By: Tunde Olofintila
This year’s Convocation Ceremony of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, will enjoy a tinge of uncommon international flavour as two foreign universities, Trinity Western University, Canada, and Trinity International University, USA, will be conferring on ABUAD’s Founder, Aare Afe Babalola, OFR, CON, SAN, their Honoury Doctor of Laws Degrees on October 21, 2026.
This was made known over the weekend by Dr. Philip Laird, the Senior Vice President, Global Engagement & Government Relations, Trinity Western University, Canada, (TWU), when he presented the invitations from the two universities to Babalola in Ado-Ekiti.
Laird who is currently on secondment to Trinity International University, USA, (TIU) affirmed that the proposed conferral by TWU and TIU represents one of the highest distinctions the universities can bestow on anyone.
Emphasizing the exclusiveness of the Awards, Laird said that “It is reserved for individuals whose lives and accomplishments have made exceptional contributions to society and whose influence extends far beyond the boundaries of their profession”.
His words: “In honouring you, we recognize your extraordinary impact on legal scholarship, educational innovation, philanthropy, social development, nation-building, and leadership. Yet I must say with sincerity that the privilege belongs not only to the recipient. Indeed, the greater honour belongs to us. It is the privilege of Trinity Western University in Canada and Trinity International University in the United States to be associated with your remarkable legacy.
He added: “It is our privilege to welcome you into the fellowship of our most distinguished honorary graduates. It is our privilege to celebrate a man whose life demonstrates the noblest aspirations of humanity: excellence without arrogance, achievement accompanied by generosity, influence guided by wisdom, and leadership grounded in service.
“And so today, as we look forward with anticipation to October 21, 2026, when our institutions will formally confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, we do so with immense gratitude and admiration.
“Aare Afe Babalola, your life has enriched countless communities. Your vision has empowered generations. Your legacy has strengthened Africa and elevated global higher education. You have shown us that one person’s faith, determination, and commitment to the common good can alter the course of history.
“For this reason, your name will continue to inspire students, educators, leaders, and citizens for generations to come. On behalf of Trinity Western University and Trinity International University, we thank you, we honour you, we appreciate you and we celebrate you.
“May God continue to bless you with health, wisdom, and strength. And may your extraordinary legacy continue to illuminate the path for future generations throughout Africa and across the world”.
Earlier, Laird had presented Babalola with the Trinity Western University African Leadership Excellence Award in recognition of what he (Laird) described as his (Babalola’s) exemplary leadership, extraordinary contributions to higher education, distinguished service to Nigeria and the African continent and his enduring commitment to developing future generations of ethical and principled leaders.
According to him, The Trinity Western University African Leadership Excellence Award recognizes not only Babalola’s achievements, but also who he is: “a builder of institutions, a champion of excellence, a servant of society, and an inspiration to leaders across Africa and around the world”.
His words: “Today is a day marked by gratitude, dignity, and celebration.
We gather not only to honour a remarkable man, but to acknowledge a life whose influence has transcended professions, institutions, nations, and generations. We gather to celebrate an individual whose name has become synonymous with excellence in law, visionary leadership in education, unwavering service to society, and an enduring commitment to the advancement of Africa”.
He added: “It is my profound privilege, on behalf of Trinity Western University in Canada and Trinity International University in the United States, to stand before one of the most respected educational pioneers and distinguished statesmen of our time: Aare Afe Babalola.
“There are few individuals whose life’s work can be measured not simply in accomplishments, but in transformed lives. There are even fewer whose vision continues to shape the future long after their personal successes have been secured. You belong to that rare and distinguished company. As a renowned jurist, advocate, philanthropist, farmer, entrepreneur, and educational visionary, you have demonstrated throughout your life that true greatness is found not in what one accumulates, but in what one builds for others.
“Your remarkable legal career established standards of excellence that have earned admiration throughout Nigeria and beyond. Yet it is through education that your legacy may shine most brightly. Through the founding of ABUAD, you created far more than a university. You created a beacon. A beacon of scholarship. A beacon of innovation. A beacon of ethical leadership. A beacon illuminating the path toward a stronger and more prosperous Africa.
“ABUAD stands today as living testimony to what happens when vision is combined with courage, commitment, resources, and faith in the limitless potential of young people. Its classrooms, laboratories, clinics, farms, and centres of innovation are not merely facilities, they are instruments of transformation, preparing future leaders who will shape nations and improve lives. And while many leaders speak about change, Aare Afe Babalola chose to build it.
“While many imagine a better future, you invested your life in creating it. While many seek recognition, you have devoted yourself to service. It is therefore entirely fitting that Trinity Western University should recognize in Aare Afe Babalola a leader whose values resonate deeply with our own commitment to character, excellence, service, and transformational education”.
Reacting to the dual developments, Babalola observed that it is not often that two universities of note in Canada and the US would send someone to Nigeria to inform someone who grew up on the farm, some seven miles from Ado township, without shoes, pants or singlets of impending Awards by two leading universities in the world.
Babalola, a former Pro Chancellor & Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, who said he did not know whether to laugh or weep about the latest developments in his life, said: “But here I am today being celebrated by two great universities, one in Canada and the other in the United States of America I give glory to God for what He has enabled me to achieve”.
He said what would surprise his visitor (Laird) is the fact that he (Babalola) deliberately elected not to write a will which would only take care of his children but instead chose to do something that would benefit the world at large: the establishment of his private university in 2009 for the entrenchment of functional, quality and impactful education that would change the country for the better.
According to Babalola, the June 24, 2026, rating of his university by Times Higher education Impact Sustainability Ratings as No.1 University in Nigeria for five consecutive years (2022-2026), No. 2 in Africa and No. 72 globally constitute a happy and welcome realization of his hope, dream and wish of setting up his university.
Concluding, he said: “Today, the world is aware of the difference I am making through my university. That is why Dr. Laird is here to represent two universities which are honouring me with their Honourary Doctor of Laws Degrees for which I am eternally grateful”.