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Tag: Babalakin

  • ‘Bicourtney, Babalakin, firms not indebted to AMCON’

    Bicourtney chairman Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN) and his companies are not indebted to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), their lawyer Olawale Akoni (SAN) said yesterday.

    He said it was libelous for AMCON to publish their names as “delinquent debtors”.

    Akoni said his clients were not indebted to AMCON in “any manner whatsoever” contrary to AMCON’s claim in an advertorial.

    According to him, sometime in 2012, AMCON alleged that Resort International Limited (N20billion), Bicourtney Limited (N20billion) and Roygate Properties Limited (N9billion) were indebted to it.

    The SAN said the Federal High Court in Abuja, on April 5, 2012, ordered that whatever debt was outstanding to any Federal agency by Bicourtney and companies related to it should be deducted from the sum of N132billion which the Federal Government owed Bicourtney Limited.

    “The effect of this judgment is that as at that day, Bicourtney and companies associated with it had a judgment credit of N132b –N20b – N20b – N9b =N83billion.

    “Bicourtney had a net judgment credit of N83billion,” Akoni said.

    The SAN said AMCON subsequently lost a case against Resort International in which it claimed N20billion.

    He said the court dismissed the case on the basis that Resort International did not owe AMCON N20billion, and that AMCON wrongly bought an equity transaction as debt.

    The court, Akoni said, also held that the Federal Government was owing Resort International N55billion at an interest of 17 per cent per annum since December 3, 2015, an amount now over N100billion.

    The SAN added that the court awarded N3billion as damages to Resort International for libel.

    Akoni said despite the court verdicts, AMCON had continued to publish his clients’ names as debtors.

    “As a responsible news organisation, we believe it is necessary to bring this irresponsible action of AMCON to your attention and warn you to refrain from following the bandwagon of AMCON’s delinquent behaviour,” Akoni added.

  • ASUU accuses Babalakin of sabotaging talks with Fed Govt

    THE Kano Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)  yesterday accused the Federal Government Renegotiating Team Chairman, Dr. Wale Babalakin, of masterminding the collapse of the 2017-2018 renegotiation between ASUU and the Federal Government.

    During a news conference at Bayero University Kano (BUK) ASUU secretariat, its zonal coordinator, Mahmud Muhammad Lawan, alleged that Babalakin disregarded the cardinal principles of collective bargaining between ASUU and Federal Government.

    He said: “You may recall that renegotiation between our union and the Federal Government team commenced in March, 2017 with a promise by the Minister of Education that the exercise is expected to be completed within six weeks.

    “Sadly, after more than 16 months of fruitless negotiation, our union  had to pull out due to the unwarranted arrogance of the Federal Government Renegotiation Team, in the person of Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN).

    “The chairman has deliberately disagreed the cardinal principles of collective bargaining. Delayed the process, relegated the other members of the FG team to the background and arrogated to himself the power of decision-making in matters that should be collectively debated and agreed upon by the parties to the renegotiation.”

    He lamented that, “for over 16 months of negotiation, discussions have focused on funding with Babalakin insistence on the introduction of tuition regime and Education Bank as a must for public universities in Nigeria”.

    Lawan, however, described tuition regime and Education Bank system as unacceptable.

     

     

  • Renegotiation panel faults ASUU’s claim on Babalakin

    he Federal Government’s renegotiation panel on funding of education, among others, has faulted Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU)’s criticism of Chairman of the panel, Dr. Wale Babalakin.

    The lecturers accused the University of Lagos Pro-Chancellor of constituting himself into “a stumbling block of the negotiations process and accordingly discarded the cardinal principle of collective bargaining.”

    ASUU said that “Babalakin was seeking to introduce tuition fees to the Nigerian university system, adding that “any negotiation that considered an alternative funding of education apart from direct funding from the government treasury is unacceptable to it.”

    But a statement by the renegotiation team yesterday said:

    “Contrary to the assertion by the union, the views communicated by the Chairman of the committee, Dr. Wale Babalakin, are the collective views of the government re-negotiating team. These views were arrived at after extensive debate and were communicated in writing in the inception report that was delivered to ASUU on July 2017.

    “The team insisted on resolution of issues based on accurate data and verifiable information. The team is determined to avoid the pitfalls of previous negotiations, which have on certain occasions left loose ends that became the bases for future crises.

