FOUNDER of Afe Babalola Univertsity at Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) Aare Afe Babalola has urged proprietors of private schools to include Religion, History, Geography, Nature Study, Hygiene and Agriculture in their curriculum.
In his message to this year’s conference of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) in Owerri, Imo State capital, yesterday, Babalola said while Religion and History teach the development of man, Geography and Nature Study teach how man and planets came into existence.
Babalola, who was represented by the Coordinator of ABUAD International School, Mrs. Bukola Ajisafe, noted that out that great Nigerians attended schools where these subjects were taught.
Noting a radical departure from the past, the frontline educationist said: “But what is the situation like today? Nigeria ranks among the most corrupt countries in the world. It is one of the worst places to be born, a place of high infant and maternal mortality, one of the leading countries with the least school enrolment and a member of the countries with the most impoverished population as well as one of the countries with the highest polio virus prevalence.’’
He added: “There are some other seemingly attractive, but derogatory indicators, such as Nigeria being among the leading private jet owners, a country with the highest importation of rice and wheat despite its vast arable land, a country least conducive for setting up business and a country with the highest crude oil theft as well as being the country running the most expensive democracy in the world, with each of the country’s senators drawing a scandalous N180 million yearly (at N45 million/quarter) in allowances while each of the 360 members of the House of Representatives gets a princely N144 millionyearly (at N36 million/quarter) allowances, either of which towers above the $569,000 (about N91.04 million) annual emolument of the American President.’’
The chancellor of ABUAD said the concept of qualitative and functional education must be inculcated in pupils for them to appreciate the need to use their hands in small scale enterprises.
He added this would remove them from becoming over-dependent on society, and make them realise university certificates were not meant for white-collar jobs, but to make them all-rounder in turning things around for good.
Babalola quoted Joseph Addison, an English Essayist: “Education is a companion which no misfortune can depress, no enemy can alienate, no deposition can enslave. At home, (it is) a friend, abroad, an introduction, in solitude, a place and in society, an ornament. It chastens vice, it guides virtue, it gives, at once, grace and government, to genius. Without it, what is man? A splendid slave, a reasoning Savage.”
On discipline in primary and secondary schools vis-a-vis corporal punishment, he said: “I recall vividly how morality and discipline were taught in our schools in those days. Our teachers did not spare the cane. In fact, our parents encouraged it by threatening to report us to our teachers. There was cooperation between the home and the school on the issue of corporal punishment.”
The educationist added: “But the reverse is the case today. Most of us here over-pamper our children. We do not want them caned. We must appreciate that no parent would want to kill his/her child. So too, no teacher wants to kill his/her pupil. A teacher is the parent of the child when the child is in school. He steps into the shoes of the biological parents. There is, therefore, no basis for the abrogation of corporal punishment in schools.
“I read in a newspaper recently that a teacher was asked to pay a fine of N25 million for caning a student. Although I do not have the details of the case, but I believe that the cane should not be spared in the training of the child because words alone may not be able to achieve the desired goals. Caning makes the indolent child sit up. However, in caning the child, no injury must be inflicted on the child.
“As a lawyer, I am not aware of any law that says a parent cannot cane his child. In the same way, the teacher who assumes the position of the child’s parent while the child is in school, should be entitled to cane the child.”
He urged NAPPS to appeal to the appropriate authorities to moderate discipline to enable them produce disciplined pupils that would become transformational leaders like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnmadi Azikiwe, Sir Denis Osadebey and himself.
He paid tribute to the leadership of NAPPS for sustaining the tempo of quality education, stressing that primary and secondary schools were the foundation of what the children would become in future.
AFE Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) Founder Aare Chief Afe Babalola, SAN has urged the Federal Government to introduce a National Examination for final year students in universities nationwide.
This, according to him, would help improve education standard and assist individual university to improve the quality of graduates they are producing.
The legal icon spoke yesterday at ABUAD Founder’s Day/Matriculation for the 2018/2019 academic session.
“In this way, every programmes on our universities shall work hard to ensure that their students pass the National Examination, thereby ensuring high standard in teaching and research,” Babalola said.
Babalola (SAN) said he was inspired to recommend the examination because of the quality assurance standard he set for ABUAD at inception.
He added that the measures were now bearing positive fruits nearly a decade of the institution’s existence.
He said the ABUAD concept has able to counter some colonial masters like Lord Lugard, who considered an average black man as lacking in discipline, foresight and self-control.
