By Prof Mike A.A. Ozekhome SAN, CON, OFR, LL.D
INTRODUCTION
“Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
-Romans 13:7
I have, in my little way and from my very small corner always celebrated excellence. I celebrate people, low or mighty; dead or alive. But it is always better to celebrate them whilst alive. We have a local adage in my Weppa Wanno, Etsako and Afenmai language which says “Akha tse nokha,lobo the luo khao ( translated, it means it is when you eulogise an achiever that his hand is strengthened to perform more” ). Steve Lavin once moaned: “We have a tendency to celebrate people when they pass away. Why don’t we do the same when they are alive? That’s when they need us the most”. He is not alone. Stacye Branche drives the point home when he intoned, “Let’s start appreciating people while they are here”. Such is the case of Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, CON, OFR, FCIArb, LL.D, etc, one of the most influential figures in Nigeria.
THE LATEST HONOUR
I had wanted to write this piece for him on his 96th birthday which comes up on 30th October, 2024, having been born on 30th October, 1929. But I could not wait for this as I am compelled by a unique thing worth celebration that just came up. On 23rd August, 2024, His Royal Majesty, the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Dr. Adeyemo Aladesanmi, on behalf of the good people of Ekitiland decided to give honour to whom honour is due; and to pay tribute to whom tribute is due (Rom 13:7). On that day, the respected monarch made a royal proclamation, declaring that this pride of Ado Ekiti, nay Nigeria and Africa, Aare Afe Babalola, would henceforth be honoured and celebrated with pomp and pageantry in Ekitiland on the 18th day of October of every year, starting from 2024. In effect, 18th October is now to be known as “AARE AFE BABALOLA DAY”. What a gift! What a giver!! What a recipient!!! By my reckoning (and I stand to be corrected), this is an unprecedented honour in Nigeria.
I congratulate Aare Afe Babalola and the entire people of Ekiti land on this landmark proclamation. This is the very first time a day is declared to be marked in honour of an individual in this clime. Aare is indeed worthy of the novel honour; deserving of the proclamation; and eminently qualified for the celebration.
I have always over the years respected and admired the Aare. This is not only because of his strong personality, but most importantly, because of the way he audaciously defied all man-made obstacles. His “grass-to-grace” story (very similar to mine) through sheer dint of hard work and elevation by God Almighty is a ready plot for poets, novelists and movie makers. His is a fairy tale. Aare’s life is a product of raw and unflagging doggedness, tenacity of purpose and an uncompromising determination to succeed and leave a mark in the sands of time. These qualities endeared him to me as our humbling story is similar in many respects. In more ways than one, the Aare has been a silent mentor and inspirer. He may never have known this. I am telling him now.
AARE’S TOUCHING STORY
Aare was born into an agrarian family in Ado Ekiti about 96 whopping years ago. However, because his parents were illiterates, he does not really know the exact year, month or date he was born. He merely conjectured. While growing up, he lost 6 of his siblings to poor maternal care and preventable diseases. This story of “Impossibility Made Possible” (the very title of his personal autobiography) is one that rends the heart.
He was raised in the farm with his parents in a mud house, covered with thatch roof. They used to sleep on banana leaves at night, which they usually change after about 2 or 3 days. But, he not only enjoyed it, he actually thought it was the best thing in life. Afterall, he had never experienced better life due to his humble beginnings. Thus, Aare was not even born with any wooden spoon in his mouth at all, let alone a silver or golden spoon. Nor was his case that of a child of destiny who had his palm kernel cracked for him by a benevolent sprit (thank you, Chinua Achebe- “Things Fall Apart”). He was simply a case of Romans 9:15; and raw dint of hard work and perseverance. As he once put it, “we didn’t bother about clothes. I was a young boy, I didn’t wear clothes, of course, there were no shoes at that time. I thought and I prayed then, that one day, I will inherit part of my father’s farm. I will inherit part of his cutlasses and hoes. That was my ambition.”
Babalola’s father had himself inherited a portion of his own father’s land at Ajipon, towards the present-day Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti. He later moved to Odo Asa, Igirigiri, seeking fertile land for cocoa cultivation. He did not strike gold, forcing him to again relocate to Alayegbe, 8 miles from home. This forced the young Babalola and his father to stay in the farm for about 3 months at a time; coming home merely to participate in annual festivals like Ogun or Egungun. So, the Aare grew up in farm settlements, romancing with elephants, antelopes, tigers, gorillas, monkeys and pythons.
