…How Elder statesman Built Nigeria’s Best University,World-Class Hospital, and Became a Continental Icon
Adewumi Ademiju
CULLED FROM NEWSHEREANDTHERE MAGAZINE
In a country where the story of public institutions is often one of decay, Aare Afe Babalola has written a different story. With chalk, law books, and an unshakable belief in “quality and functional education,” the Nonagenarian legal luminary has built from scratch what experts now call the most audacious private development project in Nigeria’s history.
From a 400-bed Multi-System Hospital with two MRI machines to a university ranked Nigeria’s best for four straight years, from an Industrial Park and Independent Power Plant to an Enterprise Farm feeding thousands, Aare Babalola is not just building structures. He is building a template for human development.
In the last 18 months, that template has drawn global applause. The Nigerian Medical Association, the Pan-African Writers’ Association, Times Higher Education, and http://Google.org have all turned their spotlight on Ado-Ekiti. The message is unanimous: what one man started in Ekiti is changing the conversation about what is possible in Africa.
This is the story of a metamorphosis — from pupil teacher to Senior Advocate of Nigeria, from farmer to Chancellor, from local boy to continental patron of the arts and science.
“For Humanity”: NMA Salutes the Hospital That Raised the Bar
It was meant to be a courtesy visit. It turned into a national endorsement.
In 2025, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, led by its 1st Vice President, Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu, stormed the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD . Their mission: to see for themselves the facility the medical community had been hearing about.
What they found overwhelmed them.
Olowojebutu, speaking on behalf of the NMA delegation, described the 400-bed ABUAD Multi-System Hospital as “uncommon achievements by a private individual.” He singled out the hospital’s two functional MRI machines, a dialysis centre with deliberately affordable charges, and an in-house oxygen plant as proof that the institution was not built for profit, but for people.
“The Multi-System Hospital is widely regarded by experts as one of the most well-equipped in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Olowojebutu declared. “It has continued to raise the bar in the provision of modern medical services.”
But what moved the NMA chief most was not the machines. It was the location.
“We are proud of what we have seen here today. What Aare Babalola has done is for humanity, and it deserves to be promoted and supported at all levels,” he said. “He has never held a political office, yet he chose to situate this massive development in Ekiti rather than in bigger cities. That decision has placed the state prominently on the global map.”
The commendation from Nigeria’s largest body of doctors is the latest in a series of national recognitions for Babalola’s investment in health. For a man who left formal school at Standard VI, the hospital stands as a rebuke to the idea that you need government office to deliver public good.
Responding, the elder statesman was reflective. He lamented the decline in national standards since the early post-independence era and said ABUAD was his answer to that decline.
“Even small acts of kindness can change lives,” he told the NMA team. “I urge wealthy Nigerians to invest meaningfully in education and health.”
Nigeria’s No 1, Four Years Running: The Times Higher Education Crown
If the hospital is the heart, the university is the brain.
Founded on January 4, 2010, after Babalola’s tenure as Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti was conceived with one mission: to produce graduates who value character, philanthropy, research and the overall development of society.
Sixteen years later, that mission has been validated on the world stage.
ABUAD has been ranked the best university in Nigeria for four consecutive years in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. In the 2025 edition, the university broke into the world’s top 100 universities in the global impact ranking ,a feat no other Nigerian university has achieved.
The Times ranking measures universities not just by academic papers, but by contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: health, poverty reduction, gender equality, clean energy, partnerships. It is in this arena that ABUAD shines.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Elisabeta Smaranda Olarinde, says the ranking is not accidental. “It is the product of the Founder’s philosophy of discipline, innovation, entrepreneurship, research and service to humanity.”
Babalola himself is modest about the global acclaim. “I established the university to redefine education in Nigeria and Africa,” he said after receiving the latest recognition. “We will continue to raise the bar in quality and functional education and nurture a new generation of leaders who will change society for the better.”
