Babalola, others celebrate ABUAD’s achievements at nine

AFE Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) has formally admitted a set of 2,000 new students for the 2018/2019 academic session, with the founder of the university, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), recalling with thanks the role of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Governor Segun Oni and the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, in his establishment of the institution.

At the 10th matriculation ceremony held at the Alfa Belgore Hall of ABUAD, Chief Babalola also suggested to the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Federal Ministry of Education to adopt unified examinations for final year students in every course in Nigerian universities.

At the grand ceremony which also incorporated the celebration of the young university’s academic achievements, especially in 2018 in the Law, Medicine, Economics, Engineering and other academic fields, Babalola noted that a unified examination would serve as one of the potent weapons to engender quality education in the country and rout the culture of laziness in the system.

According to him, ABUAD had partnered NUC to move the institution beyond the minimum standard set by the commission, saying this facilitated the giant strides and records the university had achieved in the country in just nine years.

The ABUAD founder, at the twin events, honoured some alumni of the institution. For instance, Miss Naomi Ekpo got the star prize of N525,000 as the best graduating student ever produced by the university since inception in 2010, among other alumni that were honoured.

Babalola said: “I want to suggest to NUC and the Ministry of education that  in order to maintain quality and high standard in Nigerian universities , the final year in all programmes across all our universities should take the same national final examinations.

“In this way, every university shall work hard to ensure that their students pass the national examination thereby ensuring high standard in teaching and learning.

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“I am going to present a position paper to the Federal Government on this, and those with influences should join in pushing it.”

Babalola said further: “What we have done here in ABUAD is education revolution. We have built new generation of Nigerians. We are building students who are honest, morally upright and hardworking.”

The ABUAD founder acknowledged the comments of educational regulatory bodies in the country on the  educational revolution that ABUAD has come to represent in the Nigerian university education system.

Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Professor Michael Ajisafe, in his address to the gathering, said the university had been described as “a leader in functional education in Nigeria and Africa.”

Ajisafe added that the institution had brought a paradigm shift to university education system in Nigeria, having emphasised and practised the culture of academic and moral excellence.

He urged the new students to brace up in the face of the daunting challenges and excel in their academics, rather than being weighed down and drop out of school.

The Federal Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Ahmad Belgore, while speaking at the ceremony, advised the matriculating students to play their parts and prove to the world that good things can happen in Nigeria.

The Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, described ABUAD as a “centre of excellence” that had produced quality graduates due to the fact that the university has a culture for academic and moral development.

A former Executive Secretary of the NUC, Professor Peter Okebukola, in a brief lecture to mark the event, noted that the establishment of ABUAD had helped in stabilising and raising the bar of quality education in the continent.

Okebukola stated that starting their undergraduate studies from ABUAD, which he described as an “elite university”, would go a long way in enhancing their academic careers.

The student-honouree, Miss Naomi Ekpo, who shattered nearly all academic records set in medical school examinations, while responding to the accolades by Chief Babalola and others, assured that she and the other awardees would continue to strive harder rather than relent.