Thus, from 6am to 6pm, the Aare and others would work in the farm and also hunt for animals that would serve as delicacy with pounded yam at about 7pm. Farm life was not without its inherent dangers. Huge snakes mistaken for rodents dug holes; and menacing tigers were common place.
Aare’s only romance with a school was Emmanuel Primary School, Ado Ekiti. Yet today, he is a lawyer, Barrister, Economist, teacher, industrialist, Scholar, University administrator, farmer, Philosopher, author, Philanthropist, educationist, etc.
When the cerebral legal pugilist was about 8 years old, a Reverend Father came and pleaded with his father to send one of his children to school. As he was the eldest child, his father ordered him to go to school. This was how he left the farm house in 1937, to live in the city. Even then, it was not easy, as he had to walk about 5 kilometres everyday from his family house to Emmanuel Anglican Primary School, Okesha, Ado-Ekiti.
This disruptive ritual went on for about 7 years. Even then, he did not have any interest in learning, principally because on the farm, he did not have to bathe; or change his clothes; or clean his teeth. But in the school, he was compelled to do these. Nonetheless, the renowned Senior Advocate managed to complete his primary 6, where he obtained his standard six certificate. That was the end of his formal education in a school setting. All the other educational qualifications listed against his name were obtained through private study because he could not afford school fees for secondary school. He later attended the University and obtained his degrees in both economics and law. I will tell you how the Aare wielded this Professor Peller’s abracadabra magic wand.
Chief Afe had taken advice from a white man and ordered some coursewares from Wolsey Hall Oxford, one of the oldest home-schooling colleges in the world. It was founded by Joseph William Knipe in 1894. The school offered courses for Primary, Secondary, IGCSE and A Level subjects to home-schoolers. This is similar to what is obtainable on internet nowadays as e-learning.
For a course that should take him 6 years to complete, Babalola chose to do it in 5 years. He would read, prepare, write exams and send his answers by post to England where it would be marked, with necessary corrections and sent back in 14 days. By 1950, he had attempted both Cambridge School Certificate Exams (the equivalent of Senior School Certificate) and Cambridge Advanced Level Certificate Exams, all at home. Although he passed the exams, he was however not satisfied with his grades.
Consequently, he repeated the Advanced Level exams to enable him prepare for university degree. By 1953, he had cleared all the 4 subjects at the advanced level, more than the 2 that was required. At that time, there were only 3 Nigerians who had passed 4 subjects at one sitting in the Advanced Level Exams. The other 2 Nigerians aside the Aare were Igbos. It was a record at that time.
He then went further to prepare for a B.Sc degree in Economics from the University of London, still studying from home. In 1959, he obtained BSc in Economics. He then proceeded to study from home for his LL.B (Hons) degree, from the same University of London. He completed this in 1963. He had to travel to London to sit for the Bar Exams.
Upon completing his law exams in London in 1963, he was called to the Bar as a member of the Lincoln’s Inn, London; and he registered as a member of the Bar of England and Wales. Thereafter, he returned to Nigeria to begin his legal practice as a litigation lawyer at the Chambers of Olu Ayoola in Ibadan, until 1965, when he established his own law firm, Afe Babalola & Co (Emmanuel Chambers) in Ibadan.
His Chambers has since remained one of the most reputable and leading law firms in Nigeria with offices in Ibadan, Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. He has produced over 1,500 legal practitioners, including Judges, Senior Advocates of Nigeria and Attorneys-General.
In 1987, he became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the highest rank in the legal profession in Nigeria. After reaching the pinnacle of law practice in Nigeria, he was offered the position of a Judge by Justice Oyemade who was then the President of The Court in the Defunct Western Region of Nigeria. He declined it, because he wanted to remain in active legal practice.
As a Solicitor and general practitioner, Chief Babalola has handled over 10,600 court cases, many of which were such landmark cases that could have scared away the cowardly. Many of such cases have helped to redefine the law and recreate our jurisprudence.