For millions of Nigerian parents tired of strikes and decaying campuses, ABUAD’s consistency offers hope that world-class education can be built at home, with Nigerian money, by Nigerian vision.
“Noble Patron of the Arts”: Africa Honours its Son
Education is not just about science and medicine. It is also about soul. And in 2025, Africa’s writers decided to honour the man who has fed both.
The Pan-African Writers’ Association, PAWA, the umbrella body of 54 national writers associations across the continent, with members in North and South America and the Caribbean conferred on Aare Afe Babalola its highest civilian honour in literature: the Noble Patron of the Arts Award.
The award was presented in Ado-Ekiti by PAWA Secretary-General, Dr. Wale Okediran, former member of the House of Representatives.
Okediran said Babalola was “unanimously selected for the honour in recognition of his uncommon tenacity and enduring contributions to education and intellectual advancement in Africa.
“ABUAD has significantly transformed the Nigerian education landscape, producing graduates who are excelling and making remarkable global impacts,” Okediran noted. “It is in fulfilment of PAWA’s objective to promote African literature and intellectualism that we identified our Baba, Aare Afe Babalola, as someone worthy of our honour and admiration.”
The citation read like a biography of a nation builder: pupil teacher, secondary school teacher, vice-principal, university lecturer, economist, auditor, administrator, farmer and educationist.
“He has crowned this long and meritorious service with the founding of Afe Babalola University, an institution that boasts world-class infrastructure and an enviable record of producing generations of scholars and professionals,” Okediran said. “PAWA deemed it fitting to honour Babalola as ‘a worthy son of Africa, an achiever par excellence, a mentor and a sage.’”
Receiving the award, Babalola said it would be displayed in the university museum currently under construction. “This continental award is a catalyst that will spur me to do even more in my lifelong commitment to leaving society better than I met it,” he said.
For PAWA, the award is also strategic. The association is advocating for African literary works in school curricula and the translation of African literature into indigenous languages. Honouring Babalola, they say, aligns with that mission — because ABUAD is one of the few Nigerian universities aggressively promoting research, publishing, and African-centered curricula.
Google.org Taps ABUAD for Africa AI Upskilling
The newest international validation came from Silicon Valley.
ABUAD has been selected for the Africa AI Upskilling Programme, an initiative supported by http://Google.org and implemented by FATE Foundation in collaboration with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, AIMS.
The programme covers only four countries -Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, and a handful of institutions. Its goal: to equip lecturers, teaching assistants and students with advanced AI knowledge and practical competencies, and to promote the responsible integration of AI into teaching, research and problem-solving.
A key component is the Google DeepMind AI Research Foundations Curriculum, which gives participants foundational and advanced knowledge to develop and apply Artificial Intelligence in academic contexts.
For ABUAD, this is more than recognition. It is a platform.
“Our selection is another affirmation of ABUAD’s growing reputation for academic excellence, innovation and forward-looking education,” said Vice-Chancellor Prof. Olarinde. “We will leverage the programme to explore responsible and impactful applications of Artificial Intelligence across Medicine, Engineering, Computing, Agriculture, Education and other emerging areas.”
The institutional lead for the programme is Dr. Adesola A. Oniyide, Dean of the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences and an Associate Professor of Human Physiology with an MBBS, MSc and PhD. His research spans Neuroscience, Health Research, Artificial Intelligence and Educational Technology. He also serves as President of the ABUAD Neuroscience Research Group, an affiliate of the Society for Neuroscience and IBRO.
Prof. Olarinde charged the ABUAD team to translate the opportunity into “measurable and sustainable institutional value through capacity building, knowledge transfer, interdisciplinary research and societal impact.”
“The ultimate goal,” she said, “is to empower academics and students to apply AI tools in developing innovative solutions to real-world challenges confronting Nigeria and the African continent.”
The http://Google.org selection places ABUAD in the same conversation as Africa’s leading tech and research hubs. It also validates Babalola’s early bet on infrastructure , stable power, internet, research labs that most Nigerian universities still lack.
