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Tag: Aare Afe Babalola

  • 2023 Aare Afe Babalola Football League: Defending champions in good start

    2023 Aare Afe Babalola Football League: Defending champions in good start

    The 2023 edition of the Aare Afe Babalola SAN /Ibadan Bar Five Aside Football Competition commenced in a grand style on Tuesday, with the defending champion , Lateef Fagbemi ‘boys’ looking good to retain the trophy for the second time.

    The reigning team had won two of their games with six points and also leading their group on goal aggregate.

    Also coming very close to the defending champion is Adebayo & Gbadamosi & Co team , after winning two games with six points to proceed to the next round .

    As it is, some analysts have predicted the two strong teams may play in the finals on Tuesday next week for the trophy and the prize money.

    Four teams played their matches at Olubadan Stadium out of eight law firms competing for the  league trophy . Adebayo & Gbadamosi & Co, defeated Makanjuola Esan & Co 2-1 ,  while Musibau Adetunbi & Co proved superiority over  Lasun Sanusi & Co with 3 goals to 1.

    Also, Crown Solicitors thrashed  Agbaje & Agbaje & Co 6 goals to 1, while the defending champion  Lateef Fagbemi & Co defeated Afe Babalola & Co 4-1.

    Read Also: FIFA ranking: Top 10 African countries

    On Wednesday, Adebayo & Gbadamosi & Co defeated Musibau Adetunbi & Co 5-1, Makanjuola Esan & Co defeated Lasun Sanusi & Co 6-0, Afe Babalola & Co, and Crown Solicitors played 3-3, while Lateef Fagbemi & Co humiliated Agbaje & Agbaje & Co 7-0 .

    The football tournament which started with eight teams in 2019 at the Olubadan stadium, Ibadan is sponsored by Afe Babalola & Co (Emmanuel Chambers) to celebrate the legal icon who is the Founder/ Principal Partner of the firm.

    The Deputy Head of Chambers of the Afe Babalola & Co, Kelly Ogbe stated that the reason why football was chosen to celebrate the living legend, Aare Afe Babalola, as a lover of the sport and thus the need to honour him with the sport that he loves so much.

  • Afe Babalola makes case for reputable Law Colleges to prepare Law graduates for bar examinations

    Frontline Legal icon and Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has advocated that reputable Colleges/Faculty of Law in Nigerian Universities should henceforth be saddled with the responsibility of training Law graduates preparatory for their final Call to Bar Examinations at the Law School.

    With this proposed arrangement, Law graduates from Nigerian universities will proceed to these reputable Colleges/Faculties of Law, Like ABUAD College of Law, with up-to-date facilities and Faculty members of international repute for their post-LL.B training and only go to the Law School to write their Call to Bar Examinations without being residential student in the Law School as is currently the case.

    This way, Babalola, who spoke over the weekend at a reception in honour of the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Prof. Isa Ciroma, SAN, said Nigeria would have borrowed a leaf from the practice in England, thereby frontally addressing the  problem of funding and myriad other problems which the Law School had had to contend with over the years.

    According to him, the problem of paucity of facilities and accommodation space have been some of the major problems the Law School had had to content with and its attendant bottleneck of having backlog of students because it does not have the capacity and the resources to cope with the number of Law graduates being churned out by the various Law Colleges/Faculties annually.

    Babalola who lamented that the Nigerian Bar is different from what he met when he was called to the Bar in 1963 or what it was before he made up his mind to study Law in the first instance, said a lot need to be done to turn things around for better in the profession for it to recapture the reverence the legal profession used to attract and enjoy many decades ago.

    Now fishing in most familiar waters, Babalola recalled how many lawyers have been asking for the abrogation of the SAN title in last few years. Their grievance being that they apply year-after-year with as many as 70 qualifying for the award every year. But at the end of the day, the Legal Privileges Committee of the Bar which admits Legal Practitioners into SAN-ship,  would lean so heavily on the law that says they cannot appoint more than 15 in any particular year, thereby leaving (having) a backlog of those who are qualified, but not awarded, almost on a yearly basis.

    The question then arises: if a person is qualified at a particular point in time, at what point does he become unqualified again? Perhaps one may ask those who are charged with the duty of appointing 15 out of 60 or 70 qualified practitioners what criteria they use to jettison those who are qualified. The problem here is that without knowing it, this practice of appointing 15 out of the several that are qualified has led to corruption, sectionalism and favouritism and corner-cutting by some junior lawyers, thereby lowering the standard of practice in the country.

