London varsity to bestow LLD on Babalola

FOUNDER and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola, will on March 11, 2015 be conferred with an Honorary LLD of the University of London in appreciation of his remarkable works as a legal practitioner of 52 years standing.

   Coming barely three months after he was conferred with his 11th Honorary Doctorate Degree by the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) on December 20, 2014, this latest decoration is also in recognition of his role as an educationist.

   For the award presentation, the crème-de-la-crème of the society, made up of members of the Bar and the Bench, legal academics, the royalty, clergy and captains of industries will congregate at the Barbican Centre in London to celebrate the international legal icon and philanthropist.

   A January 16, 2015 dated letter by the vice chancellor of the university, Prof. (Sir) Adrian Smith, stated that each year, the University of London International Academy is eligible to award honorary degrees on persons of eminence and distinction.

   ”The Collegiate Council of the university would very much like Babalola to accept the award of the degree of Doctor of Law honoris causa at the University of London International Academy Graduation Ceremony on March 11, 2015.”

   Known as the grandmother of British universities, the school gave birth to university colleges in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth countries, which later became autonomous universities.   The University of London also nurtured the University College, Ibadan, which was established in 1948.

   With this award, Babalola becomes the first African to be so honoured with an LLD in the 179-year history of the university. In the past, former South African president, the late Nelson Mandela, received the honorary Doctorate Degree in Economics of the university in 1996, while Archbishop Desmond Tutu was conferred with the Honorary Degree in Divinity in 2008.