Living The Covenant University Dream

The programme was organized to welcome, remind and orientate old and new members of management, faculty and staff with the Covenant University culture, goals and vision. It also served as a platform to prepare participants for the tasks ahead in the 2014/2015 academic session.

While giving his opening lecture titled, ‘Living the Covenant University Dream,’ the Chancellor of Covenant University, Dr. David Oyedepo, called for the re-enactment of the values and culture that brought the University thus far.

The Chancellor stated that there was no limit to the power of oneness in driving a corporate goal. He said to create the future we need, there must be a shift in thinking and action, with an understanding that every generation needs a new revolution - a revolution of the mindset.

Dr. Oyedepo said, “Vision is a custodian of the values and goals of any institution. Therefore, raising a new generation of leaders means, providing a new approach to training our students to achieve the best results.”

While enumerating the various societal issues the institution is raised to address, the Chancellor stated, “As a University, we are reacting to the deterioration in the educational system; we are reacting to the intellectual poverty and moral decadence that the fallen standards have institutionalized; we are reacting to many years of neglect by the government that now enslave the future of the next generation; we are reacting to the negative forces that have destabilized our economic fortunes and now want to destabilize our quest for nationhood; and we are reacting to the intellectual underdevelopment of the average Nigerian university graduate.”

The sage declared that Covenant University is a revolution in education. In his words, “At Covenant University, we are, therefore, taking up intellectual arms to spearhead a revolution in Education.”

He further said, “I believe that sound education is the sure foundation for every great nation. Not just education this time, but the right kind of education. We do not, therefore, need just education; we desperately need the right kind of education, to raise the right kind of leaders; promote the right kind of values and graduate the right kind of persons who will bring about the right kind of changes that this part of the world desperately requires today.”

Change, according to Dr. Oyedepo, is the University’s capital philosophy - a departure from the traditions of learning to the dynamics of discovery. He stated that resistance to change is the worst enemy of advancement. However, “Resistance to change is universal; it seizes every generation by the throat and attempts to stop all of its forward movements,” he emphasized.

The Chancellor urged participants to beware of the traps of tradition. In his words, “Tradition is the worst enemy of development and advancement. There are great things in the past, but not all things in the past are great. We must discard the ones that are not good, because our mission here is to de-colonize the minds of our students, so they can move beyond the slave mentality.”

Moreover, he said that nothing ever seems perfect at the beginning, since everything goes through a process to perfection. However, when we use the perfect to appraise our present, we become discouraged. “What we call Western education today,” he said, “are products of committed thinkers who discovered solutions to societal challenges and are now teaching the process.”

The Chancellor who emphasized the power of ideas, said, “Every empire is built on ideas, and it is great ideas that build great nations, corporations and institutions. Ideas rule the world. I believe in the universality of ideas, I believe in the liberty of ideas. Ideas are mental virtues only accessible to thinkers. At the root of every gain, is the use of the brain.”

Reiterating the power of results, the Chancellor encouraged the faculty and staff of CU to aim for results, because adequate local results would create attention at the international platform. However, he said, “Until you are willing to lose sight of the shore, you cannot discover new Islands; active engagement in general life-applicable solutions is what makes a world class institution.”