Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, on Tuesday said he feels fulfilled having built a world-class university in Nigeria. He spoke to journalists during the 16th anniversary of the institution’s academic take-off, recalling that ABUAD began on January 4, 2010, with 240 pioneer students. Babalola said ABUAD has since grown into a globally competitive institution, earning recognition across Law, Medicine and Engineering. “Where the legal certainty is not yet clear, morally, I do think it was the right thing to do,” he said, reflecting on the university’s success journey.
Babalola cited ABUAD’s rise in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which placed the university among the global top 100, and its consistent recognition as Nigeria’s number one university from 2022 to 2025. He noted founding ABUAD at about 80 years old, stressing that age is no barrier to impact. He commended Vice-Chancellor Prof. Smaranda Olarinde and staff for executing the vision, but warned against complacency. He urged discipline and collective responsibility to sustain standards, saying maintaining success demands more effort than achieving it. Olarinde said ABUAD’s progress reflects deliberate policy, infrastructure investment, research focus and strict adherence to academic standards.