We need new constitution to tackle challenges, Babalola tells Buhari
Gives over N30m to youths in agribusiness
The Founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, at the weekend, told President Muhammadu Buhari that the nation would only overcome its myriad of challenges with a new constitution that will capture the agitation of many Nigerians.
The legal icon said that the 1999 Constitution was a clog to the socio-economic development of the country, adding that there is need for different regions to be given absolute power to address challenges of insecurity, unemployment and poverty in their zones.
Babalola spoke in Ado-Ekiti during the grant award ceremony of N30 million and equipment to about 115 youths in the 2020 Youth Employment in Agribusiness and Sustainable Agriculture (YEASA) in partnership with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The founder of ABUAD regretted that leaders were not rendering selfless service but were pursuing personal wealth at the detriment of the system and the citizens.
According to him: “We need a new constitution where the different nations that were formed together can develop at their own pace.
“West was doing well during the old constitution; likewise the East and even the North, but the one we are using now is the one where leaders see politics as the only lucrative business.
“We don’t need transactional leaders anymore; we want transformational leaders. As you can see, I am transforming this place.
“In the early 1960s, people were not earning salaries but allowances and they were doing well but now, you see people selling their property to contest election because of money they will get in the office. That is not the ideal thing. The solution is a new constitution for the people. We need people who will serve without earning salaries.”
Babalola, who empowered the youths from Oyo and Ekiti states with equipment and grants after weeks of training in various agricultural-based businesses, lamented the poverty level in the country, noting that he would continue to do everything possible to end the menace.
He told the beneficiaries to be committed and deploy the grants given judiciously to enable them become employers of labour and banish the chain of poverty from the society.
He advised the beneficiaries to take advantage of the opportunities being offered by financial institutions, especially the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) to boost their businesses.
