The Ekiti State Bureau of Local Content has eulogized the Elder Statesman and Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola, OFR, CON, SAN, for the exceptional leadership and vision he has demonstrated in Ekiti State and Nigeria in general.
Presenting a carefully-worded and colourfully-adorned four-page giant banner of appreciation to the nonagenarian Babalola in his office in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, the Director-General of the Bureau of Local Content, Mr. Olalekan Stephen Ijidale, harped on what he acknowledged as Babalola’s “dedication to academic, industrial excellence and commitment to the growth of the society”.
Ijidale was full of effusive praises for Babalola who was in the forefront of the agitation and eventual creation of Ekiti State and who single-handedly wrote, presented and defended the creation of Ekiti State at Mbanefo Panel, for prioritizing local content in the state, which was created on October 1, 1996, during the tenure of the late Gen. Sani Abacha.
Upon the creation of the State, the former Pro Chancellor & Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, made substantial contribution in cash and in kind for the take-off of the young state because there was no take-off grant from the Federal Government.
A visibly elated Ijidale said: “It is noteworthy that your organization, ABUAD, has produced 100% plant-based products such as Natucadine (an anti-aging herbal supplement, Virucidine (an immune system booster syrup) and AB-Mal (anti-malaria capsule), among other locally sourced products”.
He added: “Your organization, ABUAD, has turned Ekiti State to a medical tourist centre through your 400-bed ABUAD Multi-System Hospital, acknowledged by leading healthcare stakeholders as the “most well-equipped Hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
“This Hospital, ABUAD Multi-System Hospital, which won the 2025 Nigerian Health Excellence Special Recognition Award (NHEA) in appreciation of its exceptional achievements in redefining medical excellence and setting a new standard for healthcare infrastructure in Nigeria, has significantly improved the patronage of local content and has created job opportunities for indigenes of Ekiti State and Nigeria in general.
“Every other sector such as Trade and Investment, Infrastructure, Transportation, Agriculture and Health Youth Development among several others have witnessed tremendous improvement since the establishment of Afe Babalola University in 2009, the ABUAD Enterprise Farms and the ABUAD Multi-System Hospital which was commissioned at an elaborate ceremony on October 20, 2017, and commenced clinical operations on March 21, 2018.
“As the Director-General, Ekiti State Bureau of Local Content, I humbly salute your selflessness and courage in building a modern Ekiti State of our dream”.
Receiving the giant banner at a brief ceremony attended by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Elisabeta Smaranda Olarinde, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Augustin Olasupo Ijabadeniyi and the University Bursar, Pastor Joseph Modupe Babalola, a euphoric Babalola said: “Today marks yet another milestone in my life. I am happy that what we are doing here in Ado-Ekiti is being noticed by concerned stakeholders, including our own people here in Ekiti State”.
He added: “Reading the beautifully crafted beautiful banner, I have no doubt in my mind that the Director-General has read and digested my Autobiography titled “Impossibility Made Possible”. He even included some of my memorable quotes. We will continue to do what we are doing to put a smile on the faces of people and particularly the needy among us.
“We are all very familiar with the Golden Rule: “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. We have a lot to do to make our people happy. We must go back to what the country was during the golden era of the First Republic when everybody had enough to eat, when everybody was gainfully employed, when there was no hunger or poverty in the land, when life was safe at home, on the road, in the classroom and at the airport, when there was rapid economic development and when everybody was his brother’s keeper.
“That brings me to the way people view government particularly when it comes to living up to their responsibilities. People talk about government as if that concept means more than its ordinary meaning. For me, government is nothing but an aggregate of people, you and I. With that, we should change our attitude of wanting to leave everything for the government to do for us. Today, it has got to the ludicrous extent that many Nigerians want to bear children and donate them to government to train for them. We cannot abdicate our responsibilities for government, not in the face of other compelling and competing duties of government”.
Babalola therefore called on the rich and the more comfortable members of the Nigerian society to come to the assistance of less privileged with the overall aim of engendering growth and development bearing in mind riches don’t become wealth unless and until they are invested in humanity.