STAFF ORIENTATION/RETREAT Organized by ELIZADE UNIVERSITY, ILARA MOKIN, ONDO STATE

1. STAFF ORIENTATION/RETREAT Organized by ELIZADE UNIVERSITY, ILARA MOKIN, ONDO STATE

2. Staff Orientation Address Delivered by Aare AfeBabalola, OFR,CON,SAN,LL.D(LONDON), D.Litt, LL.D (FUTA), LL.D (Lagos), LL.D (Ado - Ekiti), LL.D (Jos), FNIALS, FCI.Arb, FNSE Founder/Chancellor AfeBabalola University, Ado – Ekiti (ABUAD) www.abuad.edu.ng, .founder.abuad.edu.ng Thursday, 2nd November, 2017.

3. PROTOCOL ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

4. INTRODUCTION ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

5. Introduction: • I consider it an honour to be invited to address the Staff Orientation/Retreat of Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, a Federal-government licenced private institution established by a patently transparent and selfless man, Chief Michael Ade Ojo, a lover of quality and functional education who has emptied himself in order to help humanity. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

6. Why are we here today? • Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today at the beginning of the Orientation / Retreat of the staff of this promising university and for me, • It is an honour to be invited to give the Address. • Ladies and Gentlemen , the purpose of our gathering is to channel a course for further development of Elizade University. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

7. The Founder that I know: • The Founder of this university, Chief Ade Ojo, is a man after my heart in my ways. • I have known him for a long time. • He is a charming, knowledgeable and honourable person. • He is sartorial and always elegantly dressed. • You can hardly miss him out in a crowd! • He is a kind, generous, loving, gentle and harmless man. • He is always ready to help people around him. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

8. The Founder that I know: • Chief Ade Ojo, a forthright and a shrewd business man is a man of honour who has been honoured by the Federal Government with the National Honours of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) on account of his resounding successes in business via his Elizade Motors which has become a household name in Nigeria because of its quality service procedures which have earned him the trust and respect of his numerous customers. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

9. Chief Ade Ojo & Private University: • The Founder of this university made a lot of legitimate money from his business, but because he knows the value and importance of quality and functional education, he has decided to invest part of the money into education, by establishing this university, an expensive and non-rewarding enterprise, designed to develop his community and raise future leaders and indeed, a new generation of leaders and leave the society better than he met it. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

10. Origin of Universities: • The world over, Universities did not start off with the government. • They took off by people who wanted to learn as a result of which they pooled themselves. • It may interest you to know that right from the days of yore, students were paying their teachers what was then referred to as “collectio”, as a gift rather than a salary. • However, such donations got transformed into actual salaries. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

11. Origin of Universities:Cont’d • The historical fact is that in the middle ages, universities were chartered as corporations by the Pope and later by Emperors and Kings and now by parliament or State Governments. • Such Universities included the university at Constantinople which was founded in 2 B.C. and the University of Alexandria, Antioch and Athens. • They were established in many of the principal cities of Europe to wit: ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

12. Origin of Universities: Cont’d • Montpelier (1220) and Aix-en-Provence (1409) in France, at Padua (1222), Ronle (1303) and Florence (1321) in Italy, at Salamanca (1218) in Spain, at Prague (1348) and Vienna (1365) in Central Europe, at Heidelbert (1386), Leipzig (1409), Freiburg (1457), and Tubingen (1477) in what is now Germany, at Louvain (1425) in present-day Belgium, and at Saint Andrews (1411) and Glasgow (1451) in Scotland. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

13. Origin of Universities: Cont’d • The George Washington University is a classic example of what operated in the thirteen new colonies of America. • Fully conscious of Washington’s hopes, but motivated primarily by a great Missionary urge and the need for a learned clergy, a group of dedicated Ministers and Laymen sponsored a movement for the establishment of a College in the District of Columbia. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

14. Origin of Universities Cont’d • Inspired largely by the zeal and energy of Reverend Luther Rice, they raised funds for the purchase of a site and petitioned Congress for a Charter. • After much delay and amendment, Congress granted a Charter, which was approved by President Monroe on February 9, 1821. • For instance, in the case of the University of Oxford, it was first established as a Lay Corporation under Common Law and was later incorporated by statute formally. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

15. Origin of Universities: Cont’d • The early history of the University shows that it evolved from a group of Masters and students residing in Oxford in the latter part of the 12th Century. • The University met in the churches of 81, Mary’s until 16th Century. • The Academic Society which they collectively brought into life gave birth to similar Associations at other Centres of Learning in Europe, notably Bologna and Paris. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

