Naijahood
Afe Babalola, the visionary behind Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), has expressed his perspective on the state of politics in Nigeria, characterizing it as a lucrative enterprise where individuals amass wealth rapidly.
The esteemed legal luminary conveyed these thoughts during ABUAD’s 11th convocation ceremony held last Saturday. He voiced his concern about the diminishing prominence of education in society, with politics increasingly dominating the public discourse.
Afe Babalola, the founder of ABUAD, shared a poignant anecdote from his own experiences. He recounted an encounter with a first-class graduate who, after completing a master’s degree, decided against pursuing further education. The reason behind this decision was the graduate’s observation of a secondary school acquaintance who had not pursued higher education but had achieved considerable financial success in the realm of politics. This incident serves as a reflection of the prevailing mindset that favors political pursuits over educational endeavors.
“I was the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos and a young man came out with first class in Chemistry and had the highest score that year. I called him and said, ‘I am going to give you a scholarship to do your masters.
“He was very happy and he agreed; he passed his masters. I had forgotten all about him, then he came in and said, ‘Sir, thank you for the scholarship given to me’ and I said ‘Yes, proceed to your Ph.D.’ and he said ‘No’ and I said ‘Why?’
“He said,
‘My colleague who was in class with me in secondary school did not go to university; he is the chairman of the local government of my place. He is riding a car; he has a house.’ I was depressed.
“I said, ‘What do you want to do now?’ He said, ‘I want to go into politics.’ I wept inside me. That is what your country has made of Nigeria. The only business in this country today which is lucrative is politics,” Babalola said.
“I do not say you cannot be a politician but to be a politician is different from what we have now. Who thinks that politics is for making money? Politics is for service,” the legal icon added.
“I was a Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor before and I never had a kobo because I saw it as service. People go now to make money from public money given to them.”
“Our problem in this country is leadership in Africa. People believe that when they come out of university, they should go and work or alternatively, go into politics,” he said.
“What we need in this country is quality education. When you have quality education, you have power and when you have power, every other thing submerges,” Afe Babalola said.
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