Babalola bags University of London award
Eminent lawyer Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) is to be conferred with the honourary Doctor of Law (LLD) by the University of London.
Chief Babalola will be receiving his 12th honourary doctorate from the foremost British university at the Barbican Centre in London, March 11.
The Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) gave the eminent lawyer his 11th honorary doctorate on December 20, last year.
Chief Babalola has practised law for over 50 years, handling landmark cases at the Supreme Court . He is the first African to get the LLD of the London University in the 179 years of the institution.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela was in 1996 conferred with honorary doctorate in Economics by the university. Archbishop Desmond Tutu also received a honorary doctorate in Divinity in celebration of the anniversary of the foundation of the university on December 2, 2008. Other past awardees include war hero Winston Churchill and the distinguished poet T.S. Eliot.
However, unlike Tutu who had a close working relationship with the University of London and consequently served as Associate of King’s College and visiting professor in post-conflict societies in 2004, Chief Babalola simply stayed put in Africa building education institutions and investing his energy and resources in his homeland.
A letter dated January 16 and signed by University of London Vice Chancellor Prof Adrian Smith, said the Collegiate Council of the university found Babalola deserving of the honour, which forms a part of the university’s international graduation ceremony.
“Each year, the University of London International Academy is eligible to award honorary degrees on persons of eminence and distinction,” the letter said.
According to Smith, a potential awardee must have met certain requirements, such as being ‘a person of conspicuous merit’, or one ‘who is outstanding in a chosen field’, ‘commands international recognition’, ‘has given exceptional service to the community’, and ‘has made important contributions to the university’.
Interestingly, Babalola is a beneficiary of the opportunity offered by the University of London as external candidate of its examinations, which were first introduced in Africa in 1865.
Reputed as the mother of British universities, the University of London has birthed numerous colleges in the United Kingdom as well as the Commonwealth countries, many of which later metamorphosed into autonomous universities. The University of London also nurtured Nigeria’s premier university – The University of Ibadan – which was established in 1948.
Reacting to the award, Babalola said aside his “monumental” achievements in the legal profession, the strings of landmarks recorded by the Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), an institution he established five years ago as a pacesetter in quality and functional education, also contributes to his new achievement.
The Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) gave the eminent lawyer his 11th honorary doctorate on December 20, last year.
Chief Babalola has practised law for over 50 years, handling landmark cases at the Supreme Court . He is the first African to get the LLD of the London University in the 179 years of the institution.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela was in 1996 conferred with honorary doctorate in Economics by the university. Archbishop Desmond Tutu also received a honorary doctorate in Divinity in celebration of the anniversary of the foundation of the university on December 2, 2008. Other past awardees include war hero Winston Churchill and the distinguished poet T.S. Eliot.
However, unlike Tutu who had a close working relationship with the University of London and consequently served as Associate of King’s College and visiting professor in post-conflict societies in 2004, Chief Babalola simply stayed put in Africa building education institutions and investing his energy and resources in his homeland.
A letter dated January 16 and signed by University of London Vice Chancellor Prof Adrian Smith, said the Collegiate Council of the university found Babalola deserving of the honour, which forms a part of the university’s international graduation ceremony.
“Each year, the University of London International Academy is eligible to award honorary degrees on persons of eminence and distinction,” the letter said.
According to Smith, a potential awardee must have met certain requirements, such as being ‘a person of conspicuous merit’, or one ‘who is outstanding in a chosen field’, ‘commands international recognition’, ‘has given exceptional service to the community’, and ‘has made important contributions to the university’.
Interestingly, Babalola is a beneficiary of the opportunity offered by the University of London as external candidate of its examinations, which were first introduced in Africa in 1865.
Reputed as the mother of British universities, the University of London has birthed numerous colleges in the United Kingdom as well as the Commonwealth countries, many of which later metamorphosed into autonomous universities. The University of London also nurtured Nigeria’s premier university – The University of Ibadan – which was established in 1948.
Reacting to the award, Babalola said aside his “monumental” achievements in the legal profession, the strings of landmarks recorded by the Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), an institution he established five years ago as a pacesetter in quality and functional education, also contributes to his new achievement.
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