    “The team believes that the government should increase its funding of education. However, the team notes that based on the cost determined by the National Universities Commission (NUC) of above $3, 000 per student per course per annum, which has been accepted by ASUU, it will require about N1.8 trillion to fund university education alone, taking due cognisance of the level of enrolment of students.

    “This amount of money exceeds the total capital release made under the 2017 budget of the Federal Government. The team does not believe that the government is in a position to provide this amount of money in a sustainable manner for the length of time required to turn around the educational system in Nigeria.”

    The statement said the team believed that “to reposition the Nigerian university system, “there is the need to fund education from sources other than the government treasury, including an education bank and student loan scheme. The team is of the opinion that if the choice is between free education and good quality education, the team prefers the latter.”

    It said “there is need to measure the level of impact of the funding being received by our public universities through the identification and measurement of some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in line with the practice in developed and most developing economies, adding that “the ongoing negotiation can provide a veritable avenue to make appropriate recommendations that will place the Nigerian university system on the proper pedestal to attain its desired world-class status.”

  • Intellectual development critical for growth, says Babalakin

    The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN), has called for the harnessing of Nigeria’s collective intellect. This, he said, would speed up the nation’s growth.

    Babalakin spoke yesterday in Lagos at the maiden edition of the UNILAG Pro-Chancellor’s Distinguished Annual Lecture Series. The lecture, titled “Responding To Nigeria’s Disease Outbreaks and Epidemics: Ebola, Zika and HIV”, was delivered by Prof. Phyllis Kanki, a professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease from the Harvard School of Public Health. The event was chaired by Justice Olayinka Ayoola, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court.

    Babalakin, who initiated the lecture series, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, said the objective was to accelerate Nigeria’s educational exposure, harness talents and bring to Nigeria gifted people from all areas of human endeavor who have contributed to advancing knowledge.

    He said: “It is because of this premise that we have sought out Prof. Phyllis Kanki, who is an outstanding professor of medicine at Harvard University and whose research in HIV/AIDS has been very beneficial to limiting the scourge of this deadly disease. Our lecture is designed to continue to find those who fit into this category.

    “It is our view that education is going to liberate Nigeria. Until we get our education sector right, we will continue to dwell in underdevelopment and be unable to attend to the needs of our people. In 2001, I delivered a lecture at the Government College, Ibadan (GCI), titled “The Nigerian Intelligentsia, an Endangered Species”.

    The senior advocate of Nigeria said it was sad that the intelligentsia in Nigeria had been pushed to the background and they seemed to have accepted their lot without any serious resistance, adding that Nigeria would grow when we realise that it is in our interest to “extract and distill our collective intellect” and ensure that those ideas help in the governance of the nation.

    Babalakin said: “Unless we reposition our universities to compete favourably with the best universities in the world, we would not have done our duties as councils of universities. This can only be achieved if we all come together to search, promote and celebrate knowledge. The concept of accepting whatever is thrown at us as faith accompli, rather than providing alternative solutions as the intelligentsia must come to an end. If the state of the educational system does not trouble you, does not make you sad, does not urge you to find a solution, then you have not contributed to the evolution of Nigeria.”

    Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole who was the special guest of honour, hailed UNILAG and Babalakin for initiating the lecture series.

  • Infrastructure, resource management crucial for educational development, says Babalakin

    Having served as Pro-Chancellor of some federal universities, Dr Bolanle Olawale Babalakin has an idea of what can make them run effectively. He shared his thoughts with some reporters. Kofoworola Belo-Osagie was there.

    Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Dr Bolanle Olawale Babalakin is one person who believes that a well-managed education system would take Nigeria to a place of pride in the comity of nations.

    However, he said this would not happen without investment in infrastructure and judicious management of resources.

    In an interview with journalists in Gbongan, his hometown, he shared how his interest in education has led him to make investments in improving infrastructure and show example of how available scarce resources could be better utilised.

    He said he supports President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent call for accountability by managers in the utilisation of the resources provided to tertiary institutions.

    As Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council University of Maiduguri, Babalakin said the institution gained 42 new structures under his watch with its resources.

    He said: “In Maiduguri, in four years we executed and completed not less than 42 projects, including the College of Medicine, a new college of pharmacy, a new college of education; we even went as far as building a 57-bedroom hotel on the land allocated to the university since 1978 which nobody was able to do anything about – that is the El Kanemi Suites in Abuja today, which has become very popular.  And we did this just managing our very scarce resources. We did not borrow a dime.