As a Presidential Nominee at the 2005 National Political Conference, the Aare chaired the Revenue Allocation and Fiscal Federalism Committee, arguably one of the most sensitive Committees. The living legend was twice offered the ministerial position of the Attorney General of the Federation by former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, but he twice rejected it.
In 2001, he was appointed, Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. He held the position till 2008 during which he emerged as best Pro-Chancellor of Nigerian Universities consecutively in 2005 and 2006.
With the awards of CON and OFR firmly in his kitty, the cerebral Advocate was in 2008 conferred with the title of the Aare Bamofin of Yoruba Nation by His Royal Majesty, late Alayeluwa Oba Dr. Lamidi Adeyemi II, the Alaafin of Oyo. This was in recognition of his legendary exploits in the legal profession and his fame that spreads like manure, beyond the African shores.
The Alaafin in pronouncing him as Aare Bamofin, decreed his preeminence as a Royal Highness and tribal legend. He was forbidden thenceforth from ever prostrating to any man, except God. He was required to carry himself in the manner of royalty.
The Aare has won several awards and honours locally and internationally. He has bagged the LL.D (Honoris Causa) from Universities in Ekiti, Kogi, Lagos, Jos, Akure and the University of London. The LL.D degree award made Afe Babalola to belong to the elite class of honorary recipients of the degree of the University of London, having been preceded by only two Africans in the history of the University, Nelson Mandela and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu.
In 2009, Chief Babalola, at the ripe age of 80, established the now famous popular Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti on a 130 hectares vast expanse of land to promote education in Nigeria. The university’s College of law has at different times, been rated best in Nigeria. Indeed in 2013, the university was ranked the best private University in Nigeria and one of the leading 400 Universities in the world.
The ABUAD with a 3-star guest Inn facility offers academic programmes in the six Colleges of Law, Natural Sciences, Engineering, Social and Management Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences. It also offers Postgraduate Studies. Its College of Engineering is built on nearly three and half acres of land and is well equipped with sophisticated state-of-the-art facilities imported directly from Europe and the Americas. It is reputed to be one of the largest in Africa. ABUAD’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences and its Multisystem Teaching Hospital with theatres, 8 modular CT and MRI scan machines, ICU and 16 kidney dialysis and machines are nullus secondus in Nigeria, given their sophisticated medical facilities and the professional expertise with which patients are handled.
When I first visited this living legend at ABUAD in May, 2018, he spritely took me from his office upstairs to the downstairs and handed me over to a high-ranking university official, who took me round on a guided tour of ABUAD’s facilities. I was showed vast expanses of agricultural trees, mangoes, guavas, oranges, pineapples; fish ponds; factories to process, package and sell the fish; potteries; piggeries; etc. The university is a city within the Ado-Ekiti city. Aare fondly calls me, “Ozekhome, my son” (never Mike), an acknowledgment I relish. He fires the embers in me. He is an inspiration to many Nigerians, Africans and the black race.
MY LIFE ENCOUNTERS WITH THE AARE
FIRST ENCOUNTER
On this special occasion of the Ewi’s declaration, I cannot but recall some of my encounters with this unrepentant workaholic and teetotaller. My first close encounter with this legal iroko was when we fiercely crossed legal swords at the Federal High Court, Abuja, between 2001-2002. This was before the then Chief Judge of the FHC, Hon Justice Rose Ukeje. The legal fisticuffs was over the Electoral amendment Bill. Senator Anyim Pius Anyim was the then Senate President. This Education Czar was Counsel to the Federal Government; and I was to the Senate and the National Assembly. When one of the court sessions ended with me sweating profusely, I met the Aare outside the court. He gently patted me on the back and said, “Ozekhome, I thought you are just a handsome boy; I didn’t know you are also good in court and deep intellectually. Come and visit me at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel where I am staying.” I was flattered by his kind lofty words. They dropped on me like raindrops on parched flowers. I quickly visited him at Transcorp Hilton hotel. Who would lose such a golden opportunity to visit one you idolise? He laid his hands on me and blessed me with unforgettable words and pieces of advice and encouragement.
