The National Association of Artificial Intelligence Practitioners (NAAIP), has appointed the founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola SAN, as the pioneer chairman of its Board of Trustees (BOT).
The President of NAAIP, Prof Eyitope Ogunbodede, in a letter said Babalola’s appointment is a result of his revolutionary efforts in transforming tertiary education in Nigeria and his keen interest in artificial intelligence and other progressive, forward-thinking developments in education and the general society.
Ogunbodede commended Babalola for his immeasurable contributions to the institutionalization of quality and functional education since his seven-year stint as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos during which, with the cooperation of his colleagues in the council and the university management.
He listed some of the ground-breaking achievements of Babalola at the University of Lagos including upgrading the profile of the university, eradicating cultism on the campus, ensuring a stable and predictable academic calendar, turning the university around by ensuring accountability, using his resources, goodwill and connections to develop the university.
In his response, Babalola praised the brain behind the formation of NAAIP and the promoter of the Virtual Institute for Capacity Building in Higher Education (VICBHE), for his altruistic and immeasurable contributions towards the institutionalization of quality and functional education in the country.
He also thanked the NAAIP leadership for appointing him as its pioneer BOT Chairman and for coming personally to deliver the letter to him in Ado-Ekiti.
He said: “I appreciate you and the totality of NAAIP for appointing me as your pioneer BOT Chairman. I appreciate you the more for coming to Ado-Ekiti to deliver the letter of appointment. Your coming to deliver the letter to me is a demonstration of the love and respect you have for me for which I am very grateful.
“You have demonstrated leadership and your belief in serving others. If we all make up our minds to work hard and serve and not necessarily for what we can benefit therefrom, this country will develop rapidly too.
“It is a notorious fact that this country is blessed in all ramifications. This is a country that is not too hot or too cold. This is a country where the rain falls for at least eight months in a year. With all these advantages, we should not find it difficult to produce what we can eat and export the excess.
“Besides, we have people with brains, yet we are not moving forward because we don’t appreciate what we have. We are in a society that has lost its vision. This is the problem. We must retrace our steps and stop being interested in self-aggrandizement which will not help us. I am prepared to work with NAAIP towards the realization of its aims and objectives.”