    “We also found an ingenious way of providing electricity on the campus for 20 hours a day.  I may not be able to reveal the tactics because we intend to use on the national platform sometime. If you speak to the vice chancellor and all the members, they will tell you that we came and we served. And it is also on record that for four years we did not collect any sitting allowance, any personal allowance, any travel allowance and we did not participate in whatsoever any commercial activity.  It was full time charity.

    “At the University of Lagos, we have been there for a year.  We are putting up a system that we believe will work; we are putting up a system that we believe will, ultimately, impact on the university very positively.”

    Outside his Pro-Chancellor role, Babalakin said he is still pursuing his love for education.  He said this influenced the construction of a 4,000 capacity auditorium in Gbongan, which he said would strictly be used for programmes that advance the course of knowledge.

    The facility, which boasts of 18 adjoining seminar rooms, was used for the first time on Tuesday last week for the Policy meeting of Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

    Its premises also housed many of the participants in 60 one-bedroom suites.

    Babalakin said the plan is to add a hotel and other facilities – all aimed at enhancing intellectual discourse.

    “The size of the project shows that it is not designed for minor gatherings.  It is designed for major gatherings. The emphasis is pursuit of knowledge. We will not use it for general things no matter how attractive they are.  If what you want to do will not enhance knowledge, it will not fit in to the dream of those who put this in place,” he said.

    Babalakin spoke of a possibility of the conversion of the facility into a university.

    “Everybody that has visited this place has encouraged us to turn it into a university.  But from where I am coming from, I know what is like to run a university. I have a fair idea and I believe that universities must be properly run. If we decide to convert this it a university, it is because we believe we can make it a university. But as of today, our options are open,” he said.

    To advance educationally, Babalakin said Nigeria must take its tertiary institutions seriously.  He said just as the Oxford and Cambridge universities stand out as examples for other institutions in the United Kingdom, there should be shining examples in Nigeria for others to follow.

    Babalakin said: “All the countries that have developed rapidly have taken their institutions very seriously. England has Oxford and Cambridge.These universities have been there since 10th, 11th century – and they have kept the standard.  They have not weakened Oxford and Cambridge. What they have done is to make Oxford and Cambridge the standard and encourage other universities to aspire to be like Oxford and Cambridge. And in the process, some universities have emerged.  Today, an engineering qualification from the Imperial College, London, is comparable to a degree in Oxford and Cambridge

    “What we have done in Nigeria was that we had five universities.  Rather than tell the other universities to emulate the five universities, what we did was to reduce the standard of the university so that everybody could now claim to have a university when really they were not contributing anything major to the educational system. “

  • Govt can’t fund infrastructure, says Babalakin

    THE Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), has said the government has no money to build infrastructure.

    Babalakin said the notion that Nigeria is a wealthy country is false, adding that the only solution to the country’s infrastructure deficit is for the government to create an enabling environment for private investors to provide the required infrastructure.

    This, he said, would be achieved if the government begins to respect the rule of law, adhere to agreements, obey court orders and provide incentives for private investors.

    The lawyer spoke in Lagos at the weekend during the 2018 Construction Summit organised by the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, UNILAG. The summit, themed: “Smart infrastructure for sustainable competitiveness”, was chaired by Babalakin.

    The SAN noted that of the Federal Government’s N9 trillion budget for 2018, N2.2 trillion will go to debt servicing. He said of the remaining N6.8 trillion, about N2.7 trillion was allocated to capital expenditure.

    Babalakin said: “If you go by last year’s performance, total capital released was N1.5 trillion. The remaining money went into current expenditure, statutory reserves and other miscellaneous payments. So the money the Federal Government can spend on developing the whole nation is N1.5 trillion. This means that N1.5trillion has to accommodate the serious spending on defence, health and education, among others.

    “For Instance, UNILAG has over 40,000 students. According to the National Universities’ Commission (NUC), the cost of properly training one undergraduate in a fully accredited course is $3,000. Using a conservative exchange rate of N300 to $1, that is about N1m per student. This implies that UNILAG alone needs N40b to train 40,000 students per annum. If you multiply this figure by the 40 federal universities in Nigeria, we will be talking of N1.6 trillion. This means that federal universities alone require more than the figure spent last year on capital expenditure.”

    Stating that the country must learn how to maximise its modest resources, Babalakin said the greatest asset of a nation is its cerebral capacity, adding that Nigeria must promote those with enormous intellect.