The Ecosystem: Beyond Classrooms And Wards
What makes the ABUAD story different is that it is not just a university. It is an ecosystem.
Dr. Olowojebutu and the NMA team were not only shown the hospital. They toured the Industrial Park, the Independent Power Plant that keeps the campus on 24-hour light, and the ABUAD Enterprise Farms that provide food and jobs.
This is deliberate. Babalola believes a university must be self-sustaining and must serve its community. Students learn agriculture on the farm. Engineering students maintain the power plant. Medical students train in a hospital that serves paying and non-paying patients.
“It is quality, functional education,” Babalola explained to the NMA delegation. “Education that solves problems.”
That philosophy is why Ekiti, a state without oil or a seaport, now hosts international conferences, medical tourists, and Google-backed AI programmes. The state has been “placed prominently on the global map,” as the NMA put it.
The Man Behind The Monument
To understand the scale of the achievement, you must understand the man.
Aare Afe Babalola did not inherit wealth. He did not ride on political patronage. He stopped formal schooling at Standard VI. Yet he became a lawyer, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, an economist, an auditor, and ultimately, the founder of an institution competing globally.
His journey through the classroom , as pupil teacher and lecturer taught him what was missing in Nigerian education. His years as Pro-Chancellor of UNILAG showed him what was possible with vision.
So in 2010, at an age when most men retire, he started again.
“I established the university to produce graduates who value character,” he said. That word , “character’ comes up in every speech. For Babalola, technical skill without ethics is dangerous. That is why ABUAD combines rigorous academics with entrepreneurship training, community service, and moral instruction.
At 95, he still comes to the office. He still reads reports. He still asks questions about hospital drug prices and student research projects.
Why it matters For Nigeria
Nigeria is at a crossroads. Brain drain is depleting hospitals and universities. Public funding is shrinking. Youth unemployment is rising.
ABUAD offers a counter-narrative.
First, it proves that private capital can deliver public goods at scale. The 400-bed hospital is not a boutique clinic. It is a regional referral center.
Second, it proves that location does not have to be Lagos or Abuja. By building in Ado-Ekiti, Babalola has decentralized development and created jobs, businesses, and pride in a non-commercial capital.
Third, it proves that ranking and reputation can be earned. Four years as Nigeria’s best university. Top 100 globally on impact. Selected by http://Google.org. Honoured by African writers. These are not bought. They are earned.
“Development that ignores health and education is incomplete development,” Babalola told a gathering of students recently. “Wealthy Nigerians must invest where it matters.”
The Road Ahead
ABUAD is not resting. The university museum is under construction to house awards like the PAWA Noble Patron plaque. Research centers are being expanded. The AI upskilling programme will train a new cohort of lecturers who will, in turn, train students.
Prof. Olarinde says the goal is clear: “to develop a new generation of AI-literate lecturers, researchers and students who will not only understand emerging technologies but also deploy them responsibly in addressing Africa’s most pressing developmental challenges.”
The NMA has pledged to support the hospital’s outreach programmes. PAWA has pledged to partner with ABUAD on literary festivals and African language promotion.
“The future is bright. The future is innovative. ABUAD is ever prepared to lead,” Prof. Olarinde said, echoing the institution’s mantra.
In African tradition, elders are honoured while they live. In 2025, Africa did just that for Aare Afe Babalola.
Doctors honoured him for saving lives. Writers honoured him for nurturing minds. Global ranking bodies honoured him for impact. Google honoured him for innovation. A boy who stopped formal education at Standard VI to a man whose university is in the world’s top 100. From a lawyer in Lagos to a builder in Ekiti who gave his state an MRI, a power plant, and a global reputation.
This is not just a success story. It is a blueprint.
As Nigeria searches for models of development that work, the answer may be found 300 kilometers southwest of Abuja, in a city called Ado-Ekiti, inside a campus built by a man who decided that “for humanity” was not a slogan, but a business plan.