Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) on Tuesday signed agreement with the oldest and leading United States-based health institution, John Hopkins Hospital.
The agreement which was facilitated by the Little by Little foundation would expose the institution’s medicine and health final year students to practical international training in Hopkins Hospital for a period of one year.
The founder of ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola SAN, in a short speech during the ceremony, commended the grand patron of the foundation, Chief Adegoke Ajayi his efforts at ensuring the success of the agreement with the hospital which he said would further expose the students to the international space.
Babalola explained that ABUAD in the last thirteen years of its existence has contributed to the development of the nation’s education and health sectors with the quality of research, teachings and community service.
He advised students who will be beneficiaries of the agreement to remain committed to their careers and be ready to give back to the university and the society, saying, ” it is a well-known fact all over the world that giving back to one’s Alma mater will substantially reduce the financial problems of other students.
The legal luminary said, ” Through this foundation and the agreement today, ABUAD medical students will be able to acquire additional medical education from the oldest and most respected hospital in the United States.
” Have you ever heard of any strike actions in the universities like Stanford, Harvard, Yale , Cambridge, University of London, Oxford and other leading universities in the world ? The reason is simple. It is because they enjoy financial contributions from philanthropists by way of endowment, grants , gifts, professional chairs made available by foundations and individual philanthropists.
” Government should stop those who are milking Nigerians to accumulate wealth, prosecute such illegal wealth accumulators and recover the money they have wrongfully accumulated so that we can come back to the status quo before introducing these measures.”
On his part, representative of Johns Hopkins , Dr Tokunbo Ajayi commended the management of ABUAD for the partnership, noting that the hospital was aimed at moving students of the institution to be the leading lights in the development of the health sector.
He said, ” We want the students to be proud of this noble institution and we believe the program we are creating, we will achieve the expected results. The certification we are giving them will open doors for them in the medical space and as well provide surgical mission to Ekiti people through ABUAD.”
Also speaking at the event, the Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, said the epoch making event will ultimately usher the students to the front seat of the medical profession within the shortest possible time.
She said: “We move steadily with a mindset to perch on the of global reckoning. We are indeed a global brand. The varied and comprehensive ranking have since validated us as an institution that lives up to its mission statement to change the world through quality and impactful education.”