16. Origin of Universities: Cont’d • During the Industrial Revolution which began in the 2nd half of 18th Century government became interested in Education by attempting to fund education, but they sooner found out that it was impossible to fund quality education without the financial support of the people in view of the several other competing areas of needs to contend with. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

17. Public Universities in Nigeria: • I am of the view that Nigeria started to establish public universities on a wrong note following the Elliot recommendation after which government established and funded the first university (University of Ibadan) in 1948 while the nation’s second generation universities like University of Ife, University of Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and University of Benin among many others followed suit. • Unfortunately, the impression given by government to the people, and which the people believed and still believe till today, is that it is the duty of the government to establish universities and fund them. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

18. Performance of public universities in Nigeria: • Up to the time the military took over the reign of government in 1966, Nigeria’s public universities were well funded by government and they were doing well. • The truth is that Education in Nigeria has been badly affected due to paucity of funds thereby negating the thinking of one of the world’s most famous philosophers, Aristotle, who once said that: “education is the creation of a sound mind in a sound body. • It develops man’s faculty, especially his mind so that he may be able to enjoy the contemplation of supreme truth, goodness and beauty of which perfect happiness essentially consists”. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

19. Performance of public universities in Nigeria: • The incontrovertible fact is that quality education is a very expensive enterprise. • When education is not properly funded, institutions of learning will be ill-equipped in terms of teaching facilities and staff while the products of such poorly funded institutions are bound to be poor materials. • This is the void that the mission and private universities have come to fill and I make bold to say that they are filling effectively. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

20. Performance of public universities in Nigeria: • Between 1948 when the University of Ibadan was established and the time the military took over in 1966,our educational system was the envy of many, here in Nigeria and elsewhere. • In an article headed “EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: SAME PUTREFYING STORY OF ROT” written by Sulaimon Olanrewaju and Kunle Awosiyan and published in The Nigerian Tribune edition of October 3, 2008. • The author quoted part of my work which reads as follows: ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

21. Performance of public universities in Nigeria: • “The products of our first universities, especially the six at Ibadan, Ife, Lagos, Benin, Nsukka and Zaria compared very favourably with those of any university in the world. • They were sought after by universities at Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and London for post-graduate degrees. • When they were eventually admitted, they recorded record-breaking performances. • They were offered the best jobs on graduation by the multi-national companies and other big corporate bodies. • Those who chose to remain and teach in the universities either here or abroad ranked favourably with their foreign colleagues”. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

22. Performance of public universities in Nigeria: • Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the quality of teaching and learning has declined and the quality of degrees awarded is compromised. • A large number of graduates from our universities are a shame to show-case anywhere. • Most of them cannot justify the award of their degrees. • The educational reputation of the country is a source of national shame. • In the 2008 rankings of world universities dated July 2008, none of our universities ranked within the first 1000. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

23. Performance of public universities in Nigeria: • Professor Mac Ade Araromi of Institute of Education University of Ibadan said: • “Many university graduates cannot speak good English. Even at the post-graduate level, we find out that the communication ability of the students is declining. • Imagine reading through a thesis and you still have to correct tenses. • This is somebody who is going to be a Ph.D. holder. But the journey to the sorry pass was not an overnight flight”. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

24. Performance of public universities in Nigeria: • In the publication in the Nigerian Tribune referred to earlier, I was again quoted as follows: • “The legal luminary however lamented that with the coming of the military came the desecration of the education system. • “Then, quality began to fall, especially with the advent of the military in the civil governance of the country. The system was militarized. The schools were deprived of adequate funding. Old infrastructure was not replaced or repaired. • Teachers who had previously been well remunerated suddenly became over-worked and under-paid. Morale became low. The worsening economic situation did not help matters as unemployment ravaged school graduates. They became despondent. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

25. Performance of public universities in Nigeria: • Our university graduates suddenly turned into a shadow of what they used to be, and the outside world treated them as such. • They were no longer the beautiful brides that they were among foreign universities and employers. • Eventually, the problem got to the peak of its badness when employers began to reject and discriminate against graduates of polytechnics and of universities established by the states. • The situation has got to a frightening proportion that all stakeholders now agree that something has to be done, urgently and decisively”. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

26. Commencement of private universities in Nigeria: • Consequent upon the failure of public Universities to fully accommodate a majority of qualified candidates, Licenses were granted to private individuals and organizations to establish Private Universities in 1999. • With the passage of time, the number of such private Universities has increased steadily. • As at the time of writing, we have 68 private universities. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

