Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti(ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has commended Governor Biodun Oyebanji for ushering in a paradigm shift to governance and making copious efforts to correct past mistakes of his predecessors to garner the trust of the citizens.
As a way of boosting the spiritual inclinations of Ekiti citizens, Babalola pledged a partnership with the government to sponsor Ekiti citizens to the holy lands of Israel and Mecca for attitudinal reformation and character rebranding that will uplift governance.
Babalola spoke in ABUAD, Ado Ekiti, on Thursday while playing host to the Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief Monisade Afuye, who paid a courtesy visit to the Legal Luminary in his office.
The legal Icon revealed that his university now has an industrial park, farms, and a multi-system hospital that are setting the pace on how best to run a successful government in Nigeria to halt the scourge of brain drain that is pummeling the country.
Having retrospect of the epic battle for the creation of Ekiti State, Babalola said the proponents did it with huge sacrifices and selflessness, by their refusal to control the levers of powers, and gave those who never participated the leeway to take absolute control at the advent of democracy in 1999.
The Special Assistant on Media to the deputy governor, Victor Ogunje, in a statement, quoted Babalola to have said, “But we are happy today that someone who served as the Secretary of the Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, a young man then, is now the Governor of our dear state.
“Within this short period, Governor Oyebanji has brought a new dawn in the running of the government of Ekiti. He has been correcting past mistakes making people to have trust in the government.
“Help me tell him that I thank him for how he has been directing the affairs of this state. I am ready to support him because myself and the people are happy with his government.”
On the positive impacts being made by his university, Babalola said, “My farms, multisystem hospital, university, and Industrial park are now setting the pace on how best to rule a country. We can get it right if we have the desire.
“Go and look at our Industrial park, it was an innovation conceived to show how to ignite the industrial revolution in a country. We are doing well and making our impacts felt.”
The renowned lawyer stated that he never considered sponsoring of people for pilgrimage as a colossal waste, saying it brings character rebranding, attitudinal change, and reformation that can help the system.
On how to open the vista of business opportunities in Ekiti, Babalola assured Governor Oyebanji that he would make meaningful contributions for the speedy completion of the International Cargo Airport located along Ado-Ijan road.
Speaking on how to curb the exponential increase in poverty level in the land, Babalola urged rich Nigerians to strive hard and uplift the wellbeing of the poor, saying, “The monies you are keeping in banks are not your monies.
“Some of the richest banks in the world are sitting on the monies of dead people and using them when families still fight over their wills. It is only the monies you used to empower the people that are the real and beneficial monies.”
In her submission during the interface, the Deputy Governor, Afuye, saluted the elder statesman for his unwavering and solid support for all successive governments in the state, especially for being the highest taxpayer in Ekiti for the past two decades.
Mrs Afuye also paid profound tributes to the Legal Icon for his epochal role in the creation of Ekiti State by leading the pack to rationalise the demand for Ekiti’s creation before Justice Arthur Mbanefor Panel in Akure, Ondo State.
The Ekiti’s number two citizen congratulated Babalola on the 60th anniversary of his call to the Bar, saying his giant leap in law practice is replete with good history and enigmatic achievements that would be difficult to surpass.
The Deputy Governor applauded him for his resolve to sponsor staff of ABUAD and Ekiti citizens for the holy pilgrimage since the government had withdrawn interventions in the form of sponsorship.