Aare Afe Babalola is 98, going on 99.
Anyone who has visited Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti-ABUAD-cannot but marvel at what one man’s vision, hard work, courage and determination have planted on Ekiti soil.
He conceived and built that extraordinary institution at the age of 80, a time when many of his contemporaries had withdrawn into retirement, travelling the world or distributing their wealth among their children. Baba chose a different path. He invested his fortune, energy and remaining years in the education of generations yet unborn.
ABUAD is, therefore, more than a university. It is the harvest of a lifetime of sacrifice, a monument to faith in Nigeria and one elderly man’s enduring gift to posterity.
Yet today, there is hardly a passable road leading to this wonder of an institution.
Year after year, Baba spends his personal money rehabilitating portions of this federal road. And year after year, the rains come and wash away those temporary repairs. Then he begins all over again.
But there is a limit to what one individual, however wealthy, patriotic or public-spirited, can do in circumstances such as these. A federal highway cannot be permanently reconstructed through the private intervention of a 98-year-old man. This is fundamentally the responsibility of government.
It is even more painful when we remember that Baba is the biggest taxpayer in Ekiti State. He has never failed to perform this civic obligation. He pays his taxes faithfully, promptly and without being chased or prompted. Surely, a citizen who has consistently honoured his obligations to the state deserves to see the government honour its obligations to him and to the wider community.
Every day, and almost every waking hour, Baba laments the deplorable condition of this road. It is heartbreaking that a man who has given so much to his country should spend the twilight of his remarkable life pleading for something as basic as a motorable road to the institution he built for Nigeria.
May Baba live for many more years. But we must not allow him to look upon this magnificent investment with regret. We must not leave him wondering whether his country appreciates the sacrifice he has made or the legacy he has created.
I have been reliably informed that the Honourable Minister of Works will visit Ekiti this week to personally inspect the federal roads traversing our state.
Mr Minister, please, do not conclude your visit without travelling on the road leading to ABUAD. Experience what students, parents, workers, patients and visitors endure daily. More importantly, please spend a few minutes with Aare Afe Babalola. Sit with him, listen to him and assure him that the Federal Government sees his sacrifice and will not abandon the road leading to one of Nigeria’s finest centres of learning.
Some years ago, Baba’s university honoured Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with an honorary degree. That was when he was yet to become President. He came to the university and travelled on this same road. It would be a fitting tribute-not as repayment for that honour, but as recognition of Baba’s monumental contribution to Nigeria-for the government of President Tinubu to ensure that this road is reconstructed during Baba’s lifetime.
There are certain honours that should not be postponed until a man is gone. There are monuments we must preserve while their builders are still alive to see that their sacrifices were not in vain.
Give Aare Afe Babalola this joy while he is still with us.
Mr Minister, we appeal to you: visit the road, meet Baba and ensure that the work is done. Ekiti people-and, indeed, generations of Nigerians who will benefit from ABUAD-will remain eternally grateful to you and to Mr President.
We eagerly await a positive response.
– Babafemi Ojudu
