Professor Toyin Falola has challenged African universities to be bold and daring in fashioning curriculum that would change the system of learning and be relevant to the world at large.

Speaking at Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin, United States of America affirmed that African universities have “far outgrown the colonial models they inherited.” He, therefore challenged them to transform to meet the demands of globalization despite the challenges of development and lack of enough incentives.

According to him, the world of future knowledge belongs to only those who dare to break barriers and confront challenges head on.

The lecture, which was organized in honour of Professor Ademola Tayo was to mark the end of his 10-year tour of duty as the institution’s third President/Vice Chancellor.

Falola lauded the institution for contributing greatly to what he called “A new moral economy” through its faith-based education which does not discriminate in its admission policy because it admits not only members of the Seventh Day Adventists faith but across all faiths in the country. He said this has given the university a solid reputation of tolerance and readiness to affect the world through religious tolerance and leading by example.

 He commended the vision of the founders of the institution and all the leaders who have helped shaped the future of their students saying they are already thinking “ahead of history.” He, however, challenged them not to relent but make sure they network with their former students in the Diaspora because those are the people who will help lift the banner of the institution across the globe.

Falola, who also presented an over 600-page book chronicling the history of the institution, said African universities should no longer react to global shifts but must predict it. He affirmed that Babcock has through its development and growth demonstrated that it can function in this direction. 

According to him, “African universities should think ahead of history by building and positing futures that are indigenously constructed as well as informed by technological instruments, resources, and moral authority.”

He warned that the era in which lecturers see students as unexposed has passed, saying students should be treated as friends and encouraged to be inquisitive and not be treated as inferiors because education has been democratized with the advent of technology. He said any university that allows its lecturers to treat students shabbily risks atrophy. He also explained that indigenous knowledge systems must be integrated into the education curriculum to give the continent the basis of negotiating for relevance on the world stage.

He challenged university administrators to invest in academic technology, modernization of libraries and research laboratories. He said these border on curriculum redesign which takes cognizance of African perspectives in knowledge production.

His verdict on the place of the University in the country is that “Babcock University has proven to be one of the most successful private higher education experiments in Nigeria—and in West Africa. Babcock University’s accomplishments have occurred as university and student numbers have grown in Nigeria during the 21st century, as public funding has become less dependable, and as the hunger for good education has expanded.”

According to the world acclaimed professor of history, “The university has set the standard for what a privately funded, faith-based university can accomplish in academic performance, moral discipline, and entrepreneurial innovation. Babcock University has succeeded in revolutionizing education in the Nigerian context, with its level of acceptance tied to its motto: ‘Knowledge, Truth, Service.’”

He lauded the institution’s growth and development, “The progress, development, and success of Babcock University over the past 20 years are phenomenal and are worth celebrating. Extraordinary achievements in the areas of quality education, institutional governance and management, research and publication, medical education and entrepreneurship, and in the creation of a standard for moral discipline, ethical leadership, and civic responsibility have distinguished Babcock University from the national environment of industrial strife, academic and administrative chaos.”

He praised Professor Ademola Tayo for his 10-year tenure for consolidating the institution’s vision and challenged his successor Professor Afolarin Ojewole to take it higher because he is inheriting strong legacies from his predecessors.

In an interview with Nigerian Current, Prof Tayo, reflecting on his decade long tenure said the most difficult decision he faced while in office was the decision to raise tuition fees. According to him, “To increase the school fees due to spiral inflation was the hardest. However, I thank God that we did it with human face. You know because of the pressure on our resources because of the devaluation of the currency. We had to do it. The waste to wealth creation also helped us to cushion the effect. We are grateful now that we have paid all our debts to the banks. The worst is over.”