 2016 and ever since all Departmental operations have been reformed and automated. It is public knowledge that the application fee for the JAMB Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) registration has been reduced, ye t remittances to the Federal Government has been consistently and remarkably high.”
“A lot of welfare packages have been introduced by the current leadership of the Board; of which I am a beneficiary as I had the opportunity of being sent abroad to access medicare when the situation was getting out of hand. The Board had approved a five -month medical treatment plan in India when I took ill in February, 2020.”
“The current leadership has also elevated the hitherto send-off ceremony for retirees to an enviable level. During the sendoff on 17th December, 2020, fabulous cash gifts and household appliances were generously distributed to retirees.”
In terms of opportunity for career progression, the Management under the able leadership of Prof. Oloyede, created six Zonal Directorates to open up space for those who have stagnated as Deputy Directors for over ten 10 years to be promoted to the rank of Directors. This is unprecedented in the history of the Board.
In addition, the staff now enjoy free lunch package while in the office thus saving them the stress of conveying lunchboxes to their offices. It is needless to say that fashioning out of a befitting restaurant for staff provided the perfect opportunity to remodel the aging physical structures of the National Headquarters as well.” “In terms of the competence of JAMB as an examination body, this has been taken to enviable heights such that many local and foreign corporate organizations are seeking its intervention to conduct their professional and promotional examinations. Many of these include: CBN, NNPC, Mobil and West African Postgraduate Medical examination, among others.”
Commenting on her elevation as Director, she said, “I felt elated and thankful to God for using the current leadership of JAMB to actualize my dream as a public servant.”
She urged staff to be loyal to constituted authorities adding that the current Registrar runs an open door policy which provides the enabling environment for the airing of grievances.” Ask if she would venture into politics on invitation by her constituency, she simply said, “I would give it a thought.” On the secret of her youthful looks at 60, Mrs. Usoh said contentment and absolute trust in God were the secret of her amazing looks.
In conclusion, the former Director has this to say: “I wish to seize this opportunity to thank the Registrar, Management and the entire staff for laying the foundation for the JAMB of tomorrow. I ‘m very proud of to be a part of all that. I pray that God continues to bless JAMB and Nigeria.”
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