ELDER statesman and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola, has described Federal Government’s unabated exclusion of private universities from benefiting from TETFUND largesse as illegal, unfair, unconstitutional and unjustifiable, thus giving verve to the aphorism that any fortune not shared is a misfortune and unfortunate.
In his usual frank, firm, fair but friendly persona, the frontline legal icon and proponent of quality and functional education bemoaned the lopsidedness in the disbursement of TETFUND funds when the leadership of Dominican University, Ibadan, (DUI), led by its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dokun Oyeshola, paid Babalola a consultation visit in Ado-Ekiti recently.
In his January 24, 2024, letter to Babalola requesting for the visit, Oyeshola said, inter alia, that: “…I deeply admire the commendable work you have done in your university, and I am eager to drink from the wealth of experience you have accumulated in successfully steering the university through its formative years”.
He added: “As the leader of a university (the faith-based Dominican University) that has strived for seven years, I believe that a one-on-one meeting would provide me with excellent insights that will be instrumental in shaping the trajectory of our faith-based (Catholic Church) University”.
True to the tone and tenor of his letter, Oyeshola said his team was in ABUAD to learn about its comely environment, Human Development, attitude and ICT as well as E-learning, stressing that “if you have a university that has made it in just 14 years and become one of the best in the world, that is the direction one should turn to learn a lesson or two”.
He added: “It is always a wise decision for one to relate with people and places of integrity from who and where one can learn how to change things for the better.
“We can’t compare ourselves (DUI) with just eight programmes with ABUAD which has 47 Undergraduate and 37 Postgraduate Programmes within a spate of just 14 years. We are here to see and to learn. We fervently believe in the saying that if you want a job done, you should give it to a busy person. ABUAD is not only busy with 47 Undergraduate and 37 Postgraduate Programmes, but also a successful university and that is why we are here to learn”.
He wondered why many wealthy Nigerians would not borrow a leaf from Babalola by investing in Nigeria, but instead deliberately elect to stash their money abroad without known signatories as a result of which such monies end up in the custody of other people upon the demise of such Nigerians.
Receiving Oyeshola, who was accompanied by DUI’s Acting Registrar, Rev. Father Samuel Onyiba, and Rev. Father Gabriel Avbenake, after the trio had toured ABUAD’s serene and sprawling campus, its ultra-modern 400-bed Multi-System Hospital, its expansive ABUAD Enterprise Farm, its 124-unit Industrial Park and its Independent Power Plant, IPP, Babalola congratulated the Catholic Church for being among other Christian Missionaries such as the Church Missionary Society (CMS), the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian as well as the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) which took interest in founding the first set of early Elementary and Secondary Schools in Nigeria.
A former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos, Babalola promised to extend a hand of collaboration to DUI in the areas of teaching, research and community development with a view to institutionalizing quality and functional education and making Nigeria better in all ramifications.
To put DUI on a sound pedestal, Babalola advised the new university (DUI) to ensure it moves to its permanent site, makes its university fully residential, ensures stable academic calendar, ensures regular and uninterrupted supply of water and electricity, ensures fully stocked laboratories and libraries, have robust ICT and E-learning platforms and interactive teaching and above all, ensures an all-round security like the 14-year-old ABUAD.
Babalola seized the opportunity to remind the Federal Government of its constitutional responsibility to factor in Nigerian private Universities as beneficiaries of TETFUND.
Credit: Tribune
