Ado-Ekiti, Aug. 16, 2025
Eminent Lawyer and former Chairman , Committee of Pro-Chancellors in Nigeria, Chief Afe Babalola SAN has called for urgent reform in the education sector, so as to improve quality, and reduce crime rate in the country.
According to him, such reform has become necessary and expedient if education must be given a new phase.
He traced rising crime rate among Nigerians, especially youths, to consequences of poor educational standards.
The former two-term Pro- Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, made the assertion on Saturday in Ado-Ekiti while receiving in audience, the management team of the Ekiti State University Ado-Ekiti, (EKSU), who were on a courtesy visit to his institution.
The EKSU team, was led by it’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Babatola Ayodele.
Afe Babalola, who raised the alarm of dangers, inherent from a continued trend, therefore advocated for quality education, as antidote to all forms of criminality.
He said negligence of the past, may have possibly blindfolded many Nigerians, including leaders, from identifying that the nation’s declining educational standards, was a key driver of it’s escalating crime rates.
He stressed the urgent need for systemic reforms, to curb crime, through quality education, in addition to mass youth empowerment.
The nonegarian legal icon said, “Half education is more dangerous than no education. Many of those engaged in criminal activities today are products of a failing educational system.
” We must urgently rewrite Nigeria’s educational narrative to foster national development and security.”
Babalola challenged policy makers, institutions, and stakeholders to also prioritise research grants, innovation, and academic excellence, as critical tools for national progress.
In her welcome address, ABUAD Vice Chancellor, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, lauded Babalola’s visionary leadership, crediting him for establishing ABUAD as a trailblazer, in critical areas, such as Agriculture, Pharmaceuticals and quality Healthcare, Education and Delivery.
She spotlighted what she called, ‘the peerless and paperless’ ABUAD Multi-System Hospital, which leading healthcare stakeholders had variously endorsed, as the “most well-equipped hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa”, as the nation’s antidote to outward medical tourism.
“Our hospital recently achieved a medical milestone by successfully delivering twins for a 60-year-old woman. I visited and saw for myself the joy on the faces of members of the family. Our founder’s commitment to world-class healthcare is yielding the desired result.” Prof. Olarinde said.
Taking cognisance of the under-representation of women in the visiting EKSU delegation, the Vice Chancellor advocated for greater gender balance in leadership, just like in ABUAD, where she said the Vice Chancellor, the Registrar and the Librarian are ladies, among several leaders in the 15-year-old university.
Responding, the visiting VC, praised Babalola as “an unrepentant philanthropist, who constantly adds value to society.”
He expressed admiration for ABUAD’s state-of-the-art infrastructure, and called for deeper collaboration between the two institutions, in areas of Agriculture, Research and Student Exchange Programmes.
“We have much to learn from ABUAD Farm. With 14 hectares of tomatoes farms at EKSU ready for harvest, we recognise the need to deepen expertise in agriculture, a vital sector for Nigeria’s future”, Ayodele remarked.
Mrs Christie Oluborode, ABUAD’s Registrar, while expressing gratitude for the EKSU management’s visit, acknowledged Prof. Ayodele as the first EKSU Vice-Chancellor to lead a delegation to ABUAD in 42 years.
