39-year-old professor Segun Aina appointed JAMB registrar

When Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Segun Aina as the next registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), attention quickly turned to his age.

At 39, Aina will become JAMB’s youngest registrar when he succeeds Is-haq Oloyede after his tenure ends in July 2026.

Segun Aina’s career has largely been centred on examination technology and digital systems.

According to the presidency, he first worked with JAMB during his National Youth Service. That early experience exposed him to Nigeria’s admissions process and data-driven examination systems.

Those insights later shaped his work around examination reform and systems optimisation.

Over the past decade, Nigeria’s major examination bodies have steadily moved away from paper-based testing toward computer-based testing (CBT). JAMB became one of the biggest drivers of that shift under Oloyede, especially after expanding CBT nationwide to reduce malpractice, improve result processing, and standardise examinations.

Aina has worked closely with that ecosystem.

The presidency said he consulted for major examination bodies, including the National Examinations Council (NECO) and National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), focusing on ICT systems, examination integrity, and digital process optimisation.

His work also extended to state ministries of education and government digital transition projects.

That background makes him one of the few incoming JAMB registrars with deep technical experience in both engineering and examination systems.

Aina studied Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Kent before earning postgraduate degrees in Internet Computing, Network Security, and Digital Signal Processing from Loughborough University.

He later became a professor of Computer Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University at age 39.

Beyond academia, he co-founded Fluid Click Solutions, a technology and engineering company that focuses on education technology and digital systems.

His appointment comes at a critical time for JAMB and Nigeria’s wider education sector.

As more examinations move online, institutions face growing pressure around server reliability, biometric verification, cybersecurity, and digital accessibility. CBT systems have also faced criticism over technical failures, network outages, and uneven infrastructure in parts of the country.

The government appears to be betting that Aina’s mix of technical expertise and examination experience can help modernise those systems further.

In announcing the appointment, the presidency said Tinubu expects Aina to build on the reforms introduced under Oloyede and take the examination body “beyond the laudable heights achieved” by his predecessor.