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From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The proprietor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, has called on Nigerians to support quality and functional education, saying they are important ingredients that countries and their citizens need to grow and develop well.
Babalola, who again expressed dissatisfaction with the proliferation of illegal and substandard private universities in the country, called on the National Universities Commission (NUC) to return to its accreditation procedures and clamp down on illegal universities.
While warning that the trend is not good for the future of education in the country, he pointed out that Nigeria deserves the best, hence the need to discourage substandard education.
Babalola made the remarks in Ado-Ekiti when he was welcoming the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) Accreditation Team to the university.
The legal giant, who said that despite the unwavering commitment of ABUAD to providing quality and functional education, lamented that the university has not received any endowment since its establishment, appealing to government and well-meaning individuals to support institutions like ABUAD and other private universities operating legally in the country.
“ABUAD is a not-for-profit private university where nobody has shares. Whatever extra money made is always ploughed back into the university. As at today, the valuation of the University is put at over N300 billion. When you go round, you will see for yourself: the hospital, the farm, the industrial park, the colleges and the serene campus.
“According to the World Bank, the three objectives of a university properly so called are: quality teaching, quality research and community service. We are proud that we have been excelling in all these three parameters.
“Previously, the NUC used to insist on prior visitation to permanent sites of proposed universities before approval, they will look at the buildings, number and quality of teachers among other parameters before approval.
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“There is a long list of illegal private universities in Nigeria today. I would like the NUC to seriously consider closing such illegal universities down and arrest their owners. This country deserves the best and should therefore not tolerate substandard education.
“What makes a man and indeed the country is quality and functional education. A well educated person does not think about himself. Rather, he thinks about his neighbours and the society in order to make the life better.
“That is exactly what ABUAD is doing, through the instrumentality of ABAEX, Youth Empowerment Programmes and the various outreaches, by our Multi System Hospital.
“No government in the whole world can fund education for everybody. That is why in civilised countries, those who have means establish private universities which are supported by public-spirited people and government.
“Since we established this place, nobody has endowed the university with any substantial amount, even parents whose children graduated from this university could not. I am using this opportunity to call on Nigerians to support quality and functional education.”
Earlier in her welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, said the MDCN visit was very important to the ongoing accreditation of ABUAD’s Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme.
While assuring the team of complete transparency throughout the exercise, the professor noted that all required records, staff, students and facilities were readily available for inspection.
Olarinde, who disclosed that ABUAD got full accreditation for its MBBS programme in 2011, within three years of its creation, hinted that the institution has produced seven sets of medical doctors trained under a competency-based curriculum and supported by advanced facilities at the ABUAD Multi-System Teaching Hospital and its affiliate, the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti.
“Our response, as a university, has never been to pursue numbers at the expense of quality. Rather, we have sought and continue to seek, to demonstrate that with the right philosophy, governance, and investment, a Nigerian university can run a medical school that meets and even surpasses global standards, while staying firmly rooted in the health needs of its people.”
