By : Abdulrasheed Ibrahim
The recent declaration of a day by His Royal Majesty, Oba Dr. Adeyemi Adejugbe Aladesanmi III, the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti in honour of Aare Afe Babalola, SAN,OFR, CON, is a clear indication that Aare is unlike a prophet without honour at home. Every October 18 is now to be known as “Aare Afe Babalola Day” in celebration of a Rare Gem in Ekiti Land. In this part of the world, it is a great privilege for a citizen to be on the march to a centenary. Mr. Jimmy Charter, a former American President recently breasted the tape in the race to a centenary to get a gold medal for being the first former President of United States of American to win such race. While wishing our own Aare Afe Babalola more than a centenary in this world in good and sound health, I pray our beloved country to be blessed with more of Aare Babalola , because if we have more of the kind of Aare whether in private or public sector, or even at the helm of affairs of this great nation which is still searching for the right leaders , the country will not have issue with becoming great again. I will come back to this later.
I have tried in the past to write a synopsis about Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, who has been a great lawyer, a prolific writer, a foresight entrepreneur, a wonderful farmer, a passionate philanthropist, a man of vision, an inspirer and maker of men, but since I have not been able to do that, there is no better time than now. Although, Aare Afe Babalola has already written his own autobiography titled “IMPOSSIBILITY MADE POSSIBLE” in the first person narrative, the task which many great people are finding difficult to embark upon. Aare being a prolific writer who never hesitates in contributing to the national or contemporary issues whenever the situation arises particularly through writing, embarking on such exercise cannot be a difficult task for Aare whose autobiography to me has joined the rank of wonderful and inspiring autobiographies that people aspiring to be great cannot afford to do away with. I have placed Aare’s autobiography in the class of such books as : “AWO” by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, SAN; “MY ODYSSEY” by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe; “MY LIFE” by Alhaji Ahmadu Bello; “LONG WALK TO FREEDOM” by Dr. Nelson Mandela; “IN THE SERVICE OF THE NATION ” by Alhaji Femi Okunnu, SAN; “GHANA” by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and lately “JUDGING WITH JUSTICE” by Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariowoola among many others just to restrict myself within the African continent.
Apart from Aare’s autobiography , another very impressive book on Aare in form of a biography in the third person narrative which you will equally find very interesting and inspiring about Aare is the one titled “THE DIAMOND AT THE BAR : A CHRONICLE OF LESSONS AND VALUE FROM THE LIFE OF AARE AFE BABALOLA”, co-edited by the incumbent Attorney-General of Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) and a contemporary law historian , Mr. Olanrewaju Akinsola (A.K.A. Onigegewura). I must confess this book is a must read for anyone aspiring to be great and having the determination to positively touch the lives of others. It is a recommended text book for anyone that wants to be A MAKER OF MEN. A journey through the book revealed how numerous people particularly lawyers became great and successful after being in contact or worked under the tutelage of Aare Afe Babalola. As one of the most successful lawyers ever to be produced in this country, his imprint on the sand of law and jurisprudence will remain indelible as rightly asserted by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN that: “As a solicitor and general practitioner, Chief Babalola has handled over 10,600 court cases, many of which were such landmark cases, that could have scared away the cowardly .Many of such cases have helped to redefine the law and recreate our jurisprudence”. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo , a former President of Nigeria who happens to be one of the clients of Aare Afe Babalola, considers Aare as an indispensable lawyer to him as according to Chief Obasanjo, in all his encounters in the legal battles , Aare has been his litigation warfare General that “ it is only when a case is important and complicated that I call upon him (Aare)”.
