“ABUAD: A CHILD OF CIRCUMSTANCES, NOT A PROFITABLE VENTURE”- AFE BABALOLA (SAN) – Says Oloyede has Restored The Credibility Of JAMB
Chief Afe Babalola is the founder of Afe Babalola University(ABUAD), Ado Ekiti.
Besides founding a university, he has taken big strides in the area of human capacity building by contributing immensely to the development of education in the country. In the same vein, the significance of his legendary exploits in the legal profession cannot be overemphasised.
- Chief Afe Babalola
ABUAD, the fastest-growing private university in the country, has made significant impacts on the socio-economic life of the country as it has recorded uncommon achievements in various fields of human endeavour.
The legal icon, who shared his experiences about his university, explained why the institution is making waves in learning, teaching, research and community service, at home and abroad. He also spoke on post-UTME, CAPS and other sundry issues with JAMBulletin.
Chief Babalola, in a telephone chat with JAMBulletin, said ABUAD is not a business venture nor was it set up to make profit.
When asked if it would be possible for him to break even any time soon given the enormous resources invested in the university, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said, “The question of breaking even does not arise at all. Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, was not established to make profit. Rather what has been uppermost in the minds of our shareholders and me has been how to cover our running costs and pay off any debt which the university may owe. In other words, the university can be construed as a charitable organization because whatever qualifies as profit is always ploughed back into the system to make the university even bigger and eventually to make it be at par with if not greater than Harvard, Yale and Stanford Universities among others.”
As regards what pushed him into taking such a path in life, he said the story of what pushed him into education is very interesting. He said, “ABUAD is a child of circumstances and an act of faith. It was never my intention to establish a university, but as fate would have it, the then President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed me the Pro- Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), to tackle the fraud and corruption rocking the university then. I had twice respectfully turned down like appointments in the past – first as the country’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice by former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha and President Obasanjo respectively .”
- Ex president Obasanjo*
“I agreed to be Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of UNILAG because I was then the Patron of Transparency International in Nigeria and I saw the appointment as an opportunity to actualise what transparency means. With the cooperation of my colleagues on the Council and the University Management, I was able to turn UNILAG around without taking any allowances.”
The highly-celebrated Senior Advocate added, “On several occasions, I had to contact my clients like Julius Berger, Mobil, Shell and Wema Bank to make generous donations to the University, thereby making UNILAG the best university around then. As a matter of fact, I was twice voted the Best Pro-Chancellor of Nigerian Universities. I later became the Chairman of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors.
“After the dissolution of University Councils in 2007, I decided to establish a university which would be an example of how a university should be run. To raise funds, I sold my choice properties in England, Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan, my shares in Banks and emptied my bank accounts to establish ABUAD with the hope of making the university the birthplace of educational renaissance.
“Indeed, to a large extent, that dream has been achieved as ABUAD has navigated its way to the very top in the hierarchy of universities within the first decade of its existence.”
Commenting on the secrets of the various successes recorded by the prestigious university, the anti- corruption crusader attributed the successes to his dogged determination to excel in any of his chosen ventures.
He said, “I am a big dreamer and so I dream a lot. Everybody on Planet Earth dreams. Whereas many don’t bother to pursue their dreams to reality, I try as much as possible to actualise my dreams with the belief that it is only those who realise their dreams that are deemed successful.
Besides, I have known all along that more education is a potent weapon with which one can fight disease, poverty, ignorance, lack, want, and extremism among several other ills of the society. If not for education, many today may not have known me bearing in mind my humble beginnings as a farm boy.”
The legal luminary continues, “The moment I made up my mind to do something, I go all out for it without looking back. And God has been kind to me. He has always blessed whatever I lay my hands on with success. Examples of this abound. But let me mention just two: our university which commenced academic work on January 4, 2010 has navigated its way to the very top while our 400-bed Multi-system Hospital which was commissioned on 20 October, 2017, which has been performing sophisticated surgeries such as brain surgeries, repair of congenital and vascular malformation as well as spine surgeries, among others, are a few of God’s kindness to us.”
