Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, has said he has achieved the goal of establishing a world-class university.
Citing the recent ranking of the university by the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings among the best 100 universities in the world and No. 1 in Nigeria for four consecutive years: 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, he said it was not too late for anyone to achieve his dream.
Recall that ABUAD started the Academic session with 240 students on January 4, 2010.
Babalola spoke yesterday at the 16th anniversary of the commencement of the university, which took place at the ABUAD campus in Ado Ekiti.
The ABUAD founder noted that within 16 years of its establishment, the university had surpassed the older generation universities in the country.
“All of you have done well. As a matter of fact, I can beat my chest that our hope. our prayers and our wishes for establishing and running a world-class university have come true.
“And that goes to confirm one very important thing: that it is not too late for anybody to venture into anything and make a success out of it. I started this university when I was about 80 years old.
“But look at where we are today. It is no longer news that we are a world-class university. It is no longer news that we are the clear leaders in Law, Medicine and Engineering and several other disciplines. It is no longer news that we have surpassed those far older than us.”
He, however, cautioned the staff not to be complacent, saying: “We must be conscious of the fact that getting to the top is easy, but remaining there calls for more work. We must not be blown away by the waves of our successes.
“I am, therefore, using this opportunity to call on our staff, both academic and non-academic, to do everything morally and legally possible to ensure that the university maintains the stream of successes it has attained in the last 16 years.”
In her welcome address, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, said that the founder’s firm belief that true quality and meaningful transformation could not be achieved by following conventional paths had greatly accounted for the phenomenal development of the university.
