By Gabriel Dike
Staff of Babcock University (BU) Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State on Thursday, September 26th painted the campus in different traditional attires to celebrate the founder’s day.
The staff, including principal officers of BU came to work in their traditional attires to celebrate the 65th and 25 anniversary of the institution.
In his address at the celebration, BU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ademola Tayo, said the event reminds staff of the selfless effort of the pioneers, stating, “they braved the cold frown and came into the hinterland in order to establish this institution.” Prof. Tayo said the event has the opportunity of relishing in the past, celebrate what God has done for the institution and chart a better, new and secured future for unborn generation.
He noted: “This institution started as a small senior American liberal college with a population of seven students on September 17, 1959 as Adventist College of West Africa to train church workers from the West Africa sub-region.
“The institution has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 25 years as Nigeria’s premier private university, with a student population of about 12,000 at full session.
“Today, BU as a part of the global Seventh-day Adventist Church remains committed to the mission of the Church- to make disciples of all people, communicating the everlasting gospel in the context of the three angels’ messages.”
The VC said the finding fathers saw the urgent need to establish the Clinical Pastoral Education Centre in Africa to provide specialized training in Chaplaincy in collaboration with Kettering Hospital in Ohio.
Prof. Tayo affirmed that the training centre was commissioned in April 2019 by the former General Conference Director of Chaplaincy, Chaplain Cebbalus Mario, stressing that the programme attracted participants from varied religious persuasion from different parts of Africa.
Tayo stressed that in acknowledgment of the power of education as a veritable tool for soul winning and in tandem with a mission to cities, Babcock University has been establishing secondary schools in strategic places in southwest Nigeria.
“We now have three secondary schools in Lagos, one of the most industrialized and populated cities in Nigeria. The 4th secondary school in Lagos will soon come on stream. There are other two Babcock secondary schools in Ogun State, and one in Ondo State.”
The VC revealed that 40 BU programmes are fully accredited by the International Board of Education, (IBE) USA, Adventist Accrediting Association, (AAA), and the National Universities Commission (NUC). The International Board of Education visited Babcock University two weeks ago for resource verification for School of Engineering and Environmental Sciences.
Said he: “The Adventist Accrediting Association granted Babcock University five years’ accreditation for her academic programmer.’’
He explained that the Alumni Office was established to connect with its students after graduation, adding, “the current Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media, O’tegra Ogra is an alumnus of BU; Right Honourable Debo Ogundoyin is Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly; Messrs Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi are co-founders of Paystack, a multi-million dollar payment tech organization acquired in 2020, by global payments US company “Stripe” for over $200 million; and Miss Oluwatomi Olunuga is a Recipient of Lady Diana Award.
The stated that many of BU graduates are pursuing various postgraduate degrees at Cambridge, Stanford, Duke, London School of Economics, and Ivy League Universities around the world, noting, “as we celebrate, we need to pause and reflect on how to chart a new, better and secured future.
On future plans, he said BU intend to focus on Artificial intelligence,
Robotics, improved curricula offering relevant to 21st century, leveraging on technology for better service delivery, ambient campus environment and tapping on the strength of alumni for robust endowment
“We could not have achieved these without the help of our almighty God and the unflinching support of the Church leadership, the oversight function provided by the committed Governing Council, tireless faculty, devoted staff, indefatigable students and loving parents of BU.’’
Some old staff such as Prof. Philemon Amanze, deputy VC (academics), Prof. Abraham Idowu of Information Technology Development and Strategy, Dr. Sunday Audu, dean, Students Affairs and others shared their experience of schooling in Adventist College of West Africa (ACWA) and as lecturers in BU.
The university used the occasion to pray for workers of BU born in September while a private cultural troop in Ogun State entertained guests.