Aare Afe Babalola as a courtroom litigator once had a brush with the late Hon. Justice Kessington (popularly known as Baba Kess) during his years on the bench of the Lagos State High Court. Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) related his experience while advocating before the learned Judge when he had a cause to file an application on behalf of his client (Leventis Ltd) before the court challenging the jurisdiction of the court for making an order ex-parte against the Directors of the Leventis Ltd , ordering them to reinstate some of their workers they sacked. When Aare Babalola came before the Judge to argue the application, the Judge insisted that the court would not hear the application until those directors were brought before the court as according to the learned judge: “These directors are the people spoiling Nigeria and you lawyers are the ones spoiling the judiciary. I made an order and you are saying it should be varied. You must obey the order first.”
When Aare discovered that the Judge was not willing to hear the application which was on a Tuesday, he asked for an adjournment from the court on the ground that there was the need for him to comply with the order to bring the directors to the court and the case was adjourned to Thursday. Aare went to file a Notice of Appeal and Stay of Proceeding at the Court of Appeal which order was granted and same served on the Registrar of the court in the morning of Thursday to which the case was adjourned to. According to Aare Afe Babalola:
“This really made Justice Kessington to be more angry. He descended on me. He said I was a liar, that when I asked for time to comply with his order to bring the Directors of the Company to court, my intention was to go and restrain him. He said he did not know I could run faster than Ben Johnson. He said that I ran 100 yards to the Court of Appeal. (Ben Johnson at that time was a reigning Olympics Champion in 100 metres)… Then he continued his vituperations on me. He said ‘Look at this Ilu Oke Man, I will tell Isale Eko boys not to let you come to Lagos again and if you come they will beat you up. It was because I respected you that I adjourned the case; little did I know that you would run like Ben Johnson to the Court of Appeal to get an order against me from dealing with the directors. I will take your clients to Benin Republic. At this point I asked him where Benin Republic was. He replied: ‘Look at this Ilu Oke Man; he does not even know Benin Republic. It is Alagbon and we will give them (those at Alagbon) money for “fuu” (perhaps to smoke). They will barb their (directors of Leventis’) heads and they will know that there is a court order.’”
When Aare Babalola could not stomach all these, he later decided to sue Justice Kessington as he recorded everything said against him and his client. He hired the service of Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN) who then just returned from England after a self exile following the fall of the Second Republic. But due to much pressure and appeal that were later mounted on Aare Afe Babalola by many prominent personalities to withdraw the case against the Judge because of his pending retirement from the bench, Aare eventually bowed to the pressure and withdrew the case. When the Hon. Judge was retiring from the bench and was asked about his relationship with Aare Afe Babalola, he told the reporters they had put the dispute behind them and had become good friends.
Aare Afe Babalola has been friends and pathfinders to so many people both young and old. Not only that, through his comportment,actions, deeds and interventions, he has inspired many people to actions. As a core Bar Man who loves and believes in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), he personally built a Bar Centre for the Ibadan branch of the association and extended similar gesture to the NBA branches in Akure and Ado-Ekiti. The likes of Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) derived inspiration from such gesture to build a similar structure for the Ikere branch of the NBA. Aare Afe Babalola as a great arbitrator with his involvement in the arbitration practice inspired and encouraged Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola as Governor of Lagos State to ensure the passage of the Lagos State Arbitration Law by the State House of Assembly during his tenure . As a lover of his community, he not only struggled but championed the cause for the establishment of the Federal Polytechnic in Ado-Ekiti which he donated a gigantic structure to. As the Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Lagos, Akoka , he donated a wonderful structure to the university now known as Afe Babalola Hall. Aare Afe Babalola was one of the prominent indigenes of Ekiti that agitated for the creation of Ekiti State.
