Afe Babalola, Experts Harp On Importance Of Education In Nation Building

The founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola and other academics have stressed the need for huge investments in the education sector to accelerate the process of nation building.

Speaking in Ado-Ekiti during the 10th induction of nurses in ABUAD, Babalola said the reason for his huge investment in education is because he knows that education is the answer to most problems, including unemployment and poverty.

Babalola, who explained that the institution believes in an uninterrupted academic calendar of which it never fails, stressed the importance of discipline and character for anyone to make it in life.

“Universities give out certificates based on learning and character, but we mentor and monitor students even at night. Discipline, character and perseverance are instilled in all our students.

“We need to believe in industry, hard work. Our problem in this country is that we want to eat, yet, we don’t produce, the Bible says people who don’t work, shouldn’t eat. Students of ABUAD are taught to work hard. When you work, it means you have faith in what you are doing. When you plant something, you have faith that it will grow and faith never fails. The students are taught to believe that, with faith, we can cure the problems of this country. Leaders should be noted for industry in character,” he said.

In a lecture entitled, “Building Competence, Embracing Global Relevance and Developing Quality Care: The Modern Nurse’s Mandate,” a community health specialist, Prof (Mrs) Adekemi Olowokere, said there is the need to put in place a good job satisfaction mechanism in place for professional nurses.

Olowokere noted that quality nursing care in the country is facing paucity of staff emphasising that addressing the situation will ensure quality. She stated that nursing has evolved over time, adding that the profession has the mandate to effectively respond to global health trends and increase global mobility in healthcare delivery.

The registrar, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Alhaji Ndagi Al-Hassan, who was represented, administered the oath and charge of the profession on the 113 inductees who graduated from the Faculty of Nursing of the top ranked private university, urging them to always make the ethics of the profession their guiding principle.

Earlier, the vice chancellor of the institution, Prof Smaranda Olarinde, praised the inductees’ outstanding academic excellence saying their class, in May 2024 council’s final qualifying examination, recorded a phenomenal 97.39 percent pass rate.

“By March 2025, the Midwifery qualifying examination hit a 100 percent pass rate. These remarkable achievements are proofs that competence is not accidental but built through hard work, discipline and excellent mentorship,” she said.