“With your cooperation, education revolution has begun in ABUAD. We are building a new generation of new Nigerians. We are happy that our regulator, the Nation Universities Commission (NUC) and other stakeholders have applauded the revolution, which has begun in ABUAD,” Are Babalola said.
He also challenged the Federal Government on the proposed Ekiti Airport, saying he was ready to co-fund it, provided government could allocate the land for the project.
“For so long, the issue of this airport project has been on the table for long. We all know how Ekiti State lacks infrastructures like motorable roads, rail line and airport. We knew what you all went through before you could get in here. It goes clearly without saying that Ekiti State urgently needs an airport. All efforts to have one have been frustrated in the past.
“If the government is ready, I am also ready to co-fund the project. But let them give us the land first,” Babalola told parents and guest at the university auditorium.
Former NUC Executive Secretary Prof. Peter Okebukola hailed ABUAD’s rewards system, describing it as the best in Africa and one of the best in the world.
Okebukola was alluding to three first class graduates of Law of ABUAD, who were given cash rewards for making their alma mater proud at the Nigerian Law School (NLS).
They were Ekop Naomi Uwem, who emerged the overall best student at the NLS. The three other were Adewole Mary Tofarati; Adepoju Blessing Oluwapemilerin as well as Opajobi Oyinloye Bukola.
Similarly, a 200-Level Management Science undergraduate and a student of ICAN, Nellikenw Ochinike, also emerged the second overall best candidate in West Africa at the September ATS 1, ICAN examination.
Ekop was presented with a N525,000 naira and Adewole, Adepeju and Opajobi were given N125,000 each. Ochinike got N22500.
Okebukola, who spoke on “Seven cardinal principles for sustaining quality in ABUAD”, identified steps for a university desirous of attaining global brand.
He said one of them is a good reward for exceptional staff and outstanding students, which ABUAD is already doing.
He said: “I recall that last year, the best graduating student here was presented with a brand new car and a half a million cash rewards. Other exceptional students and staff also got various cash rewards too.
Baba has also been very generous to those who serve at the Board of Trustees too.
“I, therefore, suggest that this gesture should continue as it will inspire students towards better performance while encouraging staff to proudly carry the ABUAD flag.”
Other six benchmarks, according to Okebukola, include: quality and quantity of students offered admission; quality of teachers with commensurate pay; quality of faculty; periodic checks to weeding out pollutants in the system; regular accreditation exercise for teachers; constant quality teaching and research with conducive classroom; strict compliance to discipline of staff and students; as well as entrenchment of Centre of Excellence.
Okebukola’s successor, Prof Julius Okojie, congratulated the university management, urging Babalola to retain its strategy.
“In the western world, presidents of universities can spend as many years as possible provided he’s a good administrator that delivers result. But in Nigeria today, Federal Government only says a vice chancellor is entitled to a single term of five years. So, if you now have an administrator with a winning team, why don’t you retain them?”, Okojie wondered.
The highpoint of the event was taking of matriculation oath as well as the official inauguration of Parents Teacher Consultative Forum Amphitheatre.
ABUAD VC Prof. Micheal Ajisafe told 2000 students, who took oath of matriculation, to be of good conduct and abstain from anti-social activities.
Other personalities, who attended the event, include: a member of ABUAD BoT Otunba Biyi Durojaiye; Dr. Chris Natalie, who represented NUC ES Prof. Abubakar Rasheed; presiding Justice of Appeal Court, Ekiti Division Ahmad Belgore, who represented Alfa Belgore; among others.
THE Founder/Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, has canvassed the return of teacher training colleges to tackle poor teaching and learning methods in public schools.
He described the scrapping of the colleges as a “great mistake”, saying the policy had affected education at the primary and secondary school levels, which served as the bedrock of tertiary education.
Babalola said the country must carry out reforms in the education sector for the country’s certificates not to be worthless internationally.
Speaking yesterday at the sixth edition of a Workshop on Teaching and Learning Methods in Higher Educational Institutions, held at ABUAD Campus, Ado-Ekiti, he said it was wrong for those without teaching certificates to be allowed to practise, which accounted for the rot in the education sector.
The former Pro Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos said a return of such teacher institutions had become imperative in view of the growing academic decay in schools.
He said such colleges must be made compulsory for whoever that wants to join the teaching profession, regardless of whatever initial qualification such a person may have.
Babalola condemned the poor state of the education sector, saying something drastic should be done to salvage the situation.
The former Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Prof. Michael Faborode, hailed ABUAD for being a pacesetter in the efforts to revive the country’s citadels of learning, by exposing lecturers to basic techniques in teaching to improve the quality of education.
Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) Founder & Chancellor Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) has commiserated with Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) W.S.N. Onnoghen and the judiciary over the death of former CJN Justice Alloysius Katsina-Alu, which he described as “irreparable loss”.
The renowned lawyer, in a statement yesterday, said he was shocked beyond description when he received the sad news of the departure of the late Alloysius Katsina-Alu.
He described the late CJN as “a Minister in the Temple of Justice and a man who occupied the Bench with unquestionable integrity, character, industry and dignity”.
The statement reads: “I have seen the departed Learned Justice at close quarters. I have seen him at work and I have also seen him at play. I interacted with him in the court and outside the court and found him to be a genial and humble person who is sold to hard work.
“But as traumatising as the news is, I am consoled by the fact that the departed Jurist lived a most fulfilled life and imparted his community, particularly the Judiciary, his primary constituency, thereby leaving his giant steps on the sand of judicial times.
“A professional to the core, the departed legal colossus was a fervent believer in the Rule of Law as against the Rule of Man. His acclaimed brilliance and the very professional ways he conducted himself both at the Bar, the Bench and even outside the Bar and Bench will remain indelible in our psyche. The Bar and the Bench will certainly miss him.
“I thank the Almighty God for granting him the enviable grace of being able to make his marks before being called home to rest in His bosom.
“It is my fervent prayer that all he worked for whist still with us on planet earth will stand him in good stead before The Maker of all things.
“While wishing him a most-deserved rest, I pray that the Almighty Allah will grant you, the entire Katsina-Alu Dynasty and the Judiciary where he served meritoriously the grace and the equanimity to bear the irreparable loss.
“On behalf of my family and the entire Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, I commiserate with the His Lordship, Hon. Justice W.S.N. Onnoghen, JSC, CON, CFR, FCIArb.,FNIALS, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, and the Judiciary for this irreparable loss.”
lion Lekan Babalola has been elected Governor of District 404B1-Nigeria for the 2018/2019 Lion’s year.
A statement by Chairman of the Publicity Committee, Lion Sola Badmus, said: “Babalola holds a B.Sc degree in Economics from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and an M.Sc degree in Economics from the University of Lagos. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), with over 20 years of practice as a Freight Forward Professional, and has served in several capacities in the district.”
Lion Ben Eboreime and Lion Lynda Odunmbaku are first and second Vice District Governors, he added.
The 7th International Conference on Infrastructure Development in Africa (ICIDA) will take place today at the Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu.
Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is the chief host.
The keynote speakers are foremost legal practitioner and founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado Ekiti, Chief Afe Babalola(SAN) and the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.
According to a statement by the organisers, ‘’ it is a three- day conference and will be held at the School of Agriculture’s auditorium, Laspotech, Ikorodu campus.’’
There was a period in this our troubled country when the students of the tertiary institutions were the conscience of the society. When students in those days took positive actions on society’s problems, the people listened because such actions were altruistic and usually they are for the betterment of the society. This is a far cry from the present situation where our students in the tertiary institutions are rudderless and are readily available to be hired for all sorts of malfeasance which are detrimental to society’s orderly growth and development. A key figure during the golden era of students’ activism in the country was Chief Moses Abidoye Morakinyo Babalola who was buried at Ibadan on February 9. The late Abidoye Babalola was a selfless students’ union leader, quintessential administrator and a caring community leader. He was born in 1934 to the family of Joseph Omowumi Babalola, the Alatunse of Ipetumodu in the present Osun State. The family is noted for its love for education and the family has produced notable scholars among whom was Professor Adeboye Babalola, the renowned Yoruba literary icon.
The late Abidoye Babalola attended Offa Grammar School between 1950-1956 and in his final year was the Senior Prefect and won the coveted leadership prize. In 1957 he entered the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology where he caught his teeth as a students’ union activist. In the college, he was elected secretary of the students’ union in 1958/59 session and later as a Public Relation Officer of the defunct National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS), which was the umbrella organizations of all the students in the tertiary institutions in the country then. It was in this position that he became one of the honoured senior ushers during the Nigerian independence celebrations. According to him, ‘he was within a whispering distance’ of the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and other shakers and movers of Nigeria in those days during the celebrations.
