ABUAD Strives To Attain Harvard University’s Status – Afe Babalola
….Times Higher Education Impact ranks the institution No 1 in Nigeria
The Founder of Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola has expressed joy over latest ranking of the institution as the number one in Nigeria by the Times Higher Education Impact.
ABUAD was rated as the best in Nigeria in the 2022 and 2023 editions of the rankings by the global body.
Briefing newsmen on the outstanding feat, the legal icon said his ultimate desire is to nurture the fastest growing private university to attain the status of the world best like the prestigious Harvard University before he dies.
The Times Higher Education Impact Ranking for 2024, had also ranked ABUAD first globally, for SDG 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy, Outreach Programmes, with 98% and Stewardship Programmes, with 98.2%.
Babalola, a former pro-chancellor of the University of Lagos said the15-year-old university was again ranked as the number one University in Nigeria and 200 in the world according to the latest ranking
“ABUAD ranks Number 142 Universities in the 2024 Times Higher Education 2,152 ranked World Impact Rankings. ABUAD ranks No. 4 amongst all the World in the 2024 Times Higher Education and No. 142 in Impact Rankings. ABUAD comes out top globally for both OUTREACH and STEWARDSHIP,” he said.
Furthermore, Babalola said: “This my university is one which I want to nurture to a stage that when I go, it will be like Harvard university. My hope is that those who work with me and those aspiring to work with me will replicate what I am doing and be dedicated just like me.”
Speaking on the lack of a stable calendar by public universities, he urged the Federal government to copy what ABUAD is doing to maintain a predictable and stable calendar for its students.
“Our university is there for others to copy. It is a transformative university where there is quality as well as functional education; we are only 15 years on the journey. We have achieved what I never expected we would achieve even in 50 years
“I established the university to make it an example of how you can run quality and functional education. Fortunately, the Nigeria University Commission (NUC) appreciated this within three years by describing the university as a model, reference point and benchmark. I believe it is an opportunity for the federal government to follow what we are doing here and replicate it in public universities.
“I keep asking why the new universities, particularly the private universities, why are they not copying what we are doing here. I do not know why we don’t like copying good things. What we copy in this country is bad things. You pressmen should tell them that this country can’t change for better until we learn to copy what is good.
When we were about to start this university, I said I can’t start a university where there will be strikes, cultism and others. That is why up till today we have a predictable academic calendar. Even when there was covid-19, my staff were working,”Babalola said.
Also speaking, the Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, commended him for deploying his hard earned resources in championing the needed revolution in the education sector, with the establishment of the university.
Olarinde said the institution’s management and staff would continue to justify Babalola’s huge investment, by working harder towards making the institution, one of the best 100 in the world.
The VC said it would be a disservice for any higher educational institution, as endowed as the country is, to produce the regular kind of graduates.
“In ABUAD, our role in the educational sector in the country and in Africa, is to transform the entire educational system. It is the believe of our founder, that you do not transform something by doing everything the usual way, you can only transform something by doing things the excellent and the uncommon way.
“We at ABUAD, have achieved this enviable level of national and global excellence because of the quality of graduates we turn out, through impactful education and training, not only for degrees, but also in character and industrious moulding.
“We commenced academic operations at ABUAD approximately 15 years ago. In those short 15 years, we rose from nothing, to being continually ranked high by the global body, the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking, and even agencies of government in Nigeria”, she said.
“Out of thousands of qualified universities globally, ABUAD has always effectively come ahead of the several other universities, both in Africa, in Asia, and even in Europe, and in the United States. We are just starting.
“In a few years, and by the grace of God, we shall be talking of ABUAD being in the top 100 universities globally. We will not rest until we have achieved this goal,” the VC said.