He said, “When the idea of the university came up, I gathered some of the best University Administrators in the country to advise me. And they did a good job as I have been able to learn a lot from them. However, the success story of the university is not mine alone. It has been the result of the combined efforts of our students, their parents, the various Regulatory Bodies, and in particular the National Universities Commission (NUC) and my tireless and committed staff to whom I am eternally grateful.”
“To complement its Medical Training Programme, ABUAD has built an ultramodern 400-bed Multi-system Hospital which is the best of its type around and was commissioned at an elaborate ceremony on 20th October, 2017. In our avowed determination to ensure that the Hospital stands out as a clear leader and the toast of its peers in Africa, we provisioned it with the most modern and sophisticated medical equipment that money can buy and hired the best hands to make it the Hospital of choice in Africa.”
He also stated, “To realise its dream of imparting quality Medical Education and superlative Healthcare delivery, ABUAD Multi-system Hospital is in partnership with reputable global players in the Healthcare sector including Bridge of Life and Project C.U.R.E of the United States of America. We are proud that we have high-tech medical equipment which are not available in any other hospital in the country and which are daily deployed for surgeries. Similarly, we have a modern Blood Bank and Transfusion Service Centre, special beds and top-notch infrastructure found only in world-class hospitals abroad as well as a Ministry of Aviation-certified modern Helipad to ease transportation of patients and clients to ABUAD Multi-system Hospital and the University. In addition to all these, the institution boasts of a new building for the security personnel to ensure the security of patients and the university community in general.”
According to Chief Babalola, testifying to the uniqueness of the Multi-system Hospital, top-rate Medical Educators like Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole, former Minister for Health, had said: “This Hospital will offer us what we hitherto believed cannot happen in this country. It will also improve on those poor Health Indicators in the country. With what I have seen here today, this Hospital matches the best in the world and it will certainly put an end to medical tourism outside Nigeria and with what is found in the Hospital, there is no reason why any of our Doctors should want to go abroad for their Sabbatical. All they need is here.”
Prof. Temitope Alonge, CMD, University Teaching Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, also said, “I have worked in many Hospitals both here in Nigeria and in Europe. This Hospital beats most Hospitals where I have worked in Europe. This surely will be the answer to all those untoward medical tourism.”
Chief Afe Babalola said commendation was also made at the commissioning of the University Helipad on March 21, 2020, by the Chairman, Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria(MDCN), Prof. Abba Waziri, when he said: “With the Helipad which is being commissioned today, 21th March, 2020, your multi-system Hospital will now be able to take care of patients from far and near as patients can be evacuated from everywhere.”
- Prof Oloyede, JAMB Registrar*
On the introduction of post-UTME, the Ekiti-born educator said, “The call was necessitated by t h e ‘ ro t ’ in t h e examination body at that time coupled with the non- correlation of scores of candidates and their academic performance after matriculation.”
When asked about his position on the scrapping of JAMB, Chief Babalola took JAMBulletin down memory lane. He said, “Let me give you a brief background to my call for the scrapping of JAMB. In 2003, it was discovered by university Administrators in this country that many of the students admitted into Nigerian universities through JAMB were not only academically deficient, but they could also not justify the high marks scored in the UTME.”
Continuing, he said, “Cases abound whereby JAMB examination papers were being openly sold to students at examination centres while some examination centres, mischievously christened ‘miracle centres’, were virtually designed to guarantee high marks for some candidates. The most pathetic aspect of this perfidy was that we 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 that the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian universities under my chairmanship, met in Abuja, x-rayed the cankerworm and recommended to former President Olusegun Obasanjo that JAMB should be scrapped because the integrity of its examinations had been called to question.”
Commenting further, he said, “I must stress at this point that the introduction of Post-UTME was not decided by the Committee of Pro- Chancellors of Nigerian Universities alone. The matter was thrown open to obtain inputs from stakeholders as well as interested and concerned members of the society.”
However, government in its 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.”