    That practice has unwittingly led to the “man-know-man” syndrome and other extraneous influences where those who appoint Legal Practitioners to SAN-ship tend to favour those they know ahead of those they don’t know very well.

    Nigeria should copy England where the idea of the silk (SAN title), the equivalent of QC in England was borrowed from root, stem and branch. From time immemorial in England, no matter the number that qualify in a particular year, be it 60 or 70, all of them would be appointed, leaving no room for any backlog. Nigeria must do the needful in this regard if it must not be left behind.

    His words: “The practice in those days was that successful Legal Practitioners are invited to for appointments on the Bench. Now, the standard I met then is not the standard any more. Only 10 years after my arrival, I was invited to the Bench by Hon. Justice Oyemade, the Chief Judge of Western Region. I told him I still needed some money of my own. You know the impression then was that when you go to the Bench you will be corrupt”.

    We added:”We were hearing of cases of some Justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal being removed on grounds of, according to them, corruption…. I did not know of a successful legal practitioner who wanted to go to the Bench then. The practice which I know is that when you are a successful practitioner, you want to retire to the Bench and adorn it with your years of knowledge of legal practice.

    “So all over the world, the best judges are the best legal practitioners, that is why in England up till today, judges are recruited from Queen’s Counsel (the equivalent of our Senior Advocates of Nigeria), who have distinguished themselves. Now, the standard I met then is not the standard any more”.

    But today in Nigeria, many extraneous qualifications have crept into the appointment of judges so much so that people working in public limited liability companies have been appointed judges to satisfy geographical spread.

    His words:”Our Bench must be populated with qualified people who have practiced Law and not just who rose from the Magistrate Courts to the High Courts. When you read some judgments by some High Court Judges, you wonder and marvel because they are not more than the pronouncements of Magistrates”.

    He added: “In England, it is only those with QC, the equivalent of our Senior Advocates that are invited to occupy the Bench and this has helped the quality of judgments in England over the years. Why can’t we do same here? It will help our practice of Law and the quality of judgments from the Bench”.

    Babalola therefore suggested that if people who qualify to be made Senior Advocates of Nigeria are not restricted in number, there would be a ready pool of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, who have made good money in their practice years, and ready to accept elevation to the Bench like the late Hon. Justice Taslim Olawale Elias, and the late Hon. Justice Augustine Nnamani thereby increasing/improving quality of judges and reducing corruption.

    He thanked Ciroma for visiting ABUAD, adding that it washis love for quality and functional education that propelled him to visit ABUAD for the first time. Babalola commended the DG-Law School for being on top in several ways: A Professor of Law, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and above the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School.

    Ciroma commended Babalola and the ABUAD community for changing the face of Education in Nigeria within the short history of the university, stressing that if more people invest in Education, Nigeria will be the better for it.

     

    • Olofintila writes in from Ado-Ekiti

  • Neither here nor there

    Legal luminary and the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, has once again brought to the fore the issue of what the minimum educational qualification for people seeking to be president, governors and other elective positions should be.

    He also spoke on sundry issues of national concern, including the large retinue of political aides appointed by some political leaders, and who gulp huge resources by way of mouthwatering perks and emoluments.  He recalled that lawmakers in the First Republic were on part-time basis and therefore got only sitting allowances, not salaries as we have it today.  He also pushed for the imperative of a single presidential and gubernatorial term of six years, among others.

    Aare Babalola, who spoke on “Awoism and the unending search for transformational leadership in Nigeria: Political, economic, educational and social challenges” at the Obafemi Awolowo Leadership Prize Award ceremony held at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos, on March 6, is the third and latest recipient of the prestigious award; the other two recipients being Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and former South African President, Thabo Mbeki.

    The legal icon was probably right in his recommendation of a six-year single tenure for president and governors because of the intensity of the struggle for these positions, as a result of the power and influence the occupiers of the offices wield. Not a few people felt this recommendation would reduce the ‘do-or-die’ tendencies on the part of many of those seeking these positions. He may also have been right in recommending a return to the past, when law makers would only be paid allowances as a way of conserving fund, as well as reducing the unnecessary acrimonies that usually attend the electoral process in the National Assembly.

    But we are not comfortable with legislating educational qualification for seekers of governorship, presidential or other positions. Yes, this may seem the in-thing in our age. There is no doubt that education is key to development; and that people who go to the university are supposed to be better exposed to cope with modern day challenges.

