Obasanjo, who ruled the country between 1976 and 1979 as a military head
and between 1999 and 2007 as a civilian President, however, took
responsibility for all his actions.
He spoke in Ibadan, Oyo State during the 50th anniversary lecture to
commemorate the call to the Bar of Chief Afe Babalola (SAN).
A civil war veteran and former Chief of Staff of the 3rd Marine Commando
Division, Nigeria Army, Gen. Alabi Isama (retd), had recently accused
Obasanjo of committing numerous blunders during his reign in government.
Obasanjo said, “One mistake I made that turned out to be successful was
when I was looking for somebody to give leadership of the University of
Lagos to and I chose Babalola. Some people said I made a mistake but it
turned out to be a successful mistake.
“My mistakes as people say were mostly in appointments. I appointed the
UNILAG Pro-Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor and the university became the
best. The Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor that I appointed were
acknowledged as the best at the time.
“The mother of all the mistakes was that the exposure and involvement of
Babalola in the affairs of UNILAG led to the establishment of the Afe
Babalola University in Ado-Ekiti.
“If you have not seen ‘instant wonder’, go to ABUAD. Babalola used his
experience as the Pro-Chancellor of UNILAG to build what today is the
best and fast growing private university in the country.”
Obasanjo, who inaugurated the extension of Babalola’s Emmanuel Chambers
on the occasion, said, “There are many Nigerians, but, there are not
many good Nigerians of Babalola’s sterling qualities.”
Solicitor-General of the Federation, Ahmed Abdulahi, who represented
President Goodluck Jonathan, described Babalola as a product of courage,
perseverance, determination and humility.
The Guest Speaker, retired Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, while delivering a
lecture entitled, ‘The future of Law in Nigeria’, stressed the need to
improve legal education in the country.
He said, “Our legal education should be re-invigorated and made more
robust. For instance, we should begin to encourage inclusion of
Comparative Law in every aspect of our legal education.
“We can only neglect the history of the principles of the common law at a
disadvantage. Our law faculties should be fully equipped with the
access to jurisprudence and decisions of other jurisdiction to protect
our laws.
“We delude ourselves in this country if we believe that, we can be a
great nation without a great legal system. The path to the greatness of
our nation is through a reliable, efficient, trustworthy and
value-driven legal system.”
Former Pro-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Chief Wole Olanipekun,
(SAN) described Babalola as a reformer, revolutionary and educationist
who contributed to national and legal development.
Governors Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo); Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); Olusegun Mimiko
(Ondo) and a former Ekiti State Governor Segun Oni among other eminent
personalities attended the ceremony.
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