Our leadership thrust is built on covenant values which we refer to as our core values.

1. Spirituality

This refers to instilling the fear of God into the life of men and women in the university particularly our core product; the students. It is an understanding that no one can have genuine feeling for men without the fear of God. This is why the fear of God is a fundamental requirement for effective leadership.

Most of the greatest leaders of all time in bible history were men who lived by the fear of God. Joseph said “but I fear God”, Job the greatest business leader of his time was reported to be “a man that feareth God and escheweth evil”, Daniel, the great, we were told will not defy himself. We believe the fear of God is fundamental to a successful career in leadership and since our vision and mission is to raise a new generation of leaders, which is considered the greatest need of this generation, particularly in our part of the world. The fear of God remains the non-negotiable factor in the pursuit of our mandate. God delivered the criteria for leadership to Moses through Jethro his father-in-law as recorded in Exo. 18:21-24.

The criteria as listed in above scripture among others are as follows:

» Able men, which talked about capacity, that is men equip to deliver.
» Such as fear God, men of truth. This means that capacity is not enough, therefore the fear of God is what makes capacity to deliver. There is no doubt there are too many able men in this country, why are we still a victim of poor leadership as a people – it is the lack of the fear of God.

2. Positive Mentality

We at Covenant University believe that the mental picture of a man is what defines his actual future. Our mission is to stimulate the dream of royalty and dream of dignity into our students so that they can begin to develop a royal attitude, cultivate royal habits and form royal character so as to fulfill the Covenant University dream of raising a new generation of leaders.

James Allen once said “a man is literarily what he thinks”. It was Manley Snergy that said, “sow a thought, reap an act, sow an act reap a habit, sow a habit reap a character and sow a character reap a destiny”.

This fully validate the scripture that says, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he (Prov. 23:7).

3) Capacity Building

Capacity Building here centres around skill development and we believe that lack of skill can kill any dream. While spirituality and mentality positions man for leadership, it is capacity that enables him to deliver.

Capacity Building in this context can be defined as possessing the ability to deliver a given task. This is why Covenant University will remain committed to academic excellence and continue to drive our students through the crucible of personal development in pursuit of their individual dreams. It is skill that turns trash into treasure. Our mission is to inculcate an untiring quest for capacity building, enhancement of professional capabilities and personal development into our students. We saw in scriptures how a team of nonentities as reported in 1 Sam. 22:3 turned out to become mighty men of valour by 2 Sam. 23:8 through the “magic” of skill development and capacity building.

4. Integrity

Lack of accountability in our view is the bane of leadership in our nation. When truth is off the street, destinies are trampled under feet. There is need to recapture the virtue of integrity in our society today.

Someone has said, “people hear what you say, but they will only end up doing what you do”. Leadership by example therefore is the greatest need of our time. Until you can boldly say “follow me” you are not qualify to lead. This takes hard work, not of flesh and blood, not of strength and vigour, but of heart and conscience. It is working on oneself to be worthy of one vocation.

5. Responsibility

It was Malcom Forbes that said “a man who enjoys responsibility usually gets it. A man who usually likes exercising authority usually loses it. We are committed to inculcating a sense of responsibility to our students. We expect them to respond to issues as demanded not as convenient. We believe in the place of discipline for effective leadership.

It was George Washington that said “Discipline is the soul of an army, it makes more number formidable, it procure success to the weak and esteem to all”. Here at Covenant University, our students are not permitted to do what they like but they are compel to do what is right at all times.

6. Diligence

Nothing enhances worth like work. Every high flyer is known to be a hard worker. You cannot eat your cake and have it. You cannot make omelet without breaking eggs. Every leader is a worker and every committed worker is a potential leader.

Here at Covenant University, we believe in the dignity of labour. We extol the servant-leadership philosophy. We believe that commitment is the greatest qualifier for attainment. We believe that no one is committed to lead without taking the lead. And we believe that taking the lead demands that one goes the extra mile. This is why hard work is one of our celebrated core values. We expect all our students to be hard workers, tireless workers and creative workers. Sees thou a man that is diligent in his business he shall stand before kings he shall not stand before mean men (Prov. 22:29).

Where you find yourself tomorrow is a function of your diligence today. Nothing works like hard work.

7. Sacrifice

Every great leader of all time has a story rooted in sacrifice. Sacrifice is the ultimate price for outstanding leadership. It is quality sacrifice that defines great leadership. No one can get out of life more than what he is willing to put into it. Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price at the cross, gave his life a ramson. Today, about 2/3 of the world population still subscribe to his leadership, 2,000 years after he departed the planet earth.

You cannot lead a course indeed for which you are not willing to give all you’ve got. Sacrifice in our view is going the extra mile, paying the extra price and giving it all it takes within and even beyond your powers to deliver the goods. Our students are being trained to raise altar of sacrifice in the pursuit of their dreams and vision. You cannot impact the world without paying a global price. It is sacrifice that makes stars. Every star carries a scar of sacrifice (Luke 12:49-50).

The core values when fully bought into by faculty staff and students, shall provide an effective and valuable process that fosters on the desired change. We are already moving fast into turning it into our guiding concept giving language and expression to our unique destinations of all-round, world class excellence in research, teaching and community services. The reception, the articulation, the adoption and the sharing of the vision by all key players in the University is our approach for accelerating the pace of dynamic change for the transformation of our community or society.