He does not do things in half measures. Neither is he one to believe that there is a task that is impossible to undertake. As a lawyer, he towered above scores of eminent men in the bar and the bench. His exploits in education echo beyond his immediate environment. Then, wait for this, in the farm, Afe Babalola, senior advocate of Nigeria, SAN, former pro-chancellor and chairman of governing council of the respected University of Lagos, and pro-chancellor of Afe Babalola University, AFUAD is recognized as a towering figure at the continental level.
That is why he will soon step into the stage as African Man of the Year for food security. Yes, food security. The honour that many Nigerians were waiting to see if President Bola Tinubu would be able to contest for with his declaration of a state of emergency in the food sector and the energy that the administration appears to have put into efforts at leading most state governments to give prominence to food production. Now Tinubu would have to congratulate Babalola who beat nine other leading African farmer nominees from Zambia, Rwanda, Liberia, Camerron, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Malawi.
The president knows Babalola as that legal luminary who through sheer commitment takes the cup in the race to give education the push in the country, then got into farming, not as a hobby but an industry born out of passion.
That caught the attention of the Global Food Security Committee of the Initiative For Green Sustainability. Tim Grunguis, the Award Committee Lead and Caleb Osasona, the Country Director of the body informed Babalola in a letter that he had been named the 2024 African Man of The Year in Food Security. The nonagenarian, while announcing his acceptance of the offer, advised the federal government to revive the old farm settlements in the country for it to adequately tackle the prevailing food crisis. He is not just giving that advice to win the accolade of any group or the favour of those in government, as he is known as the second largest farmer in his state of Ekiti, only after the state government. As a matter of fact, in terms of employment in the state it is only the state government that has beaten him.
The global body said it was fascinated by Babalola’s radical revolution in agriculture which include the ABUAD Bio-Diversified Farms, grants in millions of naira under the Afe Babalola Annual Agricultural Grants to hundreds of farmers, ABUAD Talent Discovery Centre, ABUAD Planetarium, ABUAD Industrial Park housing over 132 Farm Industries and ABUAD FM Radio. Now, at the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, which he built from scratch, he decided to cut school fees for all students of agriculture by 50% and give a seed money of N250,000 to every graduate of agriculture.
He told the media that in the last decade he had through his Annual Agric Festival put smile on the faces of participating farmers, as best of them goes home with a sum of N2 million, while the runners up also get cash awards. If you think he would stop at what he has been doing with the award, then you do not know Babalola. He said, rather than relax, the award would spur him to do more. He believes that the revival of the old farm settlements will not only solve the food crisis but will create job opportunities for unemployed youths in the country, while boosting export and providing raw materials for industries. Not only that, Babalola advised the government to introduce agriculture at all levels of the education system, from elementary to the university level. He added that allocations for agriculture should be made direct to the local government, being the closest to the grassroots.
