The Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) will today line up 101 students as its first set of graduates. Among them are 18 first-class degrees holders. ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA examines the university’s journey and the vision of its founder.
The first set of graduates will, today, line up for the convocation of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD).
The 101 graduates are from the university’s Colleges of Sciences, Social Sciences and Management Sciences. They have been described as “academically and morally successful”, according to ABUAD’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Sidi Osho.
The three colleges, where the graduating students were drawn from, took off in the 2009/2010 academic session.
Today climaxes the week-long activities of the convocation, which began last Thursday with a media briefing. Other activities, such as a facility tour of the university, book launch, dedication of the College of Engineering – named after President Goodluck Jonathan – dedication of the Alumni Tower by pioneering graduates, film shows, founder’s dinner and farewell service, among others, will also hold during the week.
The magnificent entrance to the three-and-a-half-year-old university, whose students have always enjoyed uninterrupted academic calendar will, today, be renamed after former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a good friend of the founder, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN).
The university’s new 5,000-capacity multi-purpose hall will be named after former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Alfa Belgore (rtd).
A special moment for ABUAD today is that its pioneer valedictorian, Akomolafe Sola, an Accounting graduate with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.89, will lead 17 other graduates as the university’s pioneer First-Class degree holders.
Obasanjo and the Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Educational Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Dr Lalla Aicha Ben Barka, will be awarded honorary degrees.
“Reports reaching us from some of our students, who went on internships and industrial attachments, show that they were well behaved, dutiful and innovative. This did not come to us as a surprise, as moral education is part of what our students, go through. Even visitors to our school also affirm this’’, Mrs Osho said.
She added: “The purpose is to have a total education system in which every student is taken through the normal curriculum, as recommended by the National Universities Commission (NUC), and a lot more, including food security, entrepreneurial and leadership training as well as international language proficiency classes. In a way, this gives our products an edge over other graduates, as it helps them to survive the super-saturated labour market.”
Aare Babalola, an accomplished lawyer, could not have been happier.
For a man, who has attained the zenith of his profession and whose Emmanuel Chambers is adjudged to have produced the highest number of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), today’s occasion must be a watershed for him.
The renowned lawyer said ABUAD is a victory over poverty; a triumph over impossibilities and a lasting legacy.
Aare Babalola’s global reckoning runs in sharp contrast to his humble background, where he experienced abject poverty.
He usually recalls how he walked barefooted for nearly two decades because his parents could not afford to buy him shoes. Worse still was the fact that there was no money to enrol him in school.
But through a correspondence school, Babalola worked hard and obtained his School Certificate.
Despite his success in the legal profession and now the Education sector, Babalola believes the journey has just begun.
For the octogenarian, the best is yet to come. And he would not settle for less.
The legal icon believes there are still many rivers to cross. His vision for ABUAD is to make the university among the best in the world. He has been working hard at this since its inception. It is not surprising that ABUAD is graduating some of the best students in various fields today.
The Babalola’s Midas Touch has enabled a man from humble beginnings to hold his own among kings, presidents, and other prominent personage.
The genesis of ABUAD, Babalola says, is not a mere show-off. As a two-time Pro-Chancellor and Chairman- of-Council of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), the legal icon witnessed many years of government’s neglect in public education. This resulted in infrastructural decay, graduating half-baked students and incessant strikes.
This fired Babalola’s desire to set up a “regulatory university,” which would give Nigerians functional education “by being a model in education, character, discipline and service.”
Besides its philosophy, ABUAD will continue to resonate in the hearts of the pioneer graduates and many others who will come after. It is the message of hope and victory over challenges, a philosophy of optimism and of Impossibility Made Possible, an allusion to Babalola’s captivating book.
In this era of global economic depression, unemployment and other challenges affecting humanity, Babalola has never relented in chorusing his gospel of “I can still make it.”
Last Saturday, at the dedication of the Alumni Tower in front of the university’s Owolabi Hall, the renowned lawyer was in his element.
Thanking the donors, the expectant graduates for the donation, Babalola went down memory lane. He recounted his numerous battles with poverty.
He said: “I had a very challenging upbringing. I recall that for almost 20 years, I walked barefooted because my parents could not afford to buy me a pair of shoes. Today, I have many shoes but I don’t wear them. Also today, I have been to virtually all countries of the world. So, my message is that if I can make it, you too can make it. I want you to leave this university with this mindset that nothing in life is impossible, if you are diligent and you believe in God and in yourself…”
A painful farewell it seemed for him. Yet, it was a greater happiness that the first set of graduates of the university is marching out today.
“It is a great privilege that you will forever be remembered as the first set of graduates from ABUAD. Therefore, I want to advise you to carry the name of this university with pride. Be good ambassadors of this great university and continue to demonstrate the sound academic and moral culture ABUAD inculcated in you.
“We want to be in the mould of Harvard, Cambridge and Yale (universities) in not-too-distant time,” Babalola said.
“If this is our target, it simply means we need to start firing from all cylinders. We are not going to rest until we see our dreams fulfilled,” he added.
The investments of the university, including its sprawling enterprise farm, stand at N60 billion ($420 million) Babalola said. This was the figure from the university’s estate valuers.
He said the university is an epitome of Nigeria, drawing students from every state, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Besides, ABUAD is rated as the fastest-growing private university in Africa. It is also a model university, according to the National Universities Commission (NUC).
The university takes the Second Best Private University in the World Universities Webometric and ranks 13 of the 157 public and private universities in Nigeria.
But Babalola is not intoxicated by all these achievements. He said the achievements are simply the starting point for ABUAD, which is being programmed to be among the Ivory League, in the nearest future.