    But we have seen that this is not always so. As a matter of fact, some of the graduates who have held leadership positions in the country have only shown that they passed through the citadels of learning, the citadels of learning did not pass through them. Indeed, the saying that degrees are awarded only to people found worthy in character and in learning, has no meaning when we consider what some of the university graduates who have held leadership positions in the country did while they were in office. Rather than use the education they acquired for positive purposes, they have used it rather to dysfunctional ends.

    What we have seen with regard to these people are creative ways to cheat or steal from the national till without being caught; or when caught, without being punished. They do virtually everything with impunity, in spite of their educational attainments and in a ‘who will catch me’ manner. Above all, they end up leaving the office they occupy worse than they met it. Yet, we have seen quite a few examples of people who never went to university and still left better legacies than those who were supposed to be university graduates.

    What we are saying in effect is that being a graduate will not necessarily translate to delivery of democratic dividend.  It is more of an individual thing; people’s background, antecedents, etc., all matter in making one a successful or a failed leader. Therefore, we should not be mechanistic about or fixated with university degrees.  A university degree is desirable; but we should make no attempt to fetichize it. It is something that should be allowed to evolve into an accepted convention. We believe it is only a matter of time.  We will surely get there.

  • Afeism and the quest for food security in Nigeria

    Afeism has become a new ideology. It depicts Aare Afe Babalola’s knack for determination, industry and philanthropy. To Aare Afe Babalola, impossibility is nothing. Little wonder, his biography is titled “Impossibility made possible”. He gets whatever he wants done whenever he wants it done irrespective of obstacles and challenges.

    He has a water mentality. Water does not see any obstacle on its way. Rather, water meanders round an obstacle to get to its destination. Aare Afe Babalola rose from grass to grace, having had only standard six education in the classroom. He achieved B.Sc Economics and LLB by private study. Determination is his watchword. How do you explain a man who started building a university at about 80 years of age?

    What about industry? Hardwork has become Afe’s second nature. At about 90, Afe still works for about 14 hours daily. If he’s not at Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) working from 8:30 in the morning till about 3:30 in the afternoon, he would be at his dining table which doubles as his study, in his surprisingly modest Salt Valley home, working on overflow from ABUAD or from his law chambers.

    During the last convocation of ABUAD on October 21, one of the guests asked in bewilderment “where does this Baba derive his energy?” My answer was simple “Grace of God and years of relentless hardwork”. Just like Awoism, Zikism, Nkrumahism, Afeism should be taught as a new ideology focusing on the uncanny attributes of Afe Babalola.

    A cardinal plank of Afeism is penchant for philanthropy. Afe would rather seek the good of others rather than his own. He was once described as a “reckless giver”. Having tasted poverty as a kid, Afe hated poverty with passion. He had no shoes until age 16. He has, therefore, made it a point of duty to fight poverty to a standstill.

    The annual Afe Babalola Agricultural Expo (ABAEX) further typifies Afeism. ABAEX is an annual exhibition of agricultural products in Ekiti State sponsored by Afe Babalola through various cash awards to Ekiti farmers to encourage farmers to improve production. After a transparent but highly competitive and painstaking process devoid of any form of nepotism or favouritism, the best farmer in Ekiti goes home with N1 million, while the top three farmers in each local government shares 300,000 naira.

    The total cash award each year is N6 million. ABAEX has been growing in leaps and bounds since its inception in 2015. Whereas only 16 farmers benefited in each of the first two editions, the 3rd edition in 2017 witnessed 32 beneficiaries while the 2018 edition saw an increase in the number of beneficiaries to 48. So far, 112 farmers have received several cash awards from the annual Afe Babalola Agric Expo.

    In the 2017 edition, a 73-year-old rice farmer from Igbemo Ekiti, Alhaji Balogun, smiled home with the star price of N1 million. He almost passed out when he heard his name called to receive 1 million naira. In the 2018 edition, a middle-aged man from Emure Ekiti, Clement Ogunsakin, got the star price of 1 million naira. From coast to coast, the recipients of ABAEX cash awards have improved farm production through purchase of additional farm lands, new farm implements, exposure to new market opportunities, training opportunities and credit opportunities.

