Afe Babalola pledges to use ABUAD funds for endowment, scholarships

Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, has announced that the institution’s savings will be set aside for an endowment fund, emphasizing that no individual holds shares in the university.

Babalola made the remark on Thursday during his decoration and admission into the Honorary Fellowship of the Nigerian Academy of Education (NAE) at the ABUAD campus in Ado-Ekiti.

He explained that ABUAD was established as a non-profit university where all earnings are reinvested into the institution to support its development and sustainability.

“I established my university, a private, non-profit institution, where every profit we make goes back into the school. I have no shares there, and nobody has shares there,” Babalola said. “The money we saved will be kept for endowment, which you can use at any time. Very soon, by the grace of God, we’ll be giving scholarships to students from other foreign countries.”

Reacting to reports that some private universities in Nigeria are struggling with low enrollment, Babalola dismissed such claims, saying ABUAD is oversubscribed.

“I have a letter from the Minister of Education lamenting the number of students attending private universities. That is not the case with ABUAD. On the contrary, we are oversubscribed. The registrar keeps telling me that people are pressing for more admission, and I say you can’t admit more, please. North, South, East, and West — all six regions have students here,” he said.

The legal luminary attributed his latest recognition to the grace of God, hard work, and Spartan self-discipline.

According to the NAE, which consists of 21 professors, Babalola was chosen for the fellowship as the most outstanding among the shortlisted candidates in recognition of his remarkable contributions to education reform in Nigeria.