27. Commencement of private universities in Nigeria: • However despite the fact that private Universities offer a viable alternative to public institutions and even complement and aid the drive of the Government to increase the accessibility and quality of education, private Universities do not receive any form of funding from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund. • To me such treatment is intolerable, improper, discriminatory and unconstitutional. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

28. Private Universities: Not a Profitable Enterprise • It must be stated here that the whole essence of anyone going into the establishment of a private university is to help humanity because it is an enterprise where their Founders should not expect profit in monetary form as they will keep on spending and spending on such things as infrastructure, expansion, research and salaries and other overheads as the institution continues to grow. • It is a venture where it is difficult to break even! ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

29. Private Universities: Not a Profitable Enterprise • I urge the government and NUC to desist from granting licenses to those who want to register Private University as a Limited Liability for profit and direct private universities registered as Limited Liability Companies to wind up the companies and re-register as companies registered by guarantee. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

30. Afe Babalola University registered as non-profit university • With all of these at the back of my mind and particularly because of my belief in quality and functional education, I established Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) seven years ago and registered it as a non-profit university which is still funded mostly by me. • The rest is now history as the university which has been ranked by Webometrics in January 2017 as the No. 2 Best Private University in Nigeria, and No. 3857 in the world ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

31. Afe Babalola University registered as non-profit university • Figure 1 below shows 2016 July Webometrics world ranking of 10 Nigeria universities namely: • The first four universities, as well as • Afe Babalola University; • Elizade University; and, • The last four universities out of the first 100 universities in Nigeria. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

32. Figure 1: Ranking of first 100 universities in Nigeria out of 22,000 universities ranked in the world

33. Afe Babalola University registered as non-profit university • Note: There are over 240 higher institutions in Nigeria • The above shows that Elizade University is not doing badly but can do better. • Because of the void private Universities have come to fill, they should be supported and encouraged by well to do Nigerians, philanthropists and industries by way of endowments, gifts and donations as well as grants. • They should support and donate towards research and endow professorial chairs. • This is the ONLY way our universities (public or private) can develop to the level of great universities in the world. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

34. Afe Babalola University registered as non-profit university • Stanford University presents a classic example of the importance of donations and gifts to a university. Stanford, a co-educational and non-denominational institution was established in 1891 by Leyland Stanford, former Governor of and US Senator from California with an endowment of USD5million. • It is one of the top fund-raising institutions in the country and became the first University to raise more than a billion Dollars in one year. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

35. Afe Babalola University registered as non-profit university • Its Alumni have founded many companies including Google, Yahoo, Microsystems, Instagram and generate more than USD$2.7 trillion in annual revenue equaling the 10th largest economy in the world. • It is the alma mater of 30 living Billionaires, 17 Astronauts, leading producer of members of US Congress and has produced 60 Nobel Laureates etc. In 2014, endowment and donation alone was $336,697,860,000 while in 2015 endowment and donation was $368,147,895,000. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

36. Afe Babalola University registered as non-profit university • It should be noted that the annual endowment and donation for each year for Stanford University was much more than the annual total budget of Federal Government for all higher institutions!!! • The lesson from the Stanford story is that Nigerians must contribute generously to education in accordance with international best practices. • The Chairman, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I can say without any fear of contradiction that the future of private and missionary universities in Nigeria is very bright and they are the hope for the restoration of quality and functional education in this country ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

37. Afe Babalola University registered as non-profit university • They have started. I don’t need to mention names, you know them. They have predictable academic calendars. They put premium on discipline and character. After all, education without character is a disaster. Teachers in private universities don’t go on strike. They employ the best hands around and instill discipline. • Take a look round the world and you will not fail to see and appreciate that the best Universities like Oxford, Yale, Stanford and Harvard are private universities established by philanthropists like Chief Ade Ojo. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

38. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • Hitherto, Nigerians did not believe in private universities. • This assertion can be illustrated by the conversation between a parent, Mrs. Neta Nwosu, the General Manager, Corporate Services of the Sun Newspaper and her son who wanted admission into Afe Bablola University, Ado-Ekiti in 2011, part of which I quote verbatim below: ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

39. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • “Admission fever is still on. University-bound students who missed the dual opportunities of not meeting the merit cut-off marks for their courses and the supplementary admission list are in a state of feverish anxiety. They are not alone in this frenzy. Their parents are equally worried. • “My son and I are amongst those in this worrisome situation. His experience is particularly painful as he missed the merit cut-off mark by just one point. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

40. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • “His choice of federal university in the densest metropolis in the country where demand pressure has assumed frenetic dimensions is partly responsible for his predicament. Had he gone for one remote state university of agriculture or technology he would have been sitting pretty. Maybe our strategy was wrong. But the young lad is not deterred. • “Few days ago, he sold me an option. The conversation went thus: • Son: Mummy, we just have to take another look at you and daddy’s suggestion that I should re-write JAMB. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

41. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • Mummy: What is wrong with re-writing JAMB? • Son: I can’t stay at home for another whole year. It would amount to a huge waste of my academic development time. • Mummy: But you will be attending JAMB lessons and we would also engage you in a computer programme. • Son: Mummy, there are other alternatives. My priority for now is to start my Mechanical Engineering course in a good private university. • Mummy: Nobody is going to any private university in this house. • Son: Why? ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

42. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • Mummy: I don’t think they are well equipped in terms of quality infrastructure and professional lecturers. Moreover, the cost: The fees of private universities are on the roof. Where are we going to get that kind of money? • Son (pretended he didn’t hear my whining about huge fees): Mummy, Afe Babalola and Covenant Universities are very good. But I prefer Afe Babalola. There is also no religious segregation there. • Mummy: Who told you? ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

43. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • Their web-sites further impressed me unlike their contemporaries. Moreover, the massive structures I saw in Afe Babalola University and the profiles of the Vice-Chancellor, Provost of the College of Engineering and other staff can only be associated with a serious minded institution that has come to stay. Aare Afe Babalola is legal icon that would not want to jeopardize his painstakingly built career and impeccable reputation. • Mummy: What do you mean by painstakingly built career? • Son: Aare Afe Babalola is a self-made man. The only formal education he has acquired so far was at primary school. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

44. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • All his other qualifications were obtained through private studies. Mummy, Aare Afe Babalola is a great man. I like him. Most importantly he is a scandal-free Nigerian. • “My son’s submissions made sense. I didn’t need to drag the conversation further. The name, Afe Babalola struck me positively and triggered in me a sense of trust and confidence. It is indeed a good name. The biblical book of Proverbs, 22:1 states “A good name is better than riches”. I agree with my son; there is no way the enviable personality trait and the profound qualities of Aare Babalola’s professional life would not rub off on the educational standards and culture of the university. Already that is perceivable from the human, material and structural resources on ground. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

45. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • “The teenager also expressed his fears about the present state of our federal and state tertiary institutions and its effects on the students. His observations further justified his burning desire to switch over to a private university. • “After all, some of our current learning environment and infrastructures are not conducive and encouraging. Most times, it takes even several years of JAMB examinations, just to secure admission into the university. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

46. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • Worse still is the incessant disruption of the academic sessions by labour disputes involving lecturers and governments which ultimately lead to strike actions. • Combined, these factors create a difficult and frustrating academic experience for the student who is less likely to graduate as scheduled, if he eventually does. • Together we convinced his father to explore the admission opportunities of his new found love”. • On Saturday, October 23, 2011, my son and I in company of his friend, another disciple of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) and his mother stormed the institution in far away Ado-Ekiti. Afe Babalola University is a world of its own with a distinct quality learning milieu. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

47. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • Better described as the alluring magic of Ekiti State, ABUAD like an onyx contrasts sharply with the ancient city of Ado-Ekiti, standing out the ivory tower as a veritable touch-point that could easily stimulate educational tourism in Ekiti State. • We were stunned. The structures my son saw in the university’s website are real. There are even bigger and taller structures. Most striking is the College of Law. You could tell that Aare Babalola obviously displayed a dose of favouritism and passion towards this edifice of his preferred profession. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

48. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • The auditorium, lecture theatre and classes that we had access to are of world-class standards, capable of offering better students learning experience, stability and good study infrastructure. • The staff that attended to us including the Security team at the gate are well-spoken professionals to the core. • At a point I thought I was in the corporate environment of a premium oil and gas company. • The decorum exhibited by the self-confident staff is a far cry from the unjust aggressiveness some of us have suffered in the hands of unqualified personnel in some of our states and federal universities. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

49. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • A metaphor for intelligence, dignity, excellence and quality graduates; the label, Afe Babalola appears poised to exert a decisive influence on the overall success of the University. • A success story that would be sustained and bequeathed to future generations of young Nigerians that are hungry for quality university education”. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion

50. Attitude of Nigerians to private Universities: • The pitiable picture of the way Nigerians perceive private universities notwithstanding, I see hope in most of the 68 private universities in Nigeria today. • A League of Nigerian Best Private Universities is possible. It is attainable. It is achievable and the time to start that race is now. Elizade University should join the race. ABUAD... A Vision in Motion