CU marks Founder’s Day in colour

October 21,2006, was a day of colour, praises, sweet reminiscences and validation, through concrete testimonials, of the glorious vision that birthed Covenant University, as the University marked the 4th anniversary of its Founder’s Day.

The event, which started in the morning with a University Assembly that featured Staff/Student Symposium, praise/worship sessions, student presentations, flag (colour) parades by Colleges and testimonies/ special reports from Alumni and 2006 SIWES students, also featured an Anniversary Night that showcased special drama presentations, live renditions of latest music produced by CU students as well as an epic documentary film, titled, CU @ 4, which captured major strides of the University in its four years of existence.

At the Staff/ Student Symposium, all the speakers eulogized the unique vision and philosophical platform of the University, saying that the University, without equivocation, was the hope and ‘the tomorrow of our nation’ as far as education context was concerned.

Some pioneer staff that spoke also used the occasion to reminisce and chronicle the impressions the University has made on their lives. According to them, "it was clear right from the beginning that a new culture and radical approach to academia was being built at Covenant University", adding that the foundation of Jesus upon which the University anchors had not been compromised. They also eulogized the University’s culture of diligence, hard work and excellence, which they said has also positively robbed on their lives.

Speaking on behalf of the Alumni, the former Student Council Chairman, Mr. Muyiwa Fadugba, who is currently undergoing his National Youth Service Corps in Maiduguri, Borno State, thanked the University for the laudable virtues impacted on them, saying that the values are speaking eloquently through the graduates who are currently distinguishing themselves in their places of primary assignments at the NYSC.

In her address at the occasion, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Aize Obayan, who was obviously touched by the heartwarming and validating testimonies, especially from the newly released Eagles (Alumni), being a pioneer staff herself, recounted how on October 21, 2002 during the inauguration of the University, the Chancellor and Visioner, Dr David Oyedepo, laid on hot ground by the gate of the University and handed over the Institution back to God, saying, "We cannot run Covenant University, You founded the University and only You alone can run it".

The Vice Chancellor said it was gladdening that the University within the four