SECOND ENCOUNTER
My second close encounter with the distinguished Elder Statesman was at the NBA Annual General Conference held in Enugu in 2003. On his invitation, I visited him in his hotel room in Enugu. He expressed his admiration for me as a fierce and courageous human rights activist and pro-democracy campaigner during successive military juntas. He again lionised me with unforgettable words of encouragement, thus further firing the embers of activism in me.
THIRD ENCOUNTER
Our third meeting was in his sprawling Emmanuel Chambers office at 80, Adekunle Fajuyi Way, Adamasingba, Ibadan, Oyo State, which he founded in 1965. He had given me an appointment to see him on a Sunday. Sunday? I thought he was mistaken; and I told him so clearly. He laughed, nay, guffawed, and told me he worked every day of the year except on Christmas Day, because of the name, “Emmanuel” (“God with us”) by which his Chambers is called. I was amazed; even dazed. When eventually I went to the office, it was a beehive of legal activities like any normal working day. Lawyers and para-legal staff were on their desks. I gawked. I learnt great lessons from that encounter which again sharpened my resilience, work ethics and devotion to my profession. Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, GCON, SAM, my late mentor and to whom I was Deputy Head of Chambers in 1985, together with Chief Kanm Isola-Osobu (“People’s Lawyer”) with whom I interned for four years whilst at the University of Ife (now OAU), Ile Ife, had taught me as much. But Aare sharpened these. Till date, I still work and sleep in my offices many days in a week.
A TOWERING FIGURE
THE FOURTH ENCOUNTER
Aare is a rare diamond; a towering pride to the Black race. For our fourth encounter, I was honoured and privileged when in 2022, he personally signed a letter inviting me to deliver the 10th ABUAD convocation lecture, and also receive its LL.D doctorate degree (Honouris Causa) in Law. When I visited him on 20th October, 2022, at the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), to receive the ABUAD doctorate degree and deliver its 10th convocation lecture, I prostrated flat on my belly to greet him, as is the endearing custom of the Yorubas (even though I am not one; I am Afenmai, Etsako and Weppa Wanno).This was past 11pm. The legend was still in his office, working with the Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof Smaranda Olarinde. I was shocked that at 93 years then, he could still be in the office at that late hour of the night when nonagenarians like him should be snoring away in a deep slumber.
After my lecture on the 20th, I again visited him at his modest office that neither reflected nor befitted his larger-than-life stature. Aare profusely prayed for me and decreed that I would not just be great but greater than him. Ha! I was dumbfounded when I heard those words from a mortal being. Here was a living legend praying that I should be greater than him! Who does that? The only person that I have read who dared make that utterance was Jesus Christ when he said in John 14:12:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
Before Aare uttered those words, he had instructed ABUAD Vice Chancellor, Prof Olarinde, to take me round on a guided tour of ABUAD University premises- the hospital, factory and the industrial hub, so that I could better appreciate his thoughts and prayers for me. Thus, when he prayed for me at past 11pm, I clearly understood what he meant. Besides the serene atmosphere of prayers we were immersed in, I saw an incredibly hardworking nonagenarian who was still engaging some of his staff on the minutest details at that late hour of the night. I marveled and I counselled my children and some members of my staff who had accompanied me on the trip that if Aare could still be working like that at this stage of his illustrious life, then I had not even started at all. I then challenged them to embrace and imbibe the virtues of hard work, industry, honesty, dedication, character, integrity and prayers to God, as the Aare exemplified.
ABUAD, A WONDER!
FIFTH ENCOUNTER
During my second visit to ABUAD in 2022, I noticed that everything had changed. I beheld many industries and state of the art facilities that were not there four years earlier. There was so much remarkable transformation within a space of just five years. I just could not comprehend how one person could constitute such a one-man riot squad that decreed into existence such monumental development that would make many State Governors green with envy.
The ABUAD University can now process grains, poundo yam, elubo, garri and fufu for local assumption and export. It provides its own bottled water, t-shirts, faze caps etc. The University generates its own electricity up to 5 mega watts. The ABUAD state of the art hospital with modern hitec facilities and gadgets is certainly one of the best in Africa (no hyperbole here).