    Apart from the cash awards, the annual ABAEX is usually a week-long programme full of training activities and networking opportunities with different stakeholders in the agric industry. In the 2017 edition, Dr. Cosmas Maduka, the largest rice farmer in Nigeria, who cultivated about 1,600 hectares of rice farm in Anambra State gave the keynote address in which he spelt out the nitty-gritty of rice plantation. In the 2018 edition, Dr. Esther Akangbe from the University of Ibadan spoke succinctly about Moringa and its many benefits.

    At 90, Afe is still dreaming; dreaming of how to end poverty and hunger, dreaming of how to stop medical tourism, dreaming of how to provide quality education and lift Nigeria’s universities in the top 100 in the world, dreaming of how Nigeria could better be governed, dreaming of how youth unemployment can be banished through agribusiness and entrepreneurship.

    To actualize all these dreams, Afe has become “poor” so that others could be rich. He has sold his properties across the world to provide qualitative education through the establishment of Afe Babalola University and the 400-bed Multi system teaching hospital, equipped with telemedicine equipment not found elsewhere in Nigeria-a state of the Art hospital which may not realize its investment in the next 20 years. Afeism does not think of immediate gratification or returns on investment. Afeism typifies selflessness and fulfilment for touching lives positively.

    Afeism seeks the common good. Afeism is about agelessness, philanthropy, industry, determination and social entrepreneurship.

     

    • Durotoye, the LOC Chairman of ABAEX, is the Provost of the College of Social and Management Sciences at Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

     

  • ABUAD seeks to end medical tourism

    • Signs MoU with Dubai hospital

    Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aster Group of Hospitals in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to halt medical tourism by Nigerians abroad.

    ABUAD Founder, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), said the partnership will see the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital (ABUADTH) and Aster collaborating in the areas of training, consultancy, and technical expertise and in medical administration.

    The MoU was signed on Tuesday, where it was agreed that Aster will offer short and long terms as well as permanent partnership for smooth take off of ABUADTH.

    Speaking after the signing, Dr. Navin Pascal, who spoke on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aster, said Aster had subsidiaries in nine countries and had been receiving patients from over 90 countries across the world.

    He said it was sad that Nigeria loses over 35,000 doctors to advanced countries due to poor remuneration, saying the trend has been affecting healthcare service in the country.

    “Aster has become a referral centre in the middle East. Our partnership with ABUAD will be in the areas of training, technical and administration.

    “What we will do is to train the doctors here so that ABUAD can be self sufficient in having experts that can perform critical operations that can make the rich and middle class Nigerians to see the hospitals as a better alternative.

    “We appreciate the fact that ABUAD is working hard for humanity and Aster partnering with it will bring a paradigm shift in Nigeria’s health sector”, he said.

    ABUAD Founder disclosed that a delegation will leave for Dubai in January 26 to perfect the MoU for enforcement.

    Babalola said: “In this partnership, ABUADTH and Aster are equal partners. Though, we agreed for long and short terms, but the memorandum may be forever depending on its workability.

    “Nigerians can’t afford to be spending so much on medical tourism and I have faith that this partnership will make the country a leading nation in healthcare services”.

    He said the breakdown of medical equipment in critical areas like dialysis, oncology and cardiology was becoming embarrassing,  urging Aster to bring in experts in biomedical engineering to train the experts in ABUADTH to prevent such from occurring in the hospital.

     

  • Afe Babalola seeks emergency fund for education

    Afe Babalola seeks emergency fund for education

    Founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has advocated a national emergency fund to address the challenges of inadequate funding of the education sector.

    He suggested a minimum of 26 per cent of the national budget or four per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) yearly to the sector.

    Chief Babalola made the call on Tuesday while delivering the keynote address at the 32nd Conference of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU), hosted by the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete.

    Speaking on the topic: “University management and economic Change: The Nigerian educational system perspective,” he said: “To rapidly catch up with the rest of the world in terms of quality education, there is a need to designate a significant portion of annual budgets to education.”

    He added that the government must be committed to revitalise and supporting public universities.

    Babalola also stressed the need for an end in the incessant industrial actions in public universities in the country, to bring about stable academic calendar. He also pointed out that “the private universities are generally not vulnerable to the many common ills of public universities.”the AVCNU Chairman, Prof Debo Adeyewa, urged governments at all levels to fund education adequately.

    Adeyewa, the Vice Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, also charged university administrators to come up with solutions to the “problems of paucity of finance, deficit of knowledge infrastructure, governance, policy inconsistency and other solutions relevant to the needs of society’’.

