Dr. Bolaji, who received his doctorate in law, told our correspondent that he was merely attempting to serve as an inspiration to those who were following in his footsteps during the Doctoral Hooding ceremony on Thursday at the university’s Amphitheatre.
“I just want to prove that there is no time you can’t purpose to run after excellence,” remarked the Kogi State-born chartered accountant, who was previously the executive director of the now-defunct Bank PHB and is now Keystone Bank.
“You don’t have to die; I just want to inspire the next generation to believe that learning has no boundaries and that they can push themselves and the status quo to improve.”
He claimed that when he was close to retiring from the banking industry, he began studying law at a very young age.
Bolaji claimed to have earned his first legal degree from Lagos State University in 2004 at the age of 50 and his master’s degree from the same institution in 2014 at the age of 60. Four years ago, he enrolled at Babcock University to pursue a PhD.
However, because government-owned university employees often treat their students in an unfriendly and unworthy manner, the lawyer has called for a shift in mindset.
Bolaji stated, “I have attended both public and private universities. I studied economics at the University of Ibadan and law for my first and second degrees at Lagos State University.
“The ball games are different, I can say that. Private schools are friendlier, but public universities may be because their staff members are government employees who believe they may treat you anyway they choose. This should not be the case, and I believe there should be a change in perspective to inspire people to pursue further education.
Nonetheless, the university’s vice chancellor, Prof. Ademola Tayo, has exhorted the doctorates to apply their expertise to rebuild the country and create a better world by contributing to the solutions of the numerous developmental problems facing humanity.
Prof. Tayo bemoaned the fact that academics have been marginalized in our country’s political discourse for far too long, giving way to noise, mediocrity, and occasionally corruption.
According to him, Nigeria requires a new generation of leaders—men and women with integrity and ideas, based on facts and motivated by vision—who are not only critics but also producers of solutions, policies, and hope.
“Let your scholarship question the status quo, disrupt decay, and promote evidence-based governance,” the VC remarked. “The penalty good men pay for their indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men,” as Plato once cautioned. Make your effect even more noticeable by raising the volume of your voice. Because the times are changing, take a brave step into the future.
“Despite having a wealth of talent, our nation is beset by structural inefficiencies, economic instability, and political division. It is a land of contradiction and promise.
As PhD holders, you are now members of a select group of people whose minds have been molded by the most prestigious educational program. This knowledge shouldn’t be kept as a status symbol. It needs to be used as a tool for changing the country.
“Your intellectual property must act as a stimulant for socioeconomic revitalization. Use your knowledge to build effective systems, whether you’re in a lab, boardroom, classroom, or the corridors of government. These systems might be for agriculture, which feeds our country; technology, which fills the gaps; or policies that prioritize people over power.
“The impact of your work—tangible, visible, and transformative—is what truly makes your doctorate valuable, not the title that appears before your name.”
