By: Tunde Olofintila
The ever-flowing flood of Awards and Recognitions that has been the lot of the legal colossus and proponent of quality, functional and impactful education, Aare Afe Babalola, OFR, CON, SAN, LL. D (London), FKC, FNAE, continued over the weekend with his decoration as “The 2026 Icon Man of the Year Award” by Triangle News International.
The latest Recognition for Babalola, the Founder & Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, took place at the 2026 edition of the Face of Africa Leadership Award for Governance and Public Service Excellence in faraway London, an act which constituted the addition of another colourful feather to Babalola’s already well adorned Hat of Awards and Recognitions
In his remarks after his Award was presented to him by the highly cerebral Governor of Zamfara State, His Excellency, Alhaji Dauda Lawal, an elated Babalola, expressed immense gratitude to Triangle News International for honouring him and other eminent and deserving Nigerians as part of the activities marking the organization’s 10th anniversary of consistent storytelling, honouring excellence and building bridges across nations.
Represented by ABUAD’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Elisabeta Smaranda Olarinde, FCI. Arb, FCAI, Babalola said: “I was deeply delighted to receive the letter of nomination from the CEO and Publisher of Triangle News International, Otunba Femi Salako, who emphasised that the Award is “…one of the highest honours bestowed by Triangle International Magazine… and reserved exclusively for individuals whose life work demonstrates exceptional leadership, visionary impact and enduring contributions to national and continental development”.
He added: “I am sincerely grateful and profoundly humbled to have been considered worthy of this distinguished honour. I am especially pleased by the timing of this recognition, coming as Triangle News International marks its 10th anniversary. I therefore join other well-wishers in congratulating and commending your organisation for a decade of consistent storytelling, honouring excellence, and building bridges across nations
“Receiving this Award today in the historic city of London is, to me, a fitting testimony to the transformative power of quality and impactful education. It is no secret that I share a special bond with London, particularly with the University of London.
As many of you may already know, my Standard Six Certificate from Emmanuel Primary School in my hometown of Ado-Ekiti was the highest level of formal education my parents could afford for me.
“Armed with this lonely Certificate and without ever stepping a foot in any Secondary School, I passed the Cambridge Senior School Certificate in 1950 through private study, six GCE Ordinary Level papers of London University in 1952 and four Advanced Level papers at the same sitting in 1954. Soon after that, I enrolled for the B. Sc Economics of London University and passed with Honours in 1959 and later passed the LL. B Honours of London University in 1963 as an external student.
“But for Wolsey Hall, Oxford, one of the oldest institutions offering correspondence education in over 120 countries of the world,
I would never have gone beyond primary education. In the words of Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, the highly revered Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Nigeria, the best I would have been able to attain was to have ended up an unsung farmer or at best the Secretary of the Local Motor Union.
“However, providence has something different in stock for me. The opportunity Wolsey Hall, Oxford, gave to a farm boy from a remote part of Ado-Ekiti became the turning point in my life. It laid the foundation for my later academic and professional achievements, including my Call to the Bar in England in 1963 as a member of Lincoln’s Inn, London, and my eventual elevation to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 1987”.
Underscoring the place and import of quality, functional and impactful education as epitomized by his life, Babalola said: “As my personal story clearly shows, education remains the surest panacea to problems of poverty, ignorance, banditry, extremism, religious bigotry, tribalism among others. It has therefore been my lifelong desire and commitment to provide the same opportunity for transformative education, which Wolsey Hall gave to me, to millions of underprivileged people in Nigeria and beyond”.
According to Babalola, it was his burning desire and conviction to change society and leave it better than he has met it over nine decades ago that inspired the wide-ranging reform programmes he initiated during his seven-year stint as Pro-Chancellor & Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Lagos.
Many of the achievements recorded during that period, including but not limited to upgrading the profile of the university, eradicating cultism on campus, ensuring stable and predictable Academic Calendar and turning the university around by ensuring accountability as well as using his own resources, goodwill and connections to develop the University have been celebrated globally and continued to serve as reference points to this day.
