Aare Afe Babalola urges NBA to address contradictory court judgement.
Legal luminary and Elder Statesman, Aare Afe Babalola, has asserted that Nigeria will remain perpetually impoverished if it continues to consume more than it produces.
Babalola made this statement over the weekend in Ado-Ekiti during the maiden edition of the Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) Industrial Park Trade Fair, co-hosted with the state chapter of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE). He reiterated his views while receiving the executives of the Akure Branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), who presented him with the Icon for Excellence award.
Babalola warned that Nigeria might remain stagnant as long as indiscipline, poor work ethics, and a lack of vision and patriotism persist. He called on Nigerians and their leaders to genuinely embrace change to foster national growth.
Describing the industrial park as a technology hub, he emphasized its role in bridging the gap between research and industry and providing employment opportunities for many jobless graduates and youths.
Babalola also expressed his concerns about the rising incidences of courts delivering contradictory judgments on the same subject matter.
He urged NBA members nationwide to urgently convene a meeting to address this issue, which he believes is causing daily embarrassment and damaging the legal profession.
“It is true Nigeria today is in the doldrums. That, however, does not mean we should throw patriotism and national interest into the mud. This is because, to me, Nigeria can still become like the USA of this world, or other great countries alike.
“But the bitter truth is that Nigeria cannot suddenly become a USA with the way we do things continually and still expect different results. Nigeria is such a rich country, blessed with resources, good weather, friendly climate, and money.
“Unfortunately, however, aside from many other obvious factors, the very point where we began to get things wrong is that Nigeria is a nation that consumes more than it produces, and the bitter truth here is that any country that does that will remain perpetually poor.
“As a leader by example, even at my age, I abhor laziness and complacency. I work for 18 hours daily. I do not buy food; I grow them on the farm. I do not buy pepper, tomatoes, chicken, or fish; I produce them. How many Nigerians do that?
“As a result, ABUAD was conceived by me not only as an innovative institution to change things for the better but also as a deliberate way of giving back to society what I did not get on a platter of gold.
“Even though I did not have the opportunity of going beyond conventional primary school, nor did I have the opportunity for conventional class studies at secondary or university education, I struggled on my own, out of strong determination to succeed, coupled with uncommon commitment, to get myself educated at both secondary level and later at the University of London, all through correspondence studies.
“But I thank God today that in all, God has rewarded my dedication and endowed me with something extra: the ability to work hard to achieve desired results.”
He urged Nigerians to embrace hard work, honesty, and faith in the country to achieve greatness. Babalola expressed confidence that Nigeria would achieve greatness again if leaders and citizens emulated some of the principles that ABUAD had implemented since its establishment.
“I make bold to say that our performance gives us hope in this country that Nigeria can achieve what we have achieved if we all agree to change the old ways of doing things.
“Nigeria can be greater. With hard work, the way we are doing things here, with hard work, honesty, and faith, Nigeria can be better and get out of the doldrums. I believe that hardship breeds determination, determination breeds faith, and faith never fails,” he said.
In his remarks, the NBA Akure, Ondo State Branch Chairman, Banjo Ayenakin, praised Babalola as a trailblazer and exceptional icon. He commended Babalola for being a generous and versatile Nigerian.
He said: “If we have a few more of your type in this country, the story will change for the better. If we all work and lift individuals and groups, the way Baba Afe Babalola is doing on a regular basis, across tribes, cultures, and political divides, even at his age and at the expense of his hard-earned resources, there will be no problems of any sort for anyone in this country.”
Speaking at the industrial park’s maiden trade fair, Ekiti NSE Chapter Chairman, Prof. Oluwasegun Aluko, expressed gratitude to Babalola for establishing the park, which he said was designed to accommodate 124 cottage industries and boost the use of locally sourced raw materials.
In her welcome address at the events, ABUAD Vice Chancellor Prof. Smaranda Olarinde commended Babalola for using his hard-earned resources to revolutionize the education sector with the establishment of the university and the industrial park, among other initiatives.
Olarinde noted that ABUAD was recently ranked the best Nigerian university for the third consecutive time, fourth in Africa, and 142nd in the world, as published in the 2024 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. She added that the university also ranked first globally for SDG 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy, scoring 98% in Outreach Programmes and 98.2% in Stewardship Programmes.
Despite being only about 15 years old, ABUAD’s accomplishments in Law, Medicine, Engineering, Sciences, and Social and Management Sciences have placed the university on the international grid of world-class institutions.