Disturbed by the growing insecurity pervading the country, the founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) Aare Afe Babalola, has called for an urgent summit to be attended by all leaders and stakeholders where issues relating to the peace and stability of the country would be extensively discussed.
Babalola who feared that the country is drifting towards anarchy with recent events as regards insecurity, said the summit which will be tagged, ‘Summit of Hope’ would afford leaders across divides to discuss and take drastic measures to prevent the country from sliding into another civil war.
He spoke on Tuesday at the 10th Afe Babalola Public Lecture organised by the Ado-Ekiti branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in ABUAD.
To achieve this, the legal icon donated a sum of N50 million and offers facilities in ABUAD, including the five star hotel, helipad, multi-system hospital, 7,000-seater multi-purpose hall towards the successful hosting of the summit.
According to him, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, should summon the courage and reach out to other traditional rulers and leaders in making the summit a reality in no distant future so as to prevent total collapse of Nigeria.
He said: “No where is safe in the country at the moment and it is important that stakeholders must come together to find lasting solutions. I am appealing to our own revered Ooni of Ife seated here today, to get in touch with all living former presidents of the country, religious leaders, traditional rulers, civil societies groups and other stakeholders to have a summit of the leaders which will be tilted, ‘Summit of Hope’
“The summit will discuss, suggest and take positive actions to prevent Nigeria from drifting into anarchy and another civil war. Ooni you have the influence, the charisma , the strength to convene this summit soon. To show my seriousness, I hereby donate the sum of N50 million to kick start the funding of the summit and that is without prejudice to further donations in the future.”
He called on lawyers to stand up and speak against the present situation in the country, noting that they would be blamed if the situation gets out of hand and result to civil war.
Responding, the chairman of the event and Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi commended Afe Babalola for his untiring love and commitment for the progress of the country, saying as Co-Chairman of National Traditional Council of Nigeria he supported the idea of the summit in order to savage the nation.
Oba Ogunwusi who received the deposit fund of N50 million for the summit from the Senior Advocate of Nigeria hailed the NBA for honouring Babalola, saying, ” he is worthy to be celebrated.”
He described the ABUAD founder as a man with limitless determination and commitment considering his contributions to humanity, explaining that the,”university is now the mirror in the educational sector in the country.”
He said: “I am elated to see what a single man, I mean just one man has been able to put in place here for the benefits of humanity.
“Aare Afe Babalola could perfectly be refered to as one man of limitless determination, the best Nigerian father worldwide and a man to be so proud of. In my estimation, ABUAD, which he founded, is the best university in Nigeria today, and I have my facts.
“You hardly can find any university whose founder is as dedicated and as committed as we have come to find in Baba Afe . He has made the institution to become a mirror for others to see, and a pacesetter to emulate.”
Earlier in his lecture titled ; ” A Lawyer’s Conflict of Loyalties”, the guest lecturer, Professor Tayo Oke counselled lawyers against being dishonest to the court and their clients while handling cases.
According to him, lawyers, as officers of the court, should be absolutely ethical in their duty to tell the court the unvanished truth in all cases, including avoiding dishonesty and evasion.
In his remarks, NBA chairman, Adeyemi Adewumi said the association decided to honour Afe Babalola with the lecture and the award because of his unmatched contributions to the legal profession and the development of the country.
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Insecurity: Afe Babalola says Nigeria moving towards anarchy, donates N50m for urgent peace summit
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