According to the erudite personage, “The Post-UTME has proved to be a veritable quality control measure which I believe had worked and is working well. For example, the first Post- UTME we conducted at the University of Lagos, where I was then the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, yielded positive dividends. There was this student, with a very impressive JAMB result, who applied to study Law. Since English Literature was and still central to the admission of students to study Law, he was asked if he knew a novel called “Things Fall Apart” and he answered in the affirmative. We then asked him if he knew the author. The hall was filled with consternation when the young man named the late General Sani Abacha as the author.”
“With the above scenario, it became crystal clear that Nigerian universities should be rid of dunces and undesirable elements who parade compromised and procured results. This singular example underscores the place and import of the Post-UTME. Furthermore, as a result of the introduction of the Post-UTME, the quantum of students who were asked to withdraw because they could neither defend the high marks they are parading nor cope academically upon admission, dropped considerably. Meanwhile, those who were cutting corners to get jumbo marks in the UTME also reduced while JAMB and its results became more credible.
“With the innovative measures introduced by Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, the then JAMB helmsman, to re-invent the examination body, its results have become a lot more credible . It is also commendable that things have become even better with the advent of the present leadership of the Board.
“I must commend the incumbent JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, for all that he has been doing to restore and enhance the credibility of JAMB. He has been doing well.”
He also commended the current JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, for his efforts to turn around the system through technology and sustained innovations to combat examination malpractice and other irregularities capable o f undermining the examination and its integrity. In addition, he eulogised the automation of admissions through the implementation of the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS).
He recalled that JAMB had introduced CAPS in 2017 in order to automate the admissions process of tertiary institutions.
He stated that CAPS, as an admission processing system, could be said to have achieved its goals as it has entrenched fairness, transparency and credibility in the admission process into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. He said, “ABUAD has complied and followed the process strictly with CAPS helping ABUAD immensely in its admission process. For example, it has eradicated the use of manual approach for admission and offers a holistic view of admission statistics at any given point in time. Furthermore, it gives institutions the opportunity to source for candidates by visiting the ‘Market Place’ which is a pool of unadmitted but qualified candidates.
Similarly, CAPS has not only eliminated multiple admissions but has also enabled candidates to easily track their admission status online from the comfort of their homes.”
On the call by private universities to access TETFUND intervention fund, Chief Afe Babalola posited that private universities which operate on their permanent site with fully- accredited academic programmes by the NUC and which have also commenced their postgraduate studies should have unfettered access to TETFUND facilities. In the meantime, “I am of the opinion the time has come for the establishment of the National Education Insurance Scheme (NEIS) to address the funding gap being experienced by private universities.”
The Elder Statesman while appraising the role of private universities said, “I am happy to say that private universities have come to stay in Nigeria and in the last one and half decades, they have performed better than most public universities in terms of staffing, training of teachers and scholars, learning, discipline and even in the area of provision of infrastructure.
“Prior to the advent of private universities in Nigeria, many wealthy Nigerians took pride in sending their children to foreign universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cambridge and Oxford.”
This, according to him, was in their quest to give their children qualitative education while avoiding incessant strikes, unstable academic calendars, cultism, drug and other substance abuse, and general moral decadence which had become the hallmark of some public universities.
“I can say that with respect to many of these ills, private universities could be said to have provided a credible alternative to public universities. As such, parents and sponsors can now predict with mathematical precision the date of graduation of their children and wards.”
This is positive and completely different from the way things used to be,” he noted.
He said, “My advice to all stakeholders who desire quality and functional education, including JAMB, is that they should all work together to ensure that the major problem of funding confronting universities in Nigeria, be they private or public, should be tackled through Donations, Endowments, Gifts and Scholarships, among others.
“I would like to use this medium to appeal to well-to-do Nigerians to invest in education by establishing non-profit private universities where quality and functional education will be the hallmark like ABUAD which the NUC, the regulatory authority for university education in Nigeria, have acknowledged as the pride of the university system in Nigeria, a position that was equally endorsed by the Association of Vice Chancellor of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU), to the effect that the institution is the most successful private university in Nigeria.”