Legal Icon, Afe Babalola Celebrates 60years As A Lawyer

Today, the cream of the legal profession and other important dignitaries will converge on the Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), in Ado Ekiti in honor of the founder, Aare Afe Babalola, as he celebrates the 60th anniversary of his call to the Bar.

Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the event, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kehinde Ogunwumiju says activities to celebrate the milestone includes an anniversary lecture scheduled to come up by 10.00am at the Alfa Belgore Multi-purpose Hall, ABUAD.

According to him, the event will also feature Testimonials & Goodwill Messages from Friends, Admirers and Associates of Aare Afe Babalola, and a Book Launch. The Chief Launchers are Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, CON, Wema Bank, Fidelity Bank, Union Bank, Zenith Bank, First Bank, Polaris Bank among other Launchers.

The Anniversary Lecture titled “The Future of Constitutional Democracy in Nigeria: Imperative of A New Constitutional Order” will be delivered by the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Reverend Mathew Hassan Kukah, who is an Honorary Alumnus of ABUAD and the Lecture will be chaired by former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR.

Ogunwumiju also said the theme of the lecture is to set the tone for the Future of Constitutional Democracy in Nigeria to birth a new Constitutional Order where the laudable tenets of a working Constitutional Democracy will be better observed.

He indicated that the money realized from the book launch which follows the lecture will be channeled towards the construction of the ABUAD museum while the day’s activities will be rounded off with a celebration dinner with King Sunny Ade on the Band Stand by 7.00pm.

The events which were put together by Aare’s mentees, admirers, and beneficiaries to mark, in a grand style, the Diamond Anniversary of the uncommon phenomenon and leader at the bar, will be covered live TV stations.

Dignitaries expected at the event includes the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the President of the Nigerian Bar Association Yakubu Maikyau SAN, FCIArb.

Other members of the Bar and the Bench, Legal Academics, the Royalty, the Clergy, Delegates from the University of London, Delegates from King’s College London, and Captains of Industries as well as members of the Diplomatic Community are also expected to be in attendance.

The revered legal doyen & educationist, Aare Afe Babalola, OFR, CON, SAN, FNIALS, LL. D (London), FCIArb. had the privilege of being admitted to the Bar of England and Wales on July 9, 1963.

An advocate par excellence, Aare Afe Babalola has made outstanding contributions to Nigerian Law and Jurisprudence through his excellent advocacy in court and by authoring several law books. He was at some point the President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of Nigeria.

He has been invited by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on several occasions as Amicus Curiae. He has also trained over 1,000 lawyers, produced 25 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (the largest by any Law Firm in the country), including several Attorneys-General at the Federal and State Levels as well as Judges up to the Appellate Courts.

Aare Afe Babalola is a committed educationist and a two-term Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council of the University of Lagos, UNILAG where he won the Best Pro-Chancellor Award twice, one-time Chairman of the Committee of Pro Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Aare Afe Babalola founded Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State (ABUAD), recently ranked by the highly respected Times Higher Education Impact Rankings as the Number 1 University out of the 221 universities in Nigeria and Number 321 globally.

In recognition of Aare Afe Babalola’s immense contributions to making the world a better place, he has been conferred with over 50 titles and Awards across the globe, including Honourary Doctor of Laws and Doctor of Letters from 10 universities, including the University of London, University of Lagos, University of Ibadan and the elite Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, the Zik Prize in Leadership, Obafemi Awolowo Leadership Award, the AU-ECOSOCC Leadership Award, as well as many traditional titles, humanity has unequivocally and loudly demonstrated that Aare Afe Babalola is a rare gem with all-time and all-round relevance to the world around him.

The legal icon also holds the prestigious National Honours as the Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) and Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).