By Opeyemi Quadri 
ADO-EKITI | NOV 13, 2025: The founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola, has disclosed that the private institution will start giving scholarships to students from other countries.
The legal luminary, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), made the promise on Thursday, November 13, 2025, at the institution’s main campus in Ado Ekiti, after he was decorated and admitted into the Honorary Fellowship of the Nigerian Academy of Education (NAE).
He stated that the university, founded in 2009, is a non-profit institution, clarifying that savings will be set aside for an endowment, stating that that he had no shares in it nor anybody. “The money we saved will be kept for endowment, which you can use at any time.
“Very soon, by the grace of God, we’ll be giving scholarships to students from other foreign countries.”
The authorities and officials of the NAE, in a letter signed by its Secretary General, Prof. Elizabeth Okeke, stated that the founder of ABUAD was found to be the most exceptionally outstanding among those shortlisted for the honour.
“Afe Babalola was given the fellowship award as a mark of appreciation for his notable contributions and giant strides in the reformation of the educational sector,” the letter read.
Responding, Babalola attributed the NAE honorary fellowship award to the grace of God, hard work, and Spartan self-discipline.
Speaking on enrolment into the institution, Chief Babalola disclosed that ABUAD was oversubscribed, in a bid to counter the claim by the Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, who said in March 2025 that some private universities in the country are struggling to enrol up to 1,000 students.
He said, “The registrar keeps on telling me that people are pressing for more admission, and I said you can’t admit more, please. North, South, East, West, all six regions have students here.”
Recall that Afe Babalola University was ranked 84th in the world and 3rd in Africa in the 2025 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings released in June, while it ranked No. 1 for four consecutive years (2022–2025) by the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.
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Editorial Staff