SPECIAL REPORT: 10 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT PROFESSOR AARE AFE BABALOLA — THE MAN WHO BUILT A TOP NOTCH UNIVERSITY AT 80

                •By Richlist Int Magazine 

There are men, and there are monuments. There are lives that pass, and lives that become a university. In the quiet hills of Ado-Ekiti, where destiny writes in riddles, a farm boy who once tilled soil with empty hands rose to build a kingdom of knowledge at an age when most men count their graves — at 80.

This is the story of Professor Aare Afe Babalola, CON, OFR, SAN — born October 30, 1929 to peasant farmers Odofin Aripin Omolore and Abigail Agbedun, a former Grade II teacher, court registrar and farm labourer who turned poverty into a pulpit and whose ever-present smile tells you grace found him...In this special report, best selling Africa's wordsmith, Mike Cerutti tells you 10 things you must note about the The Aare Afe Babalola 

1. He Conquered Education Without A Classroom. No rich uncle, no university gate. Through Wolsey Hall Oxford by private study, he passed Cambridge O and A Levels, then earned http://B.Sc Economics and LLB from University of London by correspondence, and was called to the English Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1963 — a self-made scholar.

2. He Built One of Africa's Biggest Law Firms at 36. In 1965, he founded Afe Babalola and Co, Emmanuel Chambers, which grew into a legal empire. He became Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 1987 and handled landmark cases from M.K.O Abiola's June 12 struggle to Obasanjo vs Falae in 1999 where he faced 42 lawyers.

3. He Twice Rejected Being Attorney General of Nigeria. Twice the nation called him to be Chief Law Officer, twice he said no. He chose independence of the Bar over power of office, proving that some men value principle above appointment.

4. He Rescued University of Lagos As Best Pro-Chancellor. Appointed Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, UNILAG from 2001 to 2008 by President Obasanjo, he restored peace and academic excellence that made UNILAG Nigeria's best university. He was voted Best Pro-Chancellor in 2005 and 2006.

5. He Built His Biggest Empire at 80 — ABUAD. When most men retire to rocking chairs, Baba founded Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti in 2009. Today ABUAD is Nigeria's best private university, once second best overall university in Nigeria, with over 47 fully accredited courses.

6. He Built Not Just A University But A City. ABUAD has a 400-bed multi-system teaching hospital with MRI, CT Scan, ICU, Dialysis, modular theatres, plus massive farms, poultry, piggery, fishery, bakery, water factory, and its own independent power plant — all built by one man at 80.

7. He Redefined What Education Should Produce. ABUAD College of Law is rated number one in Nigeria. He insists education must produce employers not employees, giving scholarships and seed capital to graduates, especially young farmers, to start their own businesses.

8. He Is Nigeria's Quiet Biggest Philanthropist in Education. He built Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti, roads, churches, gave scholarships to thousands, was Ondo State highest tax payer in 1990 and 1991, and his farms feed Ekiti State while teaching food security and youth empowerment.

9. He Is 97, Yet Still Wakes By 5am To Work And Smile. At 97 this October, he still works, still builds, still teaches. That constant smile is resilience wrapped in humility. He is Patron to Law Societies in OAU, UNILAG, UNAD and others — a lover of youths who never stops giving.

10. He Is A Man Covered With Honours Yet Humble At Heart. Holder of CON, OFR, SAN, Fellow of Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Fellow of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Doctor of Laws, Body of Benchers, and over twenty traditional titles including Aare of Ado-Ekiti and Bobagunwa of Efon Alaaye — yet still that humble farm boy who believes service is greatness.

Much has been said, but this is the truth in my own little way — from farm labourer to silk, from correspondence student to university founder at 80, Afe Babalola proves that your starting point can never define your destination.

His greatest lesson to Nigeria is simple — true wealth is not money in bank, but institutions and lives that will outlive you. He is a builder, a healer, a teacher, a farmer, a smiling King of Education whose legacy will outlive generations.

Long live Aare Afe Babalola. Long live the man who built an empire at 80.

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