August 4, 2013 by Success Nwogu, Ilorin
Afe Babalola
| credits: File copy
| credits: File copy
Legal icon, Afe Babalola, 84, tells SUCCESS NWOGU that eating vegetables, walking around his farms and being close to nature are some of the secrets of a healthy life
What was your beginning like?
God has enabled me to achieve modest successes in virtually all the things I have ventured into. I had a very modest beginning. I stopped my education at Primary Six and every other thing I did thereafter was by private studies. I was going to farm like most other children in my time. We derived a lot of pleasure going to the farm. We enjoyed good food and play. We enjoyed them and thought that was the end of the world so much so that we did not know that there was anything outside the farm.
Chief I.A. Olowu convinced my father that I should go to school. I did not initially like the idea as all my attention was concentrated on the farm. I thought that was the best that could happen to anybody as I saw a lot of food and other things on the farm.
I later went to school at Emmanuel Primary School, Ado-Ekiti. Because my attention was divided since I always wanted to be in the farm, I did not concentrate as I should. I however finished my primary school but my parents could not see me beyond that level of education.
How then did you achieve the height you attained in education?
I started private studies for Cambridge School Certificate, GCE O’ level; A’Level certificate of London University and B.Sc Economics of London University.
I had the opportunity to work in the Central Bank of Nigeria and Mobil but I turned them down because I still wanted to study. So, I registered for external degree in Law at the London University, also through private studies. After passing through all that, I travelled to England for the Call to the Bar in 1963. I am a member of Lincoln’s Inn, London, a registered member of the Bar of England and Wales and also a distinguished member of the Nigerian Bar.
What happened thereafter?
When I came back home, I started with the chambers of Olu Ayoola and Co. in Ibadan. He was a dignified gentleman and one of the greatest litigation lawyers in the country at that time. I cut my legal teeth there. I was there till 1965 when I established Afe Babalola and Co. (Emmanuel Chambers) which is reputed as one of the leading law firms in Nigeria today. I was admitted into the Inner Bar as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 1987. I have national honours as Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic and Commander of the Order of the Niger. I have been practicing Law since 50 years by the grace of God. On July 9, my colleagues and associates and my chambers put heads together to celebrate my 50th year at the bar. Initially, I declined but when they insisted, I caved in. To the Glory of God we had an elaborate outing in Ibadan with a lecture delivered by retired Justice Emmanuel Ayoola. The lecture was on the future of law in Nigeria.
What are some of your landmark achievements in life?
I have made some achievements and I am still in the mood to do more. I thank the Almighty God for making them possible. I have been able to contribute meaningfully to the legal practice in Nigeria. I am an active member of the International Bar Association and I am also a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Nigeria. I am also a fellow of the Leadership Institute of Supreme Court of Nigeria, a body that appoints Senior Advocates. I was also the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos between 2001 and 2008 and I won the best Pro-Chancellor of the Nigerian Universities in 2005 and 2006. UNILAG was in 2006 adjudged the best university by the National Universities Commission. I was also the Chairman of the Committee of 85 Pro-Chancellors.
Is the establishment of Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti your greatest feat so far?
That is what people say. But we are just doing the little we could do to advance humanity and ensure that Nigeria becomes a better place. I do not see it as an achievement as such but part of my contributions to the larger society. The setting up of the university is a good thing. It is a means of setting standard and the pace for academic revolution, human capital development and empowerment for others to follow. During the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, I was appointed the Pro-Chancellor of UNILAG. I wanted to serve only for one term. But Obasanjo said we did a marvellous work and re-appointed me. There, I saw the kind of decadence in the Nigerian university system. I thought that if UNILAG was like this, imagine what would have been happening in other universities.
I started with the little money I made in my law practice. We also got some support from some corporate organisations and personalities. We started three and half years ago. People in Nigeria and all over the world have commended ABUAD for its infrastructure, facilities and quality academic and skill development disposition. We ensure decency and discipline among students and the entire university community.
How best do you think youths should be trained?
There should be an attitudinal orientation of the youth. We should teach and ensure that youths are disciplined. Unless we do that, we may be heading towards destruction.
Are there other achievements of the institution?
We have a predictable academic calendar. In some universities, students for a four year course may end up spending more due to some constraints such as strike. But in the university there has not been any strike and I am not sure that there will ever be any. The first set of our students have just finished their examinations. By the grace of God, they will be graduating by October. That will be a four-year programme being completed in about three years, nine months.
The NUC, after some visitation on June 17, accredited all the 14 courses we put before them. One-hundred per cent accreditation is not common. Some universities work for interim accreditation for many years, but for us, it was not so. We have committed lecturers who do the work as partners, not as salary earners. Few weeks ago, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria accredited all our engineering programmes. Also, the computer professional body in Nigeria accredited all our computer programmes. As students are studying for their courses, they are also working towards getting professional qualification. So at the end of the day, many of them will graduate with their academic, professional qualifications and entrepreneurship competencies. In addition to English and indigenous languages which they are familiar with, students of ABUAD must learn either Chinese or French language. Their understanding of another foreign language with English Language will position them at an advantage over their colleagues in the country and other parts of the world.
Currently, the university is ranked the second best private university in the country and about 17 out of all the universities in Nigeria. We are ranked as the fastest-growing university in Africa. NUC Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie rated our College of Law as the best he had seen in West Africa, when he visited us.
What target did you set for the university in the near future?
Africa is not even our target. If we are rated number two among private universities in Nigeria and number 17 of all the universities in the country, within three and half years, by the time we are five or six, we will rank among the first 10 in Nigeria. By the time we are 10, we will certainly be among the best three in Africa.
