By Gabriella Ogbu
Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, the visionary behind Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), has demonstrated his commitment to academic excellence by honoring university scholars for their outstanding research contributions. During the annual prize presentation for the 2023–2024 edition, Babalola awarded cash incentives totaling over twelve million naira to instructors across all ABUAD campuses, in recognition of their 150 publications in international journals.
Highlighting the university’s remarkable achievements, Babalola revealed that 11 ABUAD researchers were among the top 500 authors worldwide, according to a Scival document published by Elsevier in 2024. He emphasized his dedication to fostering research excellence by investing more than N350 million since 2015 to publish research findings in journals indexed by Scopus, aligning with ABUAD’s mission to revolutionize Nigeria’s educational landscape.
Babalola also announced the elimination of publication fees for SCOPUS-indexed journals, as ABUAD’s own journal, the ABUAD/OGEES Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy (JSDLP), now shares the same rankings as SCOPUS. In addition to cash awards, including a brand-new car for the top staff member with 75 or more publications, Babalola encouraged academics to turn their research findings into commercially viable products, pledging continued financial and moral support to uphold ABUAD’s reputation as a global leader in education. He underscored the importance of maintaining high standards in research, teaching, and community service to elevate ABUAD’s status among Ivy League universities worldwide.