    He said the employability of graduates, entrepreneurship, quality assurance, relevance to sustainable development, climate change, leveraging on Information Communication Technology (ICT) and open education resources and international collaboration in the Nigerian university system were some of the challenges confronting the universities.

    “We need to address the nagging questions to ensure the provision of functional and quality education required for national development in the 21st century through our universities.”

    Declaring the conference open, Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed urged the vice chancellors to promote real research instead of the book reviews.

    Represented by the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Hajia Amina Ahmed also spoke of the need to match the training with the needs of the society.

    “It is only through pragmatic approach that we can guarantee sustainable growth in our country. Unless and until we graduate students as job creators, our saturated market of unemployable youths can at best remain time bombs that would do us no good,” he said.

    Earlier, Vice Chancellor of KWASU, Prof Abdulrasheed Na’Allah urged university administrators to collaborate with government to stop incessant strike actions by lecturers.

    Na’Allah added that most lecturers don’t treat their students like clients, saying the unfriendly treatment would not allow the students to give back to their alumni after their graduation.

    “If we are determined have 21st century universities, we have to ensure that our universities are theatres of research. There cannot be development without universities. Nigerian universities have no other cause but to change the fortune of Nigeria.

    “This nation is spending heavily on university education, yet we don’t have anything to show for it,” the vice chancellor added.

  • Nigerian leaders have failed the youths- Afe Babalola

    Nigerian leaders have failed the youths- Afe Babalola

    ***honoured as grand patron of NYCN

    Founder/Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, has expressed regrets that Nigerian leaders have failed the youths because they have failed to show good character and lay good examples to the younger generation.

    Babalola who spoke on the campus of the university on Thursday shortly after he was honoured as the Grand Patron of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) lamented what he called “indiscipline in high places in the country” which he said was inimical to national development.

    The legal icon was decorated by the NYCN National President, Ibukun Oluwole, on behalf of 60 million Nigerian youths.

    Babalola received the medal of patronship, a certificate of honour and a giant portrait amidst ovation by ABUAD principal officers, senior management staff and national executive members and state leaders of NYCN.

    The university proprietor said he established ABUAD to give Nigerian youths opportunity to acquire the best of education, learning and character restating his readiness to help build a virile youth population in Nigeria.

    According to him, ABUAD came on stream because of the decay in the public university system adding that his university has provided the best launching pad for the nation’s youths to realize their dreams.

    Babalola said: “Our universities should turn out graduates who are worthy in learning and character and change can only begin from our youths.

    “We don’t want leaders who will be criminals; we don’t want youths who will be looking for jobs but youths who will be self-employed and employers of labour and that is our focus here in ABUAD

    “Those we look up to as of our leaders have failed us, most of the institutions that are also expected to train children in both character and learning have also failed us

    “In my opinion,those regarded as leaders are supposed to be role models who will impact the right type of leadership on the youth of this country

    “This, to me has become necessary as no country can ever attain greatness if her youths are not well molded for the future,we must build our youth to greatness,and not the other way round because the country’s future depends on them.”

    Earlier, NYCN president, Oluwole, said Babalola was honoured as mark of appreciation for his philanthropy, love for education and positive disposition to matters affecting youth across Nigeria.

    Oluwole said ABUAD is Nigeria’s answer to globally-acclaimed universities like Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge and Yale advising Nigerians not to send their wards overseas because Babalola had established a university that can be compared with the world’s best.

    The NYCN chief hailed Babalola for assisting the less privileged and building he future of the younger generation saying the ABUAD founder eminently deserved the accolade as the body’s Grand Patron.

    Oluwole said: “ABUAD is a country within a state, we don’t need to go abroad to get experts. Just come over to ABUAD and get what you want. Aare Babalola is a role model for the Nigerians youths and that is why we have decided to make him our Grand Patron.

    “In a country where so many people take their money abroad, Afe Babalola has invested in Nigeria.  Policy formulation is not our problem in Nigeria but policy implementation. We are recommending ABUAD to the Federal Government about diversification of our economy

    “If they have (Nelson) Mandela in South Africa, we have Afe Babalola in Nigeria; if they have (Ronald) Reagan in America, we have Afe Babalola in Nigeria. By now, the name Afe Babalola should have entered the Guinness Book of Records.”

