In this interview with AKINLOLU ABAYOMI, founder of Babalola Academy College of Health Technology, Ilorin, Mr. Jimoh Babalola who is an indigene of Ora, Ifelodun local government, Kwara State, gave reasons why he has ensured the provision of an environment where every student feels valued and why the college should be admission seekers’ favourite destination. He also talked about ways to address staffing shortages in healthcare. Read on…
You are the Founder of Babalola Academy College of Health Technology which is one of the standard Colleges of Health Technology in Kwara State, what motivated you to establish the college?
First of all, my name is Mr. Jimoh Babalola, the chairman and proprietor of Babalola Academy College of Health Technology, Egbegila Road, Asadam, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. I have always had passion for education and as a tertiary student, I had looked forward to contributing my quota in terms of establishing a higher institution to support transition of students into higher education. Secondly, I wanted to be one of Nigeria’s stakeholders that will help to reduce unemployment in the country. Those were my inspirations and I appreciate God for the standard of education we have here and I can boldly say that in the whole of North Central, I don’t think there is any college of technology that has the standard and structure of Babalola Academy College of Health Technology, Ilorin.
Why the interest in medical courses?
Well, during my high school days, my father wanted me to become a medical doctor but I refused because I wanted to study petroleum engineering and I eventually studied computer science. Surprisingly, I established an institution in that same sector (health) that my father had wished for. I see this as a fulfillment of my father’s wish and I am happy doing this because of the increase in the ‘japa syndrome’ and because the number of health practitioners needed in Nigeria is insufficient, if we are unable to produce medical doctors and nurses, we can at least produce community health practitioners who will be licensed to work in the rural areas in the absence of doctors.
You mean one of your vision statements is to ensure that you help to address shortage of manpower in the health sector especially in the rural areas; but why the rural areas?
Because I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I understand the challenges people in the rural areas encounter in terms of health care, I decided to push for a College of Health Technology where we can produce community health practitioners who can serve in the rural areas. Today, my parents are no more but the experience we had is still fresh in my memory.
Can you recall one of the experiences, what happened then?
It was about me, I was sick and was told I had no blood. If there had been a primary health care center where I was, with a good practitioner, things would have been handled better. I survived it because I was rushed from Edo State to Ore, in a village called ‘Ajife’ under ‘Okada’, It was discovered there that I had a shortage of blood (13%) but all thanks to God today that I survived it.
Babalola Academy College of Health Technology offers how many courses and are they all accredited?
There are challenges of accreditation that some institutions face and I believe the government should work on that. There are a lot of mushroom schools with the assumption that having a college of health technology is an avenue to make more money, some people will get a three bedroom flat and establish a College of Health Technology, so, there are many cases of institutions having courses that are not accredited but having a structure like this here should tell you how authentic we are. We run five programmes; Community health ND and HND, Public health ND and HND, Health Information Management, Medical Laboratory Technician i.e a certificate programme with license and we have Pharmacy Technician ND. We have both NBTE approval and all the regulatory bodies have okayed our courses. The beauty of it is that all our programmes were approved by the federal government through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in Kaduna. We are also on JAMB brochure, any student seeking admission to our school must have taken UTME examinations. These are the things to watch out for when you want to know an accredited school. So, Jambites must choose Babalola Academy College of Health Technology as their first choice else JAMB will not grant them admission to the school. Our certificate is recognized and acceptable globally.
What is the current population strength of your students?
We have a lot of students, the first set has graduated and with divine support we will graduate the second set by December/January. Our first set of students were around 300 to 400 and this second set comprises about 380 students. We thank God and we know we’re moving higher.
Since your students are staying off campus, what steps have you taken to ensure their safety?
Ilorin is a peaceful town and our school is not located in a remote area, it is in the capital city of Kwara State in a popular area known as ‘Asadam’ and ever since we established this school, we have not had any record of missing students, with the security arrangements and other things we have put in place God has been protecting us.
Do you have plans to build hostels for your students?
We are currently building some hostels and they are almost taken to completion, some investors will also build more because we are planning to upgrade the College to a degree-awarding institution.
Making it a degree -awarding institution will require more responsibilities, how prepared are you for this?
We are prepared, we are currently running a college and there is nothing new in the educational system that we don’t know, the experience, capacity and capabilities are there.
How do you ensure that anyone who graduates from your school can successfully defend his or her certificate?
Our products are one of the best even more than the public institutions because I do not recruit Bsc holders or HND holders, the minimum requirements for my Lecturers is Msc, we have PhD degree holders as well and I can testify that our products are what Nigerians can trust.
Where do we see your school in the next five years?
In the next five years, I want to tell you that the College will be one of the best anyone can think of in this country. Secondly, it would have given birth to a University because we are currently at our proposed Jimoh Babalola University and the process is underway at the NUC, in the next five years the name will be more than what people expected.
What is your philosophy of life?
My philosophy of life is that I believe in vision and I believe that you must work towards achieving your vision. These days, people fail to understand the philosophy of life, especially our youths, they believe hard work does not pay, when you have a vision and the mission that drives you, you will get to where you desire with patience.
Could you tell us about yourself?
As I said earlier, my name is Jimoh Babalola, the proprietor and chairman of Babalola Academy College of Health Technology and I am also the promoter of the proposed Jimoh Babalola University. I am an exporter of charcoal, I am the CEO and director of Anibaba Global Traders LTD. I hail from Ora in Ifelodun LGA, Kwara State, I am married and blessed with two kids.
