Invest in education, health, Afe Babalola urges wealthy Nigerians 

FILE PHOTO: Afe Babalola

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The Founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola, has called on well-to-do Nigerians to emulate what he has been doing through the university and ABUAD Multi-System Hospital by investing in education and health in the interest of the country.

Babalola said that his university and hospital had been doing exploits in the provision of quality and functional education, healthcare delivery, medical education, and checking outward medical tourism.

The ABUAD founder, according to a statement made available in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday by the Director, ABUAD Corporate Affairs, Tunde Olofintila, spoke in the university while playing host to a nine-member delegation of the Nigerian Medical Association led by NMA 1st Vice President, Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu.

Babalola said, “There are many wealthy Nigerians out there who can do better than what I am doing here, but they have chosen not to. They have not looked in the direction of education, forgetting that they can do a lot, having regard to the fact that many of the leading universities in the world were founded even by non-graduates”.

The ABUAD founder, who enjoined Nigerians to work together towards making the country a better place for all to live and thrive in, also implored Nigerians to be their brothers’ keepers.

He said, “Nigerians are going through a lot, and so, there is a need for all to imbibe the spirit of giving. I can tell you that there are many Nigerians who do not know what they will eat today. That makes it imperative for all of us to learn how to give.

“We never can tell how far a genuine smile we give to someone can go in his life. We can never foretell the comfort the school fees we pay for our neighbour’s son will bring to that boy or his family. Neither can we know what N10,000 could mean to a hungry soul.

“That little seed we sow into the life of our neighbour could make all the difference in his/her life that day or even forever. This way, the society will be better.”

NMA 1st VP, Olowojebutu, who lauded Babalola for spearheading quality healthcare delivery and medical education in the country, described the massive investment in ABUAD and the 400-bed ABUAD hospital.

The NMA leader said, “I have gone round the university, the hospital, the Industrial Park, the Independent Power Plant, and the Farm. I was almost in tears when I saw the magnitude of what a single man who has never worked in government has put in place here.

“What Aare Afe Babalola has done is out of his love for his people and the advancement of their cause because he could have taken all of these to Abuja, Lagos, or Ibadan. But he chose Ekiti, thereby putting Ekiti in the limelight, particularly as the university is not for profit but for humanity.

“I am overwhelmed with joy with what I have seen here today – a very clean and functional hospital, a Radiology Department with two functional MRI machines, and a Dialysis Centre with affordable charges. Indeed, there are many things going on in your hospital at the same time. I am marveled by the fact that you not only produce your own oxygen gas, but you also supply it to others.

“What you have done here is amazing. As a professional body, I dare say that it is worth emulating and celebrating. We celebrate you, particularly as you have put Ekiti in the limelight. We thank and appreciate you. We will speak with all the stakeholders in the health sector on the need to support and encourage you more,” Olowojebutu said.

Speaking earlier, ABUAD Vice Chancellor, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, described Babalola as a man who had changed the ecosystem of the country’s healthcare delivery and medical education for the better.

Olarinde, who said that the ABUAD founder had contributed to different facets of Nigeria’s development, said that the nonagenarian lawyer, philanthropist, and educationist deserved outright support and encouragement.

The VC said that support and encouragement had become more imperative to reduce the current overload of doctor/patient ratio overload, which had brought an unbearable burden on both the Doctors and their patients.

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