Afe Babalola to receive honourary law degrees from two foreign varsities

Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, is to receive honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Trinity Western University, Canada, and Trinity International University, United States of America, in recognition of his contributions to legal scholarship, educational innovation, philanthropy and social development.

The honours will be conferred on Babalola at the grand finale of the university’s 14th convocation ceremonies on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, as the institution prepares to graduate 2,194 students, its largest graduating class since its establishment.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Smaranda Olarinde, disclosed this on Wednesday during a press conference heralding the convocation ceremonies, adding that the graduating class, tagged AURORA, comprises 1,759 undergraduates and students from professional programmes, as well as 435 postgraduate graduands.

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She said 286 graduands obtained First Class degrees, while 824 earned Second Class Upper degrees, 234 obtained Second Class Lower degrees and 29 graduated with Third Class degrees in programmes where conventional classifications apply.

The remaining graduands completed professional or postgraduate programmes whose qualifications do not fall under the conventional degree classifications.

Olarinde also announced that the university would confer honorary Doctor of Letters degrees on three distinguished Nigerians for their contributions to society.

They are Professor Obiora Okonkwo, Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines; Mr Niyi John Olajide, an entrepreneur and chairman of Cavista Holdings; and Princess Dr Rosemary Osula Mku-Atu, a business leader and philanthropist.

The Vice-Chancellor described the awardees as worthy examples of enterprise, philanthropy, quality education, healthcare development and service to humanity, adding that their achievements would inspire the graduating students to deploy their knowledge and influence for the good of society.

Among the graduands is the 23-year-old traditional ruler, His Royal Majesty, Oba Oloyede Adeyeoba Akinghare II, the Arujale-Ojima of Okeluse Kingdom,
Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, who is graduating from the Department of Political Science.

The university said the Class of 2026 had grown more than 21-fold from the 103 graduands at its inaugural convocation in 2013, bringing the total number of graduates produced by the institution to 17,020.

In another development, Olarinde called on the Federal Government to extend its education interventions and funding programmes to private universities, particularly those of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

She said private universities also faced rising costs of laboratories, libraries, electricity, digital infrastructure, accommodation, transportation, staff welfare and security, while professional programmes required substantial investment in specialised equipment and highly qualified personnel.

According to her, a more inclusive approach to government interventions would strengthen the capacity of private institutions to contribute to national development and improve access to quality education.

The Vice-Chancellor maintained that investment in universities was critical to the development of healthcare, food security, technology, enterprise, public administration and national stability, urging the government, industries, professional bodies, development partners, alumni and philanthropists to deepen collaboration with the institution.

She said ABUAD had continued to prioritise academic standards, practical learning, entrepreneurship, discipline and research, while strengthening its international partnerships and infrastructure.

Olarinde further disclosed that the university ranked first in Nigeria for the fifth consecutive year in the 2026 Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings, placing second in Africa and 72nd globally, with an overall score of 90.8 per cent.

The convocation activities, which commenced on October 14, will feature professional inductions, an international hydrogen summit, a thanksgiving service, the annual Aare Afe Babalola Day, and a convocation lecture to be delivered by Okonkwo on ‘Functional Education and the Nigeria Project: Strategic Human Capital Development for National Renewal’.