Will ABUAD’s College of Engineering provide solution to invention challenges in Nigeria?
At the College of Engineering, we have the most mobile equipment, the type you cannot see in any universities around. We are in partnership with many universities and foundations abroad. We want to ensure that there is a veritable nexus between learning and living.
We have summer school where we encourage people around to learn and benefit from the facilities we have here at a token fee. Our teachers are among the best.
Can government alone effectively cater for education in Nigeria?
Government alone cannot fund education. Wealthy people in the society need to support government either directly or to set up institutions just like we are attempting to do here. The Harvard, Cambridge and London schools are all private universities and they are all making waves all over the world. We are inviting more wealthy Nigerians to set up institutions like ABUAD or to partner or support the federal and state governments to advance education in the country.
How is ABUAD going to be sustained?
We are praying God to give us more grace so that I will still be around for the university to be on a stronger footing. We also have Afe Babalola Foundation that will ensure its sustainability. The best way to ensure the sustainability of the university is to ensure that a capable person is in charge so that at the fullness of time when I go home, the institution will continue to function.
At 84, you are still making land mark achievements…
God has made me younger. We have to attribute all to the grace of God and the kind of discipline that one had adhered to. At 84, I still walk a round the whole university. It does not cost me anything. Also, I am disciplined in eating.
Do you have special dietary habit?
I eat natural things. I do not smoke. I do not drink alcoholic drinks. All I drink is water. At every meal, I eat a combination of about six different vegetables. I do not eat fat meat. God is there to help all of us but we need to cooperate with God. The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo many years ago said, ‘Many of us, dig our grave with our teeth by the virtue of what we eat.’ So if we are careful and mindful of what we eat, there is no way it will not impact positively on our health.
How do you exercise?
I walk around the campus often and with some people. We also go to the farm and other places here.
You are still articulate mentally even at 84. What is the secret?
God’s grace! But one also has a duty to cooperate with God. What you read, think and the way you carry yourself are important. Being articulate depends on some factors. I have found that many people in Nigeria do not read. Just as we are what we eat, we are what we read and do. If you do not read, what are you going to share with people? If you do not read, what will be your contribution to knowledge? I thank God I can still do what some of my peers do. In terms of contributing to knowledge, I still go to court. I still teach.
You still go to court at 84?
What then is my primary assignment? That is the major thing I know how to do. I also contribute to the growth of agriculture. We have about 275 fish ponds with about 200,000 fishes. There are 75 within the campus, there is another 200 at Ajabamdele along Ikare Road. By the time you go round the farms, you see nature and fingerlings developing into big fishes. I have mango, tick, manila, palm tree farms. We are very close to nature. Also, your relationship with your fellow man has a role to play.
How do you combine farming with your status as an international figure?
I read a book sometime ago, titled, ‘Here comes the commander in chief.’ On article 408 of that book, the writer was talking of Nigeria at 50. He said that at 50 we still use Made-in-China handkerchiefs. That means that we are not where we should be. He also talked of Thomas Jefferson, one of the past Presidents of the United States of America. He described Jefferson as so many things: a lawyer, linguist, diplomat, astronomer, naturalist, political philosopher, educationist, statesman, farmer, musician, scientist, inventor, agriculturist, sportsman, geographer, theologian and so many others.
I am in agriculture because I have the passion. Remember, I started as a farmer with my parents in Ado Ekiti. So, it has been part of me. We are producing fish even for many buyers in Nigeria. We sell fish every day and people from neighbouring states even as far as Abuja come to my farm to buy fish.
So you are not localising the sale of your fish farm?
People here cannot buy off all the fishes we have. In each of the 275 ponds, we have no fewer than 5,000 fishes. So how many fishes will residents here be eating per day? We are not producing for Ado Ekiti or even Ekiti State alone, our aspiration is to help Nigeria substantially in food production. That is why we are inviting people to join in this type of venture. I have farm for snails and piggery. Imagine that five to 10 people in this community are in this type of venture with me. We will substantially help in achieving national food security.
So how do you feel being 84?
I thank God. It is by God’s grace. Longevity is in my family. My mother died at 114 years in 2010. My father also died at an advanced age. It is the desire of every parent that his children should be greater or mightier than him. Since my mother went home at 114 years, by God’s grace, I am going to live more than 114 years.
How many children do you have?
I am happily married and my children are doing well for which I am grateful to God.
We have many old people who are sick and starving. Would you advocate for a social security for them?
For the elderly who are not strong and do not have the means, it is incumbent on the government to take proper care of them. That is part of the responsibilities of government. You do not leave this old people. In some climes, there are old people’s homes where they stay and are taken good care of. Government should take care of the old people. Some of these people would have served their country meritoriously. This is the time to pay them back.
What is the solution to the religious crises and violence in Nigeria?
If Afe Babalola at 84 is a friend to Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN); Alhaji Alaya Salman in Ilorin and AGF Abdulrazak, a northerner, what has religion and tribe got to do with this? We are talking of humanity and relationship. We should think deep enough. There is no nation that was involved in religious crisis that really survived it. We must be friendly with one another. We should always be our brother’s keepers. If we are, there will be no religious crisis in the country.
As a man of vision, were you not distracted by the female folks when you were young?
When I was younger, there was a time my mother was so worried about me because no lady would come around me. It was not my pastime for women flocking around me. I needed to be focused and to ensure that what my parents went through, I and my children do not go through it. I was concerned and determined that I will make it. When you have such orientation, you will deliberately divest yourself of any extraneous thing that will distract you.
What is your advice to young people?
They should not waste their youthful days. If they want to go to school, they should go to school and be serious. For those who cannot cope academically, they should learn a vocation and be serious about it.
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