    He said it was regrettable that the government’s failure to abide by the rule of law has slowed down development and scared away many private investors. Sharing his personal experience on the concessioning of Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 (MMA2), which was built and is being managed by one of his companies, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), the lawyer said 11 years after the concession agreement was signed, a government agency has continued to violate the terms of the agreement by running a parallel domestic aviation terminal in competition with MMA2.

    Babalakin said it was sad the government failed to adhere to the rule of law despite various court judgments and the award of N132 billion as damages against it in 2009.

     

  • Babalakin seeks solution for N30b shortfall at UNILAG

    Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr Wale Babalakin, has called for ideas to help the university raise the over N30 billion deficit needed to adequately train the institution’s 40,000 students.

    Speaking Tuesday during the Convocation Lecture and the Investiture of Prof Oluwatoyin Temitayo Ogundipe as the 12th vice-chancellor of the university at the Ade Ajayi Main Auditorium, Babalakin said the institution gets just about N10 billion of the over N40 billion required from the Federal Government.

    “Today, according to the NUC, it requires N1.2 million on the average to thoroughly teach a properly accredited course. With approximately 40,000 students, we require about N48 billion each year.  We get about N10 billion from the government and we have a shortfall of over N30 billion.  Between ASUU and us, we are looking for a sustainable solution.  If anyone has ideas, you can write us on how to raise the shortfall,” he said.

    Babalakin said Ogundipe was taking over as vice-chancellor at a time that tertiary institutions were not among the top 800 in the world, unlike in the past.  He however expressed optimism that the narrative would change with determination.

    “At one point in time the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, was rated the fourth hospital in the Commonwealth, which has countries like Britain, Newzealand, Malaysia, Gambia.  We have a challenge of restoring that heritage. We have a determination to bring ourselves back and we cannot afford to tell Nigerians that we failed,” he said.

    In his speech, Ogundipe said he would work hard to reposition the university as institution renown in research.

    “My vision is to build a University of Lagos that is ‘first among equals, producing graduates that are locally relevant, globally competitive and are able to advance our visibility as a research and innovation-driven institution,” said Ogundipe.

    He added that he would work towards establishing a modular refinery as well as obtain mining licenses for the university to further enhance training of students in the faculties of engineering and sciences.

    In his speech, the chairman of the convocation lecture, Prof Anya O. Anya, said universities should not be expected to perform without adequate funding, called for more funding.

    “No university in Nigeria has been equipped to function the way it should.  I graduated from University of Ibadan in 1961.  I spent 37 years in the university system and in all that time, I did not see any university as equipped as UI was when I was there.

    “We cannot be asking that universities be competitive without providing what it takes to be competitive,” he said.

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode delivered the convocation lecture.

  • Alaafin hails Babalakin over MMA2

    Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi II, has hailed the vision of the Chairman of Resort Group, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), by maintaining high standard of the facilities at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2).

    It was built and operated by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), a member of the Resort Group.

    The monarch, who is the chancellor of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), said he was surprised that almost 11 years after it was built, MMA2 still maintained its facilities “that are of international standard.”

    A statement by BASL spokesman Chief Steve Omolale said the monarch spoke yesterday at MMA2’s VIP Lounge, on his way to Maiduguri for UNIMAID convocation.

    According to Omolale, Alaafin told BASL management team, led by the Chief Executive Officer, Captain Jari Williams that he was “surprised to see the high standard of facilities you have here. This is the kind of things you see at international airports. This place doesn’t look like a domestic airport.

    “Babalakin is doing a good job here. I wanted to use the Presidential Lounge when my aide told me that you have a nice lounge here. Please tell him that I said he should keep up the good work.”

    The Alaafin and his oloris (wives) were given royal treatment.

    This is the second time in less than a month that a top monarch would use MMA2’s VIP Lounge. The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, was at the lounge about three weeks ago, during which he told the management not to compromise on the standard of facilities at the terminal.

  • Babalakin seeks cleaning of judiciary

    Babalakin seeks cleaning of judiciary

    Eminent lawyers and businessman Dr. Wale Babalakin has canvassed an internal cleansing of the judiciary.

    He spoke yesterday at the presentation of a book: “New Developments in Law and Practice in Nigeria”, written in honour of a former Secretary-General of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Dele Adesina, to mark his 35th year as a lawyer and the 25th anniversary of his law firm. It is also to mark his tenth year as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

    Babalakin said: “The legal profession must heal itself. We can’t come here and continue to say that we are not happy about the profession, when we’ve not actively participated in changing the course of the profession. The profession today, sadly, is incongruous. I see senior lawyers who are blessed but their audience is the court. It is very anomalous to have criteria that make it more beautiful to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria than to be a High Court judge. We senior advocates go to the High Court judges to make our cases. If the audience is not better than you, you are wasting your time.

