As part of efforts to set the trend in qualitative education and achieve the mission of its founder, Chief Afe Babalola, making the institution among the top 100 across the world, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, at the weekend inaugurated four milestone projects and presented two books to consolidate its position as a reference point. DANIEL ABEL reports
At a period where many academic institutions are facing the challenge of rot and are struggling to maintain their balance to give students the best, some continue to make giant strides in the area of overall qualitative education. One of such institutions is the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), in Ekiti State; Though it is just 10 years old, it has been acknowledged by the National Universities Commission (NUC) as a model, benchmark and reference point.
In its few years of existence, it has navigated its way into the club of prestigious universities in the world and has not rested on its oars. At the weekend, it consolidated its position with the inauguration of four milestone projects which are meant to further put the institution on the global map.
The university made history when it inaugurated the largest number of dialysis machines assembled in any university in Africa; 16 newly installed dialysis machines were inaugurated at the ABUAD multi-system hospital. Also, the institution inaugurated a state-of-the-art blood bank and transfusion centre; a military building to aid security and a Ministry of Aviation-certified modern helipad to ease transportation.
There was also a public presentation of two books; ‘The elusive Search for Nation Nigeria’ and ‘ABUAD: Pioneering Educational Renaissance.
Speaking during the inauguration, the founder of ABUAD, Chief Afe Babalola, noted that the institution in its 10 years is on a path of greatness, adding that the institution’s efforts are geared at making life easier for people in the country while also reducing drastically the system of health tourism prevalent among the elites.
According to him, the construction of the multi-system hospital which cost millions of naira is deliberate as it is loaded with ultramodern facilities that would help put the institution on the global map. The ABUAD multi-system hospital consists of some state-of-the-art facilities, including a diagnostic centre equipped with CT scan, MRI, X-ray, ultrasound 2D, 3D, 4D, modern laboratory equipment as well as five modular theatres, pneumatic tubes connecting 37 floors, medical gas and oxygen, among other modern facilities.
The hospital, according to Chief Afe Babalola, is primed to buoy the economy of the state invariably creating thousands of jobs and also bringing quality health care service of international standard to the country and provide services for accident emergency, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, community medicine, nuclear medicine, and lots more.
The facilities will also be poised at training ABUAD medical students who will be properly guided to achieve these feat with the ultramodern facilities available.
“With the academic, leadership and moral as well as the entrepreneurial training they will acquire from here to make them all-round professionals that do not have to be scouting for white collar jobs before they can be gainfully employed, the sky is their takeoff point. They cannot but excel anywhere they find themselves in the future,” Chief Afe Babalola said.
The legal icon noted that the 16 newly installed dialysis machines purchased were to help consolidate ABUAD position in the healthcare sector in the country, noting that the new addition was a milestone achievement and would be named after President Muhammadu Buhari.
He explained further that the blood bank and transfusion centre would help with urgent need of blood and related issues during emergency, colonoscopy, physiotherapy, echocardiography, fluoroscopy among several others while the helipad construction is aimed towards addressing the transport issue in the state.
“All of us here today know that all the federal roads leading to Ekiti are in a very bad shape. Indeed, Ekiti is a land-locked state without good motorable roads, no airport and no rail line. The helipad, which has since been in use, has become a necessity in view of the number of patients coming from all parts of Africa particularly in the absence of an airport,” Chief Afe Bablola said, adding that the military outpost would help curtail the issue of violence, kidnapping, armed robbery and killing in the state.
The projects were inaugurated by the Alaafin Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who joined by other dignitaries, described himself as an alumnus of the institution and commended Chief Afe Babalola for creating a system that will save lives and make lives better for people as well as also presenting two books that will further enrich the psyche.
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According to Oba Adeyemi, “the entire country will appreciate the ABUAD multi-system hospital because it is a life saver. All of us here appreciate the centrality of a blood bank to any hospital. It makes life safer because if blood is needed for any patient, it is just a matter of going into the blood bank to procure the type that is needed for the patient.
“This facility will eradicate the age-long practice where relations of patients would be scampering in panic to procure blood for the sick relations many kilometres away from where the blood is needed. I have never heard of any university having a blood bank. Aare Afe Bablola has done it again. If this facility has been in place six years ago, my daughter who was born in 1960 and who would have been 60 this year would be alive today,” Alaafin said.
Oba Adeyemi commended Afe Babalola for his futuristic ambition with the completion of the project and called on all well-meaning Nigerians to take a cue from Afe Babalola by investing in quality education and healthcare delivery.
Also speaking, the immediate past Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole said, “the newly launched hospital is an example of how hardwork could help achieve what was previously believed unachievable in the country. With what I have seen here today, this hospital matches the best in the world and so I will recommend it to people for patronage because it will certainly put an end to medical tourism outside Nigeria.”
On his part the former governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu, said, “The amount of money committed to this project is almost immeasurable. Because we don’t have quality hospitals here, a lot of our people die between Nigeria and Ethiopia on their way to India for medical care. The new hospital is a welcome development and a recommended step that other institutions should emulate. This new development will also be an added value not only to Ekiti State but to Nigeria as well.”
The vice-chancellor of the university, Professor Smaranda Olarinde, while speaking with journalists said the machines were bought to strengthen the treatment of kidney diseases and prevent untimely death among Nigerians, adding that due to the deplorable state of roads in Ekiti and its environs, the university has built a helipad to ease transportation to the multi-system hospital and the entire university community.
“The university will soon provide a military security post at the hospital to provide security for experts, patients, and students,” she added.
The chairman of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Professor Abbah Waziri, who was also present at the inauguration commended the founder of ABUAD for a job well done, confirming that the newly constructed helipad will help address the transport issue in the state.