He reiterated that it was the same vision that led him to establish Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, a non-for-profit private university in 2009, to teach Nigerians how a university properly so-called should be run.
Appreciating how well the university has fared in its 16 years of existence, Babalola said: “As many of you already know, since its establishment in 2009, ABUAD has grown remarkably in reputation and impact. The University has received several national and international recognitions, including being ranked in the 2025 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings as No. 84 University in the world, No. 3 in Africa and No. 1 in Nigeria for four consecutive years: 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025”.
He assured the audience that ABUAD’s story of redefining education in Nigeria has only just begun, stressing that Nigeria, Africa and indeed the world, will become more peaceful, more prosperous, and more progressive when quality and affordable education is made accessible to all.
The legal giant maintained that his personal aspiration and commitment is to continue to do all that is humanly possible to make the Nigerian university system one of the best in the world, adding that with unbending determination and abiding grace of God, this is attainable.
Babalola thereafter invited members of the audience to visit his university, ABUAD, to see what the university has been doing to institutionalise quality, functional and impactful education, teach Nigerians how a university properly so-called should be run and raise a new generational of transformational leaders that will change the society for the better.
The visit, according to him, will equally enable them to explore opportunities for collaboration as ABUAD continues the transformational journey of rewriting Africa’s story through high-quality and impactful education while its 400-bed ultra-modern ABUAD Multi-System Hospital continues to redefine quality medical healthcare delivery including over 54 successful kidney transplantation.
He specially acknowledged his family for their endless support and commitment. He commended the Vice-Chancellor, Management and staff of the University and the ABUAD Multi-System Hospital for their steadfast dedication to the ideals of the university.
In the letter nominating Babalola for the Award, Triangle News International emphasized that the Award is in appreciation of Babalola’s extraordinary achievements in legal practice, educational innovation, philanthropy and institutional building, unwavering commitment to excellence, coupled with unmatched personal investment in Nigeria’s educational landscape that have combined to transform him into a symbol of possibility and a model of transformative leadership across Africa.
Said Salako, the organization’s CEO, “Your legacy, embodied most notably in your university, ABUAD, continues to inspire upcoming generations of leaders, scholars and reformers who now look to you as one of Africa’s most distinguished icons of service, integrity and nation building”.
Babalola congratulated all fellow Award Recipients made up of technocrats and policy makers, top politicians, Business Magnates and Philanthropists across different strata of the Nigerian society, for being found worthy and deserving of their various Awards which are “reserved exclusively for individuals whose life work demonstrates exceptional leadership, visionary impact and enduring contributions to national and continental development”.
The former Pro Chancellor & Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, encouraged all Award recipients not to see their various Awards as an end in themselves. Rather, they should appreciate and acknowledge them as veritable springboards and catalysts that should propel them to do more for Nigeria and Africa with the overall aim of making the world a better place for all to live in.
He congratulated Triangle International Magazine and Salako and its hardworking CEO for organizing this year’s Award and expressed the optimism that the Award would be a continuous event.
His parting words: “As we depart from this Hall to our various locations around the world, it is my wish that we all work towards the promotion of quality, functional and impactful education”.
Earlier in his Keynote Address titled “Harnessing the Role of Nigerians in the Diaspora for National Development, Collaboration, Investment, Knowledge, Training and Civil Engagement”, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo advised Nigerians not to be discouraged by the spate of negative tales being bandied around about the country.
Rather, Tunji-Ojo encouraged Nigerians to continually appreciate that there is nothing wrong with Nigeria that cannot be corrected, adding that Nigerians should graduate away from ceding the all-important issue of responsibility to leaders alone because all Nigerians have various roles to play and individual duties to perform in the overall development and growth of the country.
Emphasizing the place of Nigerians in the development of the country, the Minister concluded with the following words: “No matter how fertile the land may be, we must still plant the seed to have a bountiful harvest”.
Olofintila, ABUAD’s Director of Corporate Affairs writes from London.