    “Secondly, institutionalisation must happen in the Judiciary. It must happen if we are going to protect justice. I was in court on Tuesday. We started a trial and a senior lawyer stood up and told the court that although the case was for the next three days, he would not be able to come on the last day because he was going for a social event. I was alarmed that he could stand up and tell the court this when the dates had been agreed, that he was otherwise engaged.

    “Of course, the court ignored him but I was told by my colleague that some courts would have yielded to him. Now, that wouldn’t have happened if he had a relatively big firm. But since he was able to continue, he must have trained enough people, who could step into his shoes and continue. If he hadn’t done that, then he’s not a successful lawyer.”

    He added: “Many of us have held high political offices. I have seen lawyers take actions that would have shocked even the most barbaric people. I’ve seen lawyers discountenance the rule of law simply to achieve a temporary advantage. How did this happen? We created deliberately or inadvertently a profession that is not clearly merit-driven and is anchored on a high -oint of mediocrity. I hope this will change very quickly.

    “I am happy that the lawyers have been told how challenging their profession is. Our education system requires a substantial surgical operation, if we don’t want it to be comatose.”

    Babalakin congratulated Adesina on his achievements in the legal profession and urged other senior lawyers to strengthen the rule of law.

  • Babalakin bemoans Nigerian varsities’ ranking

    Babalakin bemoans Nigerian varsities’ ranking

    •UNILAG VC presents book

    Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Chief Wale Babalakin (SAN), has lamented no Nigerian university ranks among the best 800 in the world.

    He, however, expressed hope that Nigerian institutions could return to position of reckoning.

    In his speech yesterday at the presentation of a book, “Walking the Vision”, written in honour of the outgoing vice-chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Rahamon Bello, at the Ade-Ajayi Main Auditorium of the university, Babalakin said the renaissance of Nigerian universities could only be made possible by the joint effort of stakeholders and not by government alone.

    Babalakin said: “A situation where no Nigerian university is rated among the top 800 is acutely hurtful – more so when we know where we came from.   I once watched Prof. Akinkugbe state that at some point, the University College Hospital Ibadan was the fourth rated in the Commonwealth.  The Commonwealth has countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, India, New Zealand.  At some point, our people created an institution that was number four.  What happened?  How do we move forward?

    “The era of seeing government as distributor of largesse has come to an end.  Government alone cannot fund education.  We all must find a way of putting serious resources into education.  Today, Nigeria spends far more than the national budget for education educating people outside the country.  But it was not the case before.

    “In my set, more than 15 people who went for A Levels abroad – because A Levels was easier than our HSC – came back home to attend the University of Lagos.  We want to bring it back to that with your help.”

    Babalakin lauded Prof. Bello for completing his tenure, which ends next month, honourably and pledged to buy two copies of the book each for all federal-owned universities, Fountain University, Olabisi Onabanjo University, King’s College, and his alma mater, the Government College, Ibadan, which he said would get three copies.

    The book was compiled by Prof. Lucian Chukwu, Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika of the Mass Communication Department; Prof. Chimdi Maduagwu of English Literature; Dr. Obi Iwuagwu, associate professor of economic history; and Dr Taiwo Folasade Ipaye, the university’s Registrar.

    The book reviewer, Emeritus Professor Nimi Briggs, said the eight-chapter 320-page book gave a clear picture of the achievements of Prof. Bello as vice-chancellor of the university for five years.

    He critiqued the book for not having a final chapter, which would have served just to talk about the future of the university and prepare Bello’s successor for the task ahead.

    He advised whoever would succeed Bello to build on his achievements rather than start new projects.

    “In that same chapter, they would have poit out areas that would require urgent attention to keep up the momentum that has been generated in the last five years.  Surely, Prof. R.A. Bello has done an excellent job, but he could not have solved all the problems of the University of Lagos,” he said.

    Guests at the event included Senator Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi), who pledged to buy copies of the book for all 109 members of the Senate; Chief Olu Odebiyi, Chief of Staff of Ogun State governor, who pledged N2 million for copies of the book for Ogun state tertiary institutions on behalf of Governor Ibikunle Amosun; Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who pledged N100,000 for four copies, among others.