  • Nigerian Universities may be truly autonomous- Afe Babalola

    Nigerian Universities may be truly autonomous- Afe Babalola

     

    Elder Statesman and Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has called for a strict obedience of the laws, regulations and the series of court judgments delivered over the years on the limitations on the powers of Visitors, Vice Chancellors and Councils of universities if the age-long and all-important autonomy of the university system is to be preserved in the country.

    Pursuant to this, he advised Government functionaries like Visitors to Federal and State Institutions of Higher Education, Ministers and Commissioners of Education to begin to appreciate that Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education are not Departments or appendages of either the Federal or State Ministries of Education.

    Babalola, who delivered the Convocation Lecture, titled “University Administration: the Role of Stakeholders” at the 21st Convocation Ceremonies of the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, last week equally stressed that government functionaries who are statutorily empowered to deal with universities must appreciate now than ever before that universities are not Government Parastatals while the Vice Chancellors are not Permanent Secretaries nor Council Members Directors of Parastatals.

    The frontline legal icon set the tone and agenda for the day when he said: “the unconstitutional and illegal violation of University Laws by successive governments, Federal and State, Ministers and Officers of Government makes it imperative that we should examine the role of stakeholders in University Administration”.

    It is a notorious fact that universities have existed for over a thousand years in other parts of the world before the first University in Nigeria, the University College, Ibadan, was established in 1948, less than 70 years ago. This could be one of the reasons why Nigerian universities, like its toddling democracy, are not only still toddling, they are battling with so many teething problems. After all, History has it that the existence of great universities such as University of Constantinople sometimes known as the University of the Palace Hall of Magnaura was founded in the 425 AD, University of Bologna, 1088 while the University of Paris was founded by the Catholic Church in 1150.

    No wonder then that what a teacher in an American or British university considers to be a convention, arising from long usage, is seen by the Nigeria university teachers as a strange development. With all of this at the back of his mind and for Nigerian universities to assume their age-long autonomy, he emphasized the need for Pro Chancellors and Chairmen of University Councils to appreciate the burden on them.

    Babalola, who was Pro Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos between 2000 and 2007 during which he was twice voted by the NUC as the Best Pro Chancellor of Nigerian Universities while UNILAG was rated the University of First Choice, said: “It is necessary to emphasize here that the Pro Chancellors need to appreciate the burden on them. The success, failure, peace and order of the university rest on them and they take responsibility for everything, good or bad. They and their Councils must embark on policies that will ensure the smooth-running of the universities especially those that affect the development of the universities, contracts, employment of good quality lecturers, finances, including income and expenditure and auditing of university account”.

    He added: “The Pro Chancellor’s job is not one which the office-holder can take lightly. As the Chairman of Council, his duty is not merely to attend meetings, collect his allowances and thereafter go to sleep. He must always think about the growth of the university and what he must do at all times to affect it positively.

    “He is different from the Chancellor whose duty is to appear on ceremonial occasions only. He must be concerned about the welfare of the university community. He presides at all Council meetings, statutory Sub Committees of the University and also at Sub-Committees set up by Council. At meetings, he is primus inter pares”.

    Babalola also frowned at the prevailing situation whereby University Councils are dissolved and not re-constituted any time too soon after. To him, “such an unwholesome practice leaves so much to be desired apart from running foul of the intent and spirit of the law (establishing the universities)”.

    He recalled his experience in May 2004, when Councils of Universities were dissolved by Radio announcement and were not re-constituted for over 11 months as a result of which the Universities lost the steam of progress. According to him, “All those who were working on university projects under the new policy stopped work because they claimed that there was no guarantee of prompt payment anymore. It was a similar experience in efforts to re-organize income-generating units. The Endowment campaign stopped”.

    He added: “The Developers in Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) projects left sites unceremoniously because of loss of confidence. I am also aware that the Vice Chancellor had problems with other areas of administration including but not limited to promotion, appointment and request for approvals for critically important actions to make the university function properly. It is my advice that there should not be undue delay in constituting the Councils of Universities”.

    Besides, the Octogenarian would not understand how successive Presidents and State Governors are wont to dissolve University Councils on assumption of office just as they dissolve those of other Parastatals of the government.

    For example, he recalled that when Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua took over as the President of Nigeria in 2007, he descended on the University of Lagos which was constituted in 2004 and which had one year more in office. The Secretary to the Government announced the immediate dissolution of all parastatals including University Councils. The same trend continued when on July 16, 2015, the Federal Government announced the decision of the President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the Governing Boards of Federal Parastatals, Agencies and Institutions.

