When Aare Afe Babalola, SAN came forward with his dream and vision to reform education in Nigeria by providing and leading others in quality and functional education, the attitude of many was let us wait and see.
But today, visitors to the Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), at Ado-Ekiti the Ekiti State capital look up in awe and marvel at the majestic architectural masterpieces the well nurtured flowers and green lawn that adorn the landscape of the less than four years old world class citadel of learning which has attracted copious encomiums.
Consequently, awards, acknowledgements and recognitions are accorded to ABUAD from within and without. In October last year UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for African Affairs, Dr. Lalla Aicha Ben Barka described the university as a shinning beacon of academic excellence in tertiary education.
The university which on account of its salutary and exemplary performance was appointed the mentor institution to the new University of Industrial Development in Ghana last year, last week enjoyed the uncommon privilege of playing host to this year’s UNESCO Regional Staff Retreat, a privilege not granted many.
At the historic four-day retreat which saw the Executive Vice Chairman of Julius Berger Nigeria, Engr. Heinz Stockhausen and the Deputy Director General of IITA, Prof. Kenton Dashiell, presenting papers became another occasion of acknowledging and celebrating the monumental achievements of both Babalola and the university since it commenced academic works on January 4, 2010.
In her loaded speech at the commencement of the retreat, the Director, UNESCO’s Regional Office, Abuja, Prof. Hassana Alidou, did not mince word at commending the university when she said: “We are, therefore, in ABUAD not only to visit or hold our retreat and go back to Abuja. We see this as a Launchpad for increased partnerships in research and innovation into what works and good practices that we can scale up in the region. We are here to see how the UNESCO Chairs in Peace and Citizenship Education; and the other one on Entrepreneurship Education and Agriculture for Sustainable Development have progressed. We are here to explore options in sciences, culture, communication and education which we can use in our initiatives for the region”.
She added: “We are here because of the extraordinary and significant achievements of a humanitarian and philanthropist Aare Afe Babalola, a Nigerian, African and global citizen who put his wisdom, knowledge, competence and wealth to the benefit of humankind by building a world class institution of higher education whose reputation has gone beyond Nigeria’s borders and has welcome excellent faculty, researchers from Nigeria, Europe and America. And students from all over the world are attending ABUAD because of its high quality programme recognized by national and international Accreditation bodies”.
She congratulated ABUAD for ensuring that its students do not miss any quality learning time as they graduate on time in a country where students in public universities spend between seven and eight years for four years academic programmes due to the prevalence of strike actions by the various workers unions.
These achievements, the UNESCO chieftain emphasised, are due to the vision and mission statement articulated in ABUAD founding document but more over the dedication of its leader, Aare Afe Babalola and the highly qualified faculty and administrators as well as highly motivated parents and students as well as all the women and men who attend daily to students need and welfare by ensuring they all eat well and the landscape and the whole ABUAD environment is kept clean, beautiful and safe.
ABUAD – A MODEL UNIVERSITY
She noted that these are aspects of quality assurance that characterised a first tier university not only in Nigeria, but in America, Europe and Asia and we saw it developing in ABUAD. ABUAD is a model HED institution which we are proud of and happy to be connected with for a long time.
She equally made it known that UNESCO is both a knowledge and learning organization and not a funding or donor agency, rather a convener, custodian of agreed global standards, intellectual hub and laboratory of innovations on what works for development. This, in her view, made a university like ABUAD a natural home for UNESCO with the hope that the two institutions will continue to collaborate and learn from each other.
Our current priorities in UNESCO Abuja are those which resonate with the needs of Member States. We want to promote all round and life-long education; we want to see more girls doing the science subjects very well; we would like to see our cultural heritage not only preserved but also used for economic benefit; we would like to see young people innovating with mobile applications and other ICT uses; we would like to see a revolution of creativity which will lead to more employment opportunities and solutions development problems.
“By hosting us for free here ABUAD is now among those strong partners who are proving the needed support for our work. We are grateful for this.
Let me conclude by thanking Aare Afe Babalola for this world class investment. This campus is in the league of some of the big universities I have seen in the developed world in terms of facilities. I congratulate you for this investment in your country. You have set a good record which should be emulated by succeeding generations. Investment in quality education is an investment into our future. Thanks again for the wonderful hospitality. We wish you great success as you build destinies of current and future generations.