When I prayed earlier that may this country be blessed with more of Aare Afe Babalola, I know exactly what I am talking about. The only thing that this country needs to raise up again as the giant of Africa are leaders with great vision, passion, brilliance and selfless to positively turn around the fortunes this country is blessed with by the nature for the benefit of all Nigerians. These qualities are imbedded in Aare Afe Babalola and those who are willing will surely learn a lot from him. If the contemporary politicians or leaders are not ready to learn from the blueprints of our departed Nationalists such as Awo, Azikiwe and Sarduana, they will do well to learn from the blueprints of Aare Afe Babalola who is still living and very much in our midst. I was marvelled when I read the account of Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN about his visit to the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) established by Aare Babalola himself. According to the Learned Silk:
“When I first visited this living legend at ABUAD in May ,2018, he spritely took me from his office upstairs to the downstairs and handed me over to a high-ranking university official, who took me round on a guided tour of ABUAD’s facilities .I was showed vast expanses of agricultural trees, mangoes ,guavas, oranges ,pineapples; fish pond ; factories to process, package and sell the fish ; potteries ;piggeries ;etc. The university is a city within the Ado-Ekiti city……During my second visit to ABUAD in 2022, I noticed that everything had changed .I beheld many industries and state of the art facilities that were not there four years earlier. There was so much remarkable transformation within a space of just five years. I just could not comprehend how one-person could constitute such a one-man riot squad that decreed into existence such monumental development that would make many State Governors green with envy. The ABUAD University can now process grain, poundo yam , elubo , garri and fufu for local consumption and export .It provides its own bottled water ,t-shirts, face caps etc. The University generates its own electricity up to 5 mega watts. The ABUAD state of the art hospital with modern hitec facilities and gadgets is certainly one of the best in Africa.”
I have on several occasions asked the questions and yet to get answers that what are the leaders in this country particularly the Governors doing with the land under their custody? What are the Federal Universities of Agriculture as well as those of Technology doing and producing? What are the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and those of the respective States doing? Can’t they go to ABUAD to learn how good things are supposed to be done? If a private citizen with great foresight and vision like Aare Afe Babalola can be doing all these as highlighted above by Chief Ozekhome, what is happening to our leaders in government that are controlling our common wealth and the national treasury? Nigeria is a land of opportunity that can be exploited to the advantage of the Nigerians if we have the right people with great vision as our leaders. With the vast land this country is blessed with , how many of the wealthy Nigerians are interested in investing in agriculture as being done by Aare Afe Babalola, the great farmer? To borrow more from the words of Chief Ozekhome:
“He owns very large farms and plantations in many towns across Nigeria where he cultivates teak trees and various foods and cash crops .He is also one of the biggest fish, piggery and poultry farmers in Nigeria. He is already at the stage of processing sausage , bacon, ham and minced meat to be sold to shopping malls in Nigeria and abroad .Aare has not only instituted an annual award for farmers in Ekiti , but recently complemented his love for agriculture by setting up an industrial park in Ado Ekiti where various crops such as cassava , tomatoes , yam among others would be processed into finished products, thereby helping to reduce the huge waste always encountered while storing such perishable items .Aare Afe Babalola has run a good race. He is simply a living legend ; a colossus of law ;unmatched philanthropist ; a trail blazer; a builder of generations through education ; an unrepentant workaholic ; and a great humanist.”
Honestly if we have leaders in government and wealthy Nigerians with vision and passion to compliment these kinds of things in different directions, will Nigerians be complaining of hunger and starvation as seen everywhere today? If Nigerians are being advised to endure hardship and pain while the right things are not done by focusing attention on agriculture for massive food production as being demonstrated by Aare Afe Babalola, there will be limit to which many Nigerians can endure such hardship and pain which is the reason why some people are seen resorting to all sorts of crimes like ritual killing, kidnapping, banditry and armed robbery among other crimes as the saying goes that idle hands are devils’ workshops. If our leaders in government are really serious and have the interest of Nigerians at hearts, Aare Afe Babalola is really showing the positive way out of hunger and starvation.
For both leaders and the led in this country, there are great lessons and values that can truly be learnt from the lifestyle and example of Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, OFR, CON. I wish Aare, long life and prosperity in good health and happiness!
NOTE: Anyone is at liberty to disagree with my above submissions as I will surely appreciate a balanced, fair and objective rebuttal.
08055476823, 0816468375
30th October 2024