By 1960, when the late chief entered the then University College Ibadan, he was already an accomplished student unionist and his reputation as a unionist prevented him from being admitted to do an honours degree in English because that department detested students’ unionism. He was subsequently admitted to a more liberal department of history for an honours degree. In the 1961/62 session, he became the president of the Students’ Union, University College Ibadan and his tenure as the students’ union president was the golden era in students’ unionism in this country and it is yet to be surpassed. Unknown to the generality of Nigerians, our pre- independence leaders signed a secret pact with the British government for the establishment of a British military base in Nigeria after the attainment of independence by our country. This was at the height of the cold war and such a base could have made Nigeria a target of attack by the former Soviet Union in case of any conflict between the Soviet Union and the Western powers which included Britain, the owner of proposed military base in our country. Somehow, the arrangement for the secret base was made known to the students at Ibadan.
The students under the late Abidoye Babalola quickly mobilized themselves into action so as to thwart this secret agreement. A strategic committee under the late legendary student union leader, Dapo Falase was set up and on November 21, 1961, Ibadan students under the late Babalola trooped to Lagos from their base at Ibadan. They carried their protest to the parliament buildings where the parliamentarians were meeting. Many parliamentarians on seeing the students ran for cover in their flowing agbada and babaringa. The demonstration, planned without detection by the authorities at the University of Ibadan and security agencies of the federal government, awoke the whole nation to the danger of having a military base in our country. The whole of Lagos was turned upside down on that day as a result of the students’ demonstration. The demonstration by these students which many people in the country regarded as a patriotic act jolted both the Nigerian and the British government and as a result the defence pact was abrogated on January 22, 1962.
The second patriotic action taken by the students at Ibadan during the tenure of the late Abidoye Babalola was the protest against the insulting description of life in Nigeria in a postcard written by one Miss Marjorie Michelmore, a member of American Peace Corps. In the postcard, the young American who probably had never left her country before, wrote about the squalor and primitive conditions in which Nigerians lived. The students at Ibadan protested against this unflattering image of Nigeria and their protest nearly derailed the Peace Corps programme which was designed by the late President John Kennedy to win the friendship of people in the third world. Although the young lady apologized for her unguarded comments, she was sent home but the demonstration had salutary effect as the programme subsequently enjoyed improved training and orientation for those taking part in the programme. It is interesting to note that 58 years later, the President Donald Trump of USA also described the situation in our country in the same unflattering terms.
The first Rag Day ever held by the students at the tertiary level was held by the students’ union of the University College Ibadan led by the late Abidoye Babalola. It helped to boost the image of the students not only in the eyes of University authorities but more importantly in the eyes of members of the public who regarded university students, because of their privileged position in the society as aloof and arrogant. The idea was mooted by the versatile Professor John Ferguson, the renowned Professor of Classics of the University. The rag day programme was designed to make ‘young privileged, able-bodied, mentally alert, future leaders of the nation to identify with the poor and the unfortunate in the society.’ The money collected from such venture was donated to the poor and charity homes. This is unfortunately a far cry from what happens nowadays when students in tertiary who participate in rag day event use the money collected for their personal upkeep instead of giving the collected money to the poor.
On completion of his university education at Ibadan in 1964, as an history graduate, the late Abidoye Babalola joined his alma mater as an administrator rising to the post of Senior Assistant Registrar. One important post he occupied in the university was the post of an assistant to Mr. John Harris who was the acting Vice- Chancellor of the university when the country was at the verge of breaking up during the political crisis of 1966 and 1967 which led to the civil war. From the University of Ibadan, the late Abidoye Babalola was appointed pioneer Director of Administration of the Nigerian University Commission (NUC) in 1974 and before he could settle fully into this job, he was appointed in 1976 as a commissioner in the then Western State by the military governor of the state Brigadier David Jemibewon. He served at various times as commissioner for trade, industries, and co-operatives; education and agriculture and natural resources. After his stint as commissioner, he returned to University of Ibadan from where he eventually retired. As a seasoned administrator, he put his thought and administrative experience down in a book titled ‘The making of a University Administrator.’ In this book, he gave an insight into the administrative and political debacle faced by the authorities at the University of Ibadan before and during the Nigerian civil war. It should be a compulsory reading material for any aspiring university administrator. In retirement he helped to mobilize his people at Ipetumodu for the development of the town and for this he was conferred with the title of Alatunse of Ipetumodu , a title previously conferred on his father and brother.
