Legal icon and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), has called on Nigerians and all tiers of government to embrace agriculture as a strategic tool to combat poverty, hunger, and unemployment.
Speaking on Saturday while receiving the Ekiti State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mr. Kayode Fasae, and his seven-man delegation during their visit to ABUAD, Babalola referenced former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Operation Feed the Nation as a blueprint for Nigeria’s return to agricultural prosperity.
“The country should borrow a leaf from former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who introduced Operation Feed the Nation during his first tenure as military Head of State,” Babalola said, stressing the programme’s success in promoting food security and agricultural self-sufficiency between 1976 and 1979.
He noted that Nigeria, blessed with fertile land, rich vegetation, and favorable weather conditions, has no excuse for the high levels of poverty and hunger currently being experienced.
“Before the discovery of oil in Oloibiri, agriculture was the bedrock of Nigeria’s economy,” Babalola recalled. “Each region thrived on its unique cash crops—cocoa in the West, rubber in the Midwest, palm oil in the East, and groundnut and cotton in the North.”
The legal luminary lamented the nation’s shift away from agriculture since the oil boom of the 1960s, describing the neglect as a historic misstep. He advocated for renewed grassroots efforts, including the provision of farming tools and support services at the local government level to empower rural farmers.
Babalola also shared personal memories of Nigeria’s agrarian past. “When I was growing up, everyone had a backyard garden. It wasn’t just about feeding your family—people shared food with neighbors. That spirit of abundance can return if we go back to the land.”
He highlighted ABUAD’s own integrated model, which combines agriculture, education, industry, and healthcare—featuring enterprise farms, an industrial park, a power plant, and a state-of-the-art teaching hospital.
The visiting government delegation commended the university’s sustainable approach and called it a viable model for national development.
Babalola concluded with a passionate call to action: “Like Obasanjo once showed us, we must return to the land. Agriculture is not just food—it’s employment, security, self-reliance, and our path to true prosperity.”
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