Afe Babalola University in incorporated as a not-for-profit organisation. This means that every income generated by the University must be ploughed back for the overall development of the University. Neither the founder nor his appointees are intended to benefit personally from the funds of the University. Rather, the founder has donated all his life acquisitions to the University in order to show Nigerians in particular and Africans in general how great universities are made.
Universities are established primarily for the three functions of teaching, research and community service. These are great functions which make universities central to the development of the society. Great civilisations are borne by great universities and great universities are not possible without adequate funding. History is replete with examples.
One of the long tested ways through which universities are guaranteed resources for their development is through endowments and donations. This is the secret of the Ivy League universities in the world like Harvard University, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge and the like. Well-to-do members of the society must contribute a portion of their wealth to universities for the overall development of the society. While every rich person may not be able to build a university of his or her own, such a person can make useful donations to the existing ones, especially universities like Afe Babalola University which is not established to enrich individuals.
On 20th of March, 2010 the University established its endowment funds programme. Unfortunately, most of the promises made to the University by the participants are not yet fulfilled notwithstanding the continued efforts by the University to follow up on these promises. Endowments of this nature are continuous as universities survive in perpetuity. However, where promises are delayed or are not fulfilled the direct beneficiaries which are the students through scholarships; researchers, through grants and fellowships; and the larger society through the benefits of quality education and research products, will suffer to the detriment of all, including the rich.
Aare Afe Babalola has, through his gesture of establishing a university with such a non-profit status and having much of his assets transferred to it, shown the way in this direction. It is hoped that others will follow.