The late Abidoye Babalola is gone but the legacies he left as a students’ leader should be emulated by students in our tertiary institutions. His generation made the views of students on national issues to be known and respected. Nowadays, it is difficult to know the stand of our students on important national issues such as restructuring of the governance of the country, the quagmire in the security sector of the country, decay in the educational sector and other issues. This is tragic because the future belongs to them. Our students need to articulate their stands on how to get our country out of the present political, economic and social debacle so that they themselves will not turn out to be another ‘wasted generation’. The life of late Chief Abidoye Babalola is a pointer to how our students can make themselves relevant to the society.
FORMER All Progressives Congress (APC) National Interim Chairman Chief Bisi Akande and Aare Bamofin of Yorubaland Chief Afe Babalola have renewed call for devolution of more power to regions as basis for the federating units.
Akande and Babalola said the fragmentation of the country into states by the nation’s military weakened the unity of the Southwest states and stalled the region’s socioeconomic growth with each state pursuing different goals.
They spoke at the Cinema Hall within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during the maiden edition of the Southwest Stakeholders Education and Economic Development Summit.
The summit was organised by the Southwest Patriots Movement (SPM), where both Akande and Afe are patrons.
In his keynote address, Akande, who was the special guest of honour, said the zones or regions should be recognised as the first line federating units.
He added that the exclusive functions of the Federal Government must also be offloaded and shared among the federation.
According to him, this would be the panacea to the state of economic chaos in Nigeria, which, he said, were manifesting as Boko haram, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) among others.
The former Osun State Governor, who was represented by Deputy Governor Titi Laoye-Tomori, called for a truly negotiated federalism.
He explained that as being witnessed in Nigeria, there are global demand for devolution of more power from the central governments to the constituent groups as being witnessed in Catalonia(Spain), Lombardy(Italy), Scots, Welsh, Irish and England (United Kingdom).
He noted that negotiated federalism as was done in bringing about the 1960 Constitution of Nigeria without coercion would engender a harmonious co-existence among various nationalities and religious groups.
Chief Babalola, in his presentation, said for the Southwest to record appreciable success in education sector, it must devote 52 per cent of its resources to the sector, as was the case in the old Western Region under the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
He said it was quite unfortunate that aside Awolowo and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who devoted substantial portion of government budgets to education, every other administration had consistently spent about seven per cent.
He blamed the military coup of January 15, 1966 for the sorry state of Yoruba nation.
He said the military supplanted the people’s constitution, which allowed each region to develop at its own pace.
According to him, the then people’s constitution also engendered healthy competition among the regions and made the Western region emerged as the clear leader.
“Unfortunately, we have been operating a military constitution since 1999, because the people of Nigeria had no input whatsoever in the constitution, which was foisted on Nigerians by the military.
“As a result of this military constitution, which gave Nigerians a unitary government in disguise, the spate of development initiated by Chief Obafemi Awolowo was unfortunately put in abeyance to the disadvantage of all of us,” Babalola said.
Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Chief Tolu Odebiyi, called for establishment of Sovereign Wealth, Oodua Television and Oodua Anthem to further strengthen the unity of Yoruba people.
Ambassador Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu said her late father, Chief Awolowo, succeeded with free primary education programme because it was well-defined and implemented.
She noted that her father prepared policy papers and developed the party manifestoes beforehand and ahead of the formation of the two political parties – Action Group and the Unity Party of Nigeria, which he led.
Text of a tribute by eminent lawyer and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, to mark former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 80 birthday.
Tribute
Obasanjo
Nature and history have their peculiar ways of shaping the destiny of a man or a nation. For Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), the courageous, fearless, highly cerebral elder statesman, who turns 80 on Sunday, the combination of nature and history has been generous and kind to him. Here is a lucky gentleman; a compatriot; a protagonist of hard work and decency; a man who could equally be controversial and often be misunderstood; who has had the rare opportunity of ruling the country twice; first as a Military Head of State between February 13, 1976 and October 1, 1979 and later as a democratically elected President from May 29, 1999 and May 29, 2007 – a privilege not granted many.
Writing about Obasanjo, a multi-talented and many-sided man, at 80, may not be exactly easy. But having known the celebrant closely for almost four decades now, I can say that what stands this leader of men and astute manager of resources out, is his patriotism, determination, selflessness and his strength of character to use his office and indeed, his all, for the achievement of the good of the majority. He is a dogged fighter who will stop at nothing to pursue any course he believes in. He is honest, diligent and forthright as well as always willing and available to help others grow and flourish.
I must confess that my interaction with the celebrant transcends mere lawyer-client relationship. In my estimation and assessment of this great African and citizen of the world of Nigerian extraction, I have been able to establish that he is unique in many ways. Apart from being a very intelligent person who is endowed with enormous skills and an uncommon knack for hard work, Obasanjo, al though not a polymath; knows something about virtually everything under the heavens. Nothing takes him unawares as he has ready answers to nearly all questions anyone might pose.
