… inducts him into Hall of Fame
By: Tunde Olofintila
Afe Babalola
Exactly 50 days after he was roundly celebrated at the maiden Afe Babalola Day in Ekiti State, the elder stateman and legal juggernaut, Aare Afe Babalola, OFR, CON, SAN, will again be celebrated again on Saturday, December 7, 2024, as “The Living Legend of the year 2024” and inducted into the Ondo Development Committee’s Hall of Fame in the ancient Ondo Kingdom.
Whereas the Ado-Ekiti community, celebrated the Living Legend at the maiden Afe Babalola Day on October 18, 2024, in appreciation of what was acknowledged as Babalola’s “unalloyed commitment to public service with regard to Law, Education, Health
Community Development, Agriculture and display of generosity to those that might be fortunate to come across him in life”, the people of Ondo Kingdom will celebrate Babalola tomorrow for what they described as his “modest contributions to the legal profession, education and Human Capital Development.
With a career now spanning 61 years, outstanding contributions to Law, which include publication of six books which have enriched Law Practice throughout the whole country, the legal guru has since become a notable Cardinal in the Basilica of Jurisprudence. A lion at the Bar, but a dove out it, Babalola’s Law Firm, Emmanuel Chambers, has trained more than 1,000 lawyers, producing 33 Senior Advocates, the largest by any law Firm in the country. His Chambers also has produced several Judges, Justices at the Appellate levels and Attorneys General, both at the state and federal levels.
No wonder the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, had this to say about the Legal titan: He is a foremost legal luminary whose life is all about Law. When you engage him in intellectual discussions, you would see how deep and knowledgeable he is. He knows all that needs to be known in Law. His confidence is boosted by his competence…”.
On his part, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Hon. Justice Pius O. Aderemi (JSC retd), had this to say about Babalola: “…Yet you have turned almost three quarters of your fortune to help mankind. You funded and built a first-class University here (Ado-Ekiti), you turned around positively the University of Lagos when you were its Pro Chancellor, you built a big BAR CENTRE for use of lawyers in Ibadan, the same thing you did here (Ado-Ekiti). Your Chambers has always remained a ‘’FACTORY“ for producing Senior Advocates of Nigeria and numerous Judges and Justices. Very many law students and students in other disciplines who held themselves out as indigent have been favoured with huge financial assistance from you. They we remain eternally grateful unto you. I cannot here count all the areas or facets of human life to which you have extended your unparallel generosity.
Chief (Aare) Afe Babalola, I am short of words to continue to say further things about you. All I want to say in finality is to thank GOD for the gift of your person to mankind. May God continue to bless you abundantly, give you good health and long life”.
The zenith of his noble contributions to Education was his establishment of his non-profit private university, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, in 2009, to be an example of how a university, properly so-called should be run.
The 15-year-old university has since navigated its way to the top in the comity of universities in Nigeria today so much so that it was recently ranked by the highly respected Times Higher Education Impact Rankings in 2024 as No. 1 in the World in SDG 7, No. 1 in the World in Outreach with a score of 98%, No. 1 in the World in Stewardship with a score of 98.2%, No. 1 among all the 264 Federal, State, and Private universities in Nigeria for three consecutive years: 2022, 2023 and 2024, No. 4 in Africa, and No. 142 amongst the 2,152 universities ranked globally in 2024.
The double honours by the Ondo Kingdom will be at the grand finale of the 2024 Ekinmogun Festival at the Oba Adesanoye Civic Centre in Ondo, where the crème-de-la-crème of the society made up of members of the Bar and the Bench, Legal Academics, the Royalty, the Clergy and Captains of Industries as well as members of the Diplomatic Community will congregate at the Civic Centre, Ondo, to celebrate this international legal icon and philanthropist who has been chosen for the double honours on account of what the ODC described as his “modest contributions to the legal profession, education and Human Capital Development, among others”.
The beauty inherent in the double honours for Babalola is the fact that they are not only coming some 50 days after the celebration of the maiden Aare Afe Babalola Day in Ado-Ekiti on October 18, 2024, but also because they are coming from outside Babalola’s immediate environment of Ekiti State.
The cheering news about Babalola’s double honours from Ondo Kingdom was contained in a letter dated July 18, 2024, and addressed to him by Mr. Abiodun A. Akinjayeju, the Chairman of the National Planning Committee of 2024 Ekinmogun Festival and Chief Siji Akinwande, the Chairman, Ondo Development Committee.
In the said letter, the duo of Akinjayeju and Akinwande said: “The Ondo Development Committee (ODC) has observed with keen interest and delight your highly commendable contribution(s) to the educational advancement of our teeming youth through the establishment and nurturing of Afe Babalola University to enviable heights. Your contribution to the legal profession and your numerous philanthropic activities are legendary, exemplary and worthy of emulation. The numerous lives that have been touched bear eloquent testimony to the impact of all your numerous philanthropic gestures”
They added: “… Sir, we arrived at your choice based on our knowledge of your numerous contributions to mankind in particular, the legal profession and your passion, love and unpretentious commitment to Human Capital Development in general and most especially your exemplary demonstration of dignity of labour, even as a nonagenarian”.
Reacting to the double honours from the ancient Ondo Kingdom, Babalola was full of gratitude to the Almighty God for the torrents of national and international Awards and Recognitions that have been flowing his way in appreciation of his contributions to make life more worthy of living.
His words: “Words are inadequate to describe my feelings when I received the news of yet another round of honours for me from Ondo Kingdom. These regular Awards to a man of very humble beginnings do not only humble me, but they also prompt me to thank and appreciate the Almighty God who made it possible for me to overcome all the initial problems I faced early in life until it was possible for me to break even”.
He added: “What the Merciful God has done for me prompts me to want to do more for people to make life more worthy of living, particularly for people who are going through problems similar, or even identical, to what I went through early in life.
“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.
“Some people refer to me as a reckless giver. I have no regrets about it because I believe that has made me to become what I am today. Afterall, the happiest moment of my life is when people around me are happy.
I want to seize the opportunity of this year’s Ekinmogun Day Celebration to call 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. Afterall, riches don’t become wealth unless and until they are invested in humanity.
Babalola expressed gratitude to the Osemawe and Paramount Ruler of Ondo Kingdom, the Doctor-King, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Dr. Victor Adesimbo Kiladejo, Jilo III, CFR, LL. D, D. Sc, a refined gentleman, a lover of quality and functional education and a friend of his University, ABUAD, and the totality of the sons and daughters of Ondo Kingdom for honouring this way.
Olofintila, is ABUAD’s Director, Corporate Affairs