AARE ‘S PERSONA
Wealth or money? This is no longer Aare’s pre-occupation or headache. He is rated among the top 10 richest lawyers in Nigeria; and the highest private investor in Ekiti State; with an estimated net worth of $350 million (about 560 billion naira).Even with his stupendous wealth, inexhaustible goodwill, societal reach and intellectual fecundity, Aare Babalola still wears humility like a second skin. At his age of 96, when his peers should be relaxing, sleeping, enjoying holidays, or smoking a pipe, the first class lawyer still works round the clock. He personally oversees and supervises his vast education empire called a university. As a multi-columnist in several Nigerian newspapers, he influences and leads national discourse with his rare weekly insights and lucid adumbrations. This includes his well-known recommendation that Nigeria should put in place a brand new people’s autochthonous Constitution that will bring about social justice, egalitarianism and allow young, creative, patriotic and selfless Nigerians emerge as leaders. This has always been my stand.
Believing that “no idea is stupid; it is better carried out than ignored”; the Chief once said: “The only change that can be a lasting change, that would change the world and change the people, is changing the mind of the youths.” Then, he added the clincher: “Hard work does not kill; what kills is indolence.” Then the icing on the cake: “My legacy is not in the buildings I have, not by the money in my account, but in these children, students of my school.”
My good friend, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, once described Chief Babalola as a man who has broken into smithereens, the usual adage that a tree cannot make a forest. I agree with him that his gargantuan contributions to national development have put the proverb to severe test, as the national icon has singularly become a huge forest, both metaphorically and literally.
Aare’s imprints in the legal profession in Nigeria and indeed Africa are simply inerasable. This is why he has since emerged in several leadership capacities in the noble profession, one of which was as President of Arbitrators in Africa, among others. His iconic imprints in the legal profession have served as major reference points for many legal practitioners and the Bench.
While some people in the legal profession in Nigeria have also achieved similar legal feats, I dare say Aare Babalola has however surpassed them in one major respect: becoming a highly successful and influential entrepreneur in several other sectors such as education, agriculture and leadership. The Aare currently has in his employment over 7,000 Nigerians working and earning their living in his University which also consists of the fast growing and very large university farm and one of Africa’s best and most equipped hospitals, the ABUAD multi-system hospital. ABUAD is rated the best university in Nigeria and one of the 400 leading universities in the world. Such is the vision and feat of one man. Just one man!
What is very unique about Aare Babalola’s highly influential and humanitarian life is that all classes of humanity enjoy his kindness, large heart, benevolence and mentorship. They include the educated elite; the ruling class; the middle class and power wielders; the middle class; and more importantly, the poor masses, comprising mainly of uneducated Nigerians- the hoi polloi and the Frantz Fanon’s “Wretched of the Earth”.
The legal colossus and education czar is a man that never forgets his lowly roots and humble beginnings. As one born into a family of poor farmers and who had to be sleeping on banana leaves on reptile-infested farmlands, his love for farming till date is unquenchable. He owns very large farms and plantations in many towns across Nigeria where he cultivates teak trees and various food and cash crops. He is also one of the biggest fish, piggery and poultry farmers in Nigeria. He is already at the stage of processing sausage, bacon, ham and minced meat to be sold to shopping malls in Nigeria and abroad.
Aare has not only instituted an annual award for farmers in Ekiti, but recently complemented his love for agriculture by setting up an industrial park in Ado-Ekiti where various crops such as cassava, tomatoes, yam among others would be processed into finished products, thereby helping to reduce the huge waste always encountered while storing such perishable items. Aare Afe Babalola has run a good race. He is simply a living legend; a colossus of law; an unmatched philanthropist; a trail blazer; a builder of generations through education; an unrepentant workaholic; and a great humanist. I am very proud to be associated with him and to drink from his bottomless pool of knowledge. The sage epitomizes 1 Cor. 9: 24. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? So run that you may receive it”. Aare has run the good race and he has received the diadem.
It is my hope that Ekiti State and the federal government of Nigeria would borrow a leaf from this innovative declaration of Afe Babalola Day by the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti to honour this towering national figure, a global icon and an international hero who deserves to be celebrated as a model of patriotism and a symbol of our collective vision and commonwealth.
For him are surely the blessings of Genesis 6:3; and Philippians 4:7, which I wish him. Aare, your case is one of Vini Vidi Vici.