It is a well-known fact that Obasanjo is intolerant of mediocre, loafers and the indolent as well as meddlers. He does not believe any work should be left for the next day and that accounts for why he works for an average of 22 hours a day, four hours above my own average of 18 hours per day. No wonder he said in his book entitled: “Akanda Eda: The Story of Olusegun Obasanjo” that “if you have anything to do, do it (now because) procrastination and delay kill slowly, steadily (and) surely. Invariably, there is no better time than now. The opportune time you are waiting for will never come”. He sees no alternatives to hard work.
Every leader anywhere in the world has a record which contains the deeds and misdeeds of the leader in question. As for Obasanjo, his achievements may not be appreciated now, but the time will come in the nearest future when his numerous achievements when he was at the steering wheel of the affairs of the country will be appreciated and openly discussed.
Apart from being the first Nigerian ruler (military or civilian) to willingly relinquish power to a democratically elected civilian government in 1979, Obasanjo recorded another “first” in 2007, when he, again, handed over power to a civilian government elected by the Nigerian electorate vide successful general elections. His mid-wifing two successful transitions in 1979 and 2007 in a politically volatile country like Nigeria is a monumental achievement by any standard. What is more, the first hand-over was military to civilian while the second happened to be civilian to civilian, both of which had never happened in Nigeria prior to those periods. And that means yet another first for Obasanjo.
Viewed from whichever standpoint, the history of stability of Nigeria today would be incomplete without the major contributions of this man of unusual courage. It can therefore be safely said that Obasanjo remains the pivot upon which the political stability of Nigeria revolves.
At the dawn of democracy in 1999, I had the strong belief that Nigeria needed a courageous, bold, fearless and a quick-witted person like Obasanjo to lay a proper foundation for a lasting civilian government to prevent the military making another incursion into governance in Nigeria.
The record of Obasanjo’s legacy will certainly not be complete without touching certain sectors like Education reform, Telecommunication reform (the allocation of the first two GSM networks in which I was personally involved), external debt reduction, the Banking Industry, Foreign Reserve, Agriculture, Electricity and Transportation reform. Today, most Nigerians can communicate via cell phones. It was one of Obasanjo’s monumental achievements while in office.
In the realm of education, Obasanjo’s government left indelible marks on the sands of times by increasing the number of schools generally and allowing private universities to thrive for the first time and were able to compete fiercely with the established universities during his tenure. This allowed the several millions of students angling for admission into tertiary institutions to have alternative choices.
In 2003, university administrators in this country discovered that many of the students admitted into Nigerian universities through the Joint Admimission Matriculation Borad (JAMB) were not only academically deficient, they could not justify the high marks scored in JAMB examinations. Cases abound whereby JAMB examination papers were being openly compromised and sold to students at examination centres while some examination centres, mischievously dubbed “miracle centres”, were openly but unofficially designed to guarantee high marks for some candidates.
The most pathetic aspect of this duplicity is that it was later found out that most of these students with such high marks were unable to cope academically upon their being admitted to the universities.
It was at this point of this national embarrassment that the Committee of Pro Chancellors of Nigerian Universities under my chairmanship, met in Abuja, x-rayed the cankerworm and recommended to Obasanjo that JAMB should be scrapped because the integrity of its examinations had been called to question.
However, Obasanjo in his wisdom, decided to adopt a middle way approach to the matter by saying that JAMB should continue to be and conduct its business of qualifying examinations to tertiary institutions in Nigeria while Post UTME should be introduced. This translates to the fact that JAMB will be used as the basis for admission into Nigerian universities, but the universities are free to conduct screening exercises, which include administering questions in relevant courses, for their would-be students.
I must say here that it takes only a very courageous personality like Obasanjo to take the type of bold decisions he took against the backdrop of the avalanche of pressure, intimidation and threats from various powerful quarters in the country then. I salute his courage because today, we have a better story to tell. Some modicum of sanity has since returned to our universities.
Perhaps no other area recorded astounding leaps like the economy under his leadership. What he did was to lay a solid foundation for future economic development and stability of the country. Subsectors like oil & gas, banking and customs (to mention just a few), recorded quantum leaps and total overhaul. Never in the history of Nigeria has the banking industry witnessed such a total transfiguration in terms of capitalisation and mergers for effective and customer-friendly operation.
Just like he did during his first coming as a military Head of State, Obasanjo built a strong foreign reserve for the country, so much so that as at the time he handed over in 2007, Nigeria’s foreign reserve stood at over $40 billion, the first time Nigeria would record such a feat! Closely related to this is Obasanjo’s realisation of the futility of building a strong economy, providing infrastructural facilities and a robust foreign reserve without addressing the behemoth called external debt. In his well-known persona, he took up the gauntlet to address the issue without minding whose ox was gored. He took the so-called creditors one after the other. First he pleaded for debt forgiveness. When this did not work, he opted for debt reduction.
After a series of negotiations laden with robust diplomatic acumen, Obasanjo succeeded in striking a fair deal for the country. The payment of Nigeria’s debt to the London and Paris Clubs brought succour to the populace. This is understandable bearing in mind the colossal amount Nigeria was spending annually in the name of debt-servicing. And yet, the so-called debt kept on soaring by geometric progression while the nation’s economy grew by arithmetic progression.
At the international scene, because of his administration’s deliberate policy to make Africa the centre-piece of its foreign policy during his first coming as Nigerian leader (1976-1979), he gained international repute through his efforts to end white minority rule in South Africa and Zimbabwe and by supporting neighbouring states such as Angola and Mozambique.
Since leaving office, Obasanjo has used his Otta-based African Leadership Forum to dissect and synthetize sensitive international and diplomatic issues to engender peace and good governance in the world. In appreciation of his global appeal and commitment to peace, Obasanjo, the international trouble-shooter, was at some point appointed Special Envoy by former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, to the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo where he held separate meetings with DRC’s President Joseph Kabila and Rebel Leader, Laurent Nkunda.
The above notwithstanding, we have our areas of differences particularly as they affect the structure of the country and how it should be run. Whereas Obasanjo believes in the present structure with so much concentration of power at the centre, I hold a different view as I am an unrepentant believer in a loose federation. There is therefore the need for a total restructuring of the country’s constitution as it stands today.
I was not surprised when I read in the media earlier this week that Obasanjo is still maintaining his position of not believing in the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC). He even went a step further by saying that he did not bother to read ther report of the last one organised by President Goodluck Jonathan.
His belief and position notwithstanding, the present state of affairs in the country make it imperative for him to change his mind in favour of the convocation of a SNC, particularly as the issue is more compelling now than ever before having regard to the failure of the presidential system of government and its attendant concentration of too much power at the centre. One does not need a soothsayer to know that all is not well with our country today, the reason being that the centre is too powerful, leaving the component states rather weak as a result of which they can hardly contribute to the economy of the country.
Most regretfully, he did not read the report of the last Conference. If he had, he would have found out most of the ills he had always wanted addressed in that report.
It is important to stress here that Nigerians need a people’s constitution to be ratified by the people themselves through a referendum and not by the National Assembly that will not allow any radical change in the pseudo-unitary constitution bequeathed on us by the military because the National Assembly members are the beneficiaries.
In view of the myriads of problems now steering the country in the face which have confirmed my position, I call on my beloved Brother Obasanjo, now that he is 80, to use his position and clout to ensure that the country convenes a SNC for the purpose of redefining the terms of our union, the outcome of which should be subjected to the Referendum of the people and not to the National Assembly which will not be able to do justice to it.
Nigeria is a huge country with multitude of tribes and scores of ethnic groupings, speaking over 250 languages and dialects. There is a multiplicity of religious beliefs, varied cultural backgrounds, social exposures, and political antecedents among others. The essence of the SNC is to afford these people the opportunity to frankly marshal their differences, fears and commonalities.
It is my humble submission that no election should take place in this country until the convocation of the SNC which will create an opportunity for the country to discuss the various ills afflicting the country after the military set aside the constitution governing the country when they took over power in 1966.
Having said all these, as the world unite in joy and élan to celebrate Obasanjo at 80, he should see and acknowledge the attainment of the matured age of 80 as a special grace from the Almighty God and a veritable opportunity for him to do more in his service to a nation which he loves so much and indeed to humanity, the fulcrum of his dream.
While congratulating him most heartily on this momentous occasion, I wish him good health and peace of heart as well as divine wisdom to continue the good works and to continually be relevant in the scheme of things in Nigeria, and beyond.
Exactly one week after the world congregated at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), to celebrate its 7th Founder’s Day and 4th Convocation ceremonies, it was another celebration on Friday, October 28, when the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, with other royal fathers, including the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Aladesanmi III, visited the six-year-old university.
Dressed in immaculate white apparel with a golden crown and a golden staff of office, the Ooni, a man of royalty who is interested in the unity of the Yoruba nation, strolled into Alfa Belgore Hall amid tumultuous and rousing welcome. People from different strata of the ABUAD community and who wore their sartorial best were there to welcome his majesty.
After the pleasantries and the razzmatazz associated with such high profile event, the frontline royal father, who said he was more than impressed with what he saw in the six-year-old university, described Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) as a typical example of “something growing out of nothing and becoming great within a very short time of its existence”.
Oba Ogunwusi commended the founder and Chancellor of ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), whom he described as straightforward personality for his vision in establishing the university and taking it to a very high pedestal in six years and for the rousing welcome the Babalolas and the entire university community organised in his honour.
He said: “I have been reading about Aare Afe Babalola in the newspapers for many years now, but today, I will tell him something he doesn’t know. He has been one of my mentors. He is a very forthright and straightforward Ekiti man. Future leaders should take a study on what Ekiti is and what makes it what it is today, the Fountain of Knowledge”
He added: “I have equally noticed that it is not money that drives this great man’s vision. Rather, it is passion and a clear vision; passion for excellence and a clear vision that cannot be mistaken. I then asked him why this vision and he told me somebody has to do it; someone has to bell the cat.
“Aare Afe Babalola told me how he planted a tree 25 years ago and how he has now begun to reap a bountiful harvest thereof”.
He thanked Yeye Aare Modupe Babalola for her support for the vision, stressing that her name which has already been etched in letters of gold can never be erased.
Addressing the students who turned out in their thousands to catch a glimpse of him, the Ooni, who said his visit to ABUAD was another memorable day for him and a great honour to address “great leaders of tomorrow”, urged them to plant a tree now, like Babalola did 25 years ago and nurture it into fruition, stressing that there is no short cut to success.
Affirming that the students have what it takes to have their destinies shaped and nurtured in ABUAD, Oba Ogunwusi said: “Your founder planted a tree 25 years ago and he is reaping the harvest today. Each of you should plant a tree today and nurture it because there is no short cut to success. There is a process for everything. Just look at the way the sun rises and sets. Look at the way the moon shines. Look at the way the rain falls. There is a process that cannot be short circuited”.
He urged the students to identify people who can shape their lives and have plans of what they want to grow in their souls, how happy they want to become in future and how fulfilled they want to become in future and work assiduously towards attaining those goals.
The Oba, who opted to to stand up while addressing the students because of his philosophy of life and his love and respect for the younger ones said: “I have a very simple philosophy of life and that is the fact that I have a lot of respect and love for people coming behind me. I accord them greater respect and honour than those in front of me because only God knows what those coming behind me will become.
“There is only one Supreme Being who knows tomorrow. Nobody, but God Himself, knows the future of the beautiful and handsome faces I am seeing here. But I know that future Presidents, Governors, wives of Presidents and great Engineers that will transform this country abound here; future leaders that will turn around the future of this country.”
He, therefore, advised them to put themselves together, conduct themselves very well, be of good character and put up very clear action plans because people will look up to them as leaders in future.
In his remarks, Oba Adejugbe described the Ooni as “the Ooni of our dream, who has been visiting the hot spots in Yoruba land in search of peace and unity”. No wonder then that on January 17, this year, Oba Ogunwusi visited the Alaafin of Oyo, embraced the Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, the first of such in 79 years; thus dousing the near-four decades cold “war” between the two powerful and leading thrones in Yoruba land. He has equally visited the Owa Obokun of Ijesa land, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, the Ogunsua of Modakeke and many others preaching the gospel of peace and unity.
Responding, Babalola, who donned his trademark hat and flashing his ubiquitous smile, described Ooni’s visit as an important day in the life of his university, the life of the nation and in his own life as he was receiving in audience a royalty who believes in oneness and unity of the Yoruba nation and demonstrating it in action and not in mere words.
He commended the Ooni for choosing to visit the Alaafin, embracing him, thus resolving the supremacy tussle between the two frontline Obas which no one, including the courts, has been able to resolve in decades.
“This is the type of leader this country needs. When a man thinks about how to change the world and he demonstrates it through the way he relates with others, including students, such indeed is a true leader. I salute you sir”, Babalola said.
He thanked the royal father for his words of commendation and encouragement for his family and the university, stressing that he will continue to strive to raise a new generation of leaders and build a new Nigeria.