    By this announcement which was reminiscent of a similar announcement made by the administration of late President Yar’Adua, the Governing Councils of all Universities were dissolved. This action was one of several taken by successive governments over the years which have contributed to the decline in the educational fortunes of the country.

    As it were, it would appear that over the years, government has not been able to see the intricate and time-tested nexus between stable university administration and stability in the educational sector. A situation in which the tenure of Governing Councils of Universities is not secured and the composition thereof is seen as an opportunity to reward political loyalties is not one that augurs well for our Universities.  By law, University Vice-Chancellors have inviolable tenure of five years. They should be allowed to complete their tenure or proper statutory and transparent procedures be adopted, if they are accused of any wrong doings.

    That is the way it is done in other climes. Ours cannot be different. We have to do things the way they are done elsewhere for us to achieve positive and pleasant results.

     

     

  • Why I turned down ministerial appointments – Babalola

    Why I turned down ministerial appointments – Babalola

    The Proprietor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Chief Afe Babalola, said on Wednesday that he turned down ministerial appointments offered by four Nigerian presidents.

    Babalola made the disclosure at the 3rd convocation ceremony of the university in Ado Ekiti.

    He said his refusal was not out of pride but the conviction that his law practice was enough to make him comfortable and also contribute to national development.

    Babalola said that much pressure from former President Olusegun Obasanjo later made him to accept to serve as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos.

    He, however, said he accepted to serve on the council on the condition that he would not be paid salaries or allowances throughout his tenure.

    Babalola expressed regrets that many Nigerians were unwilling to contribute to national development, urging them to shun greed and be contented.

    He explained that the rot as well as state of financial recklessness he met at the University of Lagos spurred him into establishing a university.

    In a remark, the immediate past Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, commended Babalola’s vision in partnering with government to take education to the next level.

    Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti also commended Babalola for considering the state as host for the university, urging other wealthy indigenes of the state to emulate him.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a total of 736 students graduated from the six faculties of the institution.

    NAN also reports that Jega, Bishop Mathew Kukah, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and Justice Emmanuel Ayoola were all conferred with honourary doctoral degrees of the university.

     

  • Harvest of honours for Aare Afe Babalola

    Harvest of honours for Aare Afe Babalola

    The University of London will today confer on Aare Afe Babalola the L.L.D degree (Honoris Causa). In this tribute AYO FAJANA writes on the legal icon’s contributions to the profession

    The erudite Nigerian Lawyer, Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti; Aare Afe Babalola OFR, CON, LLD, SAN ,FNIALS, FCIArb and recipient of several other Awards, Garlands, Chieftaincies and Accolades including Queen Victoria Commemorative Medal Award, Oxford UK, 2007 shall again at Barbican Centre in London be conferred the LL.D Degree Honoris Causa of the prestigious University of London in recognition of his contributions to the legal profession and numerous humanitarian programs on Education.

    Camera Laye’s L’Enfant Noir once paraphrased; – “The song of the harvesters transforms the atmosphere of work into an organized ritual ceremony marking the end of one season and the beginning of another.” The 11th of March, 2015 begins another season of harvest of Awards for the self-made Babalola, indeed the proposed academic ceremony, unique in the 179 years history of the University of London as the recipient will be the first African to be conferred with LL.D degree of the University. Reacting to the letter of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adrian Smith of the London University expressing the interest of the university to confer Doctorate degree, the elated Senior Advocate of Nigeria whose law practice span over fifty two years said ;”He believes that the award was in large measures due to the unprecedented and monumental educational landmarks achieved by his five years old University”.

    There is an imprint of the invisible creator in the affairs of the Octogenarian Chief Emmanuel Afe Babalola. At every opportunity I decipher his wit, grace and candour and particularly his unerring grit that encouraged the best impulse of all. His faith in Christ, wisdom of age, courage of hope, blend of fantasy, and nobility of spirit has made him One man special Olympics towering above his contemporary elders statesmen and to the unique affection kindled in the heart of millions admirers across the globe. Spit- and -polish product of the old Emmanuel School Ado-Ekiti, neither smokes nor involve in hard drinks as he continually keeps his 5 ft. plus frame, trim at about 70kg. Indeed he is bewitchingly strong, healthy with zero tolerance to indiscipline.

