As part of activities marking the celebration of the annual Black History Month, the University of London has started rolling out a series of articles on “The power of education” with the first article focusing on one of its prime alumni, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) and his university, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, for their remarkable contributions to education and for making a real difference to the world.
The celebration of the annual Black History Month comes up in October every year.
Emphasizing the special honour it has accorded the frontline legal colossus, the University of London in a special publication titled ‘The power of education’ said: “In the first of a series of articles celebrating Black History Month, we feature the prominent legal figure and University of London graduate, Aare Afe Babalola”
“As part of our celebration during Black History Month, we will feature a number of inspirational profiles of people who have made a real difference to the world. Our first feature is of a prominent legal figure who has also moved into the field of education by setting up a university in Nigeria for the next generation”.
With 57 years’ experience as a legal practitioner, Babalola has achieved “unrivalled success” which includes training more than 1,000 lawyers, producing 22 Senior Advocates for Nigeria (SANs), the largest number from any Chamber in the country in addition to producing several judges and Attorney Generals.
A distinguished member of the Nigerian Bar, Afe Babalola is also founder of Afe Babalola & Co, more commonly known as the Emmanuel Chambers. His chambers started in 1965 as a one-man operation and is now reputed to be one of the largest in Nigeria.
Today, more than 30 lawyers, including three of Nigeria’s most SANs, equivalent to Queen’s Counsel in the UK operate from this chamber based in Ibadan with offices in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt as well as a further two in Ado-Ekiti and London.
In 1963, Babalola was called to the Bar in England after being awarded the University of London’s LLB through distance and flexible learning, which was previously known as the External System. Through the same route, but prior to the LLB, he was awarded the University of London B.Sc in Economics. Having successfully completed two degrees, Afe Babalola went on to become a registered member of Lincoln’s Inn, London as well as the Bar of England and Wales.
In 1987, Aare Afe Babalola was admitted to the Nigerian Inner Bar as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). For 40 years now, he has been an active member of both the Nigerian Bar Association and the International Bar Association.