The founder, Afe Babalola University, Aare Afe Babalola, has pledged a car gift for the university’s top researcher, aiming to inspire impactful research endeavors among faculty members.
During the 2023/2024 ABUAD Founder’s Research Award Day in Ado Ekiti, Babalola rewarded deserving staff with a total of N12m for their scholarly publications in Scopus-indexed journals in 2024.
Babalola emphasised the importance of translating research outputs into marketable products for societal benefit, expressing his commitment to funding such initiatives.
He highlighted the university’s mission to foster innovation through various ventures, including the Multi-systems hospital, industrial park, and Agro-tourist farm.
Looking ahead to 2024, Babalola projected that the staff member with the highest number of publications, not less than 75, would receive a car gift, while runners-up would receive cash prizes.
He said, “Today, we shall be disbursing a total of N12m. This marked increase over the previous years is because over 150 scholarly publications were churned out above that of the year 2022”.
“The first runner-up with a publication of not less than 60 will receive N1m and the second runner-up with a publication of not less than 55 will receive N750,000”.
He underscored the importance of quality education, including impactful research, as a basis for promotion within ABUAD. Additionally, he encouraged lecturers to publish in the ABUAD/OGEES Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy, now recognized at par with Scopus.
ABUAD Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, praised Babalola’s support for staff excellence while reminding lecturers not to overlook the opportunity, urging them to prepare for future recognition.