    Law remains the source of Afe Babalola’s fame; the reason largely for his alienation by some political class. He is a man of complex locution tainted with the philosophy of the late American President J.F Kennedy on Nigerian politics; “men who create power make an indispensable contribution of the Nation’s greatness but those men who question power make contributions just as indispensable, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us”. Babalola believes that unless those who govern the nation are imbued with the spirit of service and honesty of purpose, there could be little hope of surmounting the difficulties of this nation. Hence, his democratic rhetoric was not a mere verbiage aimed as an outer façade for deep seated partisanship as once described in certain quarters.

    Besides his legal forays, the density and immensity of his vision for the fastest growing private University in Africa; Afe Babalola University is perhaps the major thing that trade – marks him beyond silk and gown. His rich experience as the best Pro-chancellor of Nigerian Universities in 2003 & 2005 and thereafter the Chairman committee of Pro-chancellors of Nigerian Universities 2005 to 2007 brought to bear with ruthless efficiency in the management of his new University. Professor M.L Goodheer of the European Business Assembly found Afe Babalola University as ‘a model which have not been seen anywhere”. True to this the University was established in 2008 at a pristine forest in Ado-Ekiti and today ranks as a world class Educational Centre of Excellence with a philosophy to lead by example.

    Prof. Adrian Smith obtained exoneration from the fell swoop indictment that “could anything good come out of Nazareth?. Ostensibly, it is an unsavory propensity of human to often brush off accomplishments. The University of London confers honorary degrees on individuals irrespective of race and color, those that had met some identified requirements of being persons of conspicuous merits and outstanding in their fields, command international recognitions by given exceptional services to their communities and those that have made important contributions to the London University. Indeed Babalola met those prerequisites and has brought honors’ to Africa.

    Tanto Nomini Nullum Par Elogium; of this great man, no praise is adequate. Nigerians at home and abroad amplified the thunderous encomium been deservedly showered on Chief Afe Babalola and proudly enthused that he is a visionary Nigerian, un-spoilt with pelf of slivery heritage but taught to toil in a world disillusioned with hazy views from slippery stage. He transforms the sands of time , firmly stand and stir while he plan far and near. He is a champion of the cause of Ekiti people and has never relented in that direction, in fact he becomes a rallying point and an enviable reference for the past three decades. He actually facilitated the establishment of the Federal polytechnic Ado Ekiti in 1981 and worked tirelessly for the creation of Ekiti State in 1996.

    Chief Afe Babalola was an alumnus and a beneficiary of the opportunity offered by the University of London as external candidate. He obtained Bachelors degree of the University in Economics in September 1959 and the inter-LL.B in 1960 through private studies. Indeed he is today a maker of history and worthy ambassador of this institution and I say floreat collegiums.

    Considering his brilliance and unprecedented achievements in the Bar the Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR once found him in his letter dated June 17, 2008. He wrote; “indeed the legendary battles you had fought in the court room have led to the creation of many Judicial Precedents and landmark decisions, in addition, you are greatly admired and respected for your strong, compassionate spirit and philanthropist activities in this nation. Babalola is unprecedentedly the 1st African to receive the honorary LL.D degree of London University, although in humanities were the former South African President, Nelson Mandela, honored with doctorate degree in Economics in 1996, and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu who was also conferred with honorary degree in Divinity on 2nd Dec. 2008.Others among the list of famous honoris of the university were the celebrated statesman, war hero, distinguished Author and politician; Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill as well as the famous poets and writers. T.S Elliot and Henry Moore.

    With his long years of reputation and allurement in all spheres of life, Aare still persistently work hard, as a farmer he has the largest tree crop holdings in Nigeria, he keep straight, believing that when wealth is lost nothing is lost, when health is lost something is lost, and when character is lost all is lost. He probably took his strength from one of the planks of Ecclesiastes 9 verse 5 “for the living knows they shall die, but the dead knows not anything neither have they anymore a reward”. Age is a matter of mind to Chief as he does not mind, it doesn’t matter. His door is always ajar to all and sundry for good and ill requests and no matter the ingenuity, such attention would attract a take home stipend. while extended family became extended to infinity as it is almost impossible to differentiate between the biological members and those who suddenly became one. Indeed Aare has achieved a Tripos tripus as a man of erudition indisputably. He is a committed patriot with testimony of eternal essence of a good character and criteria of an eventful existence. Congratulations to a frontline legal icon, intellectual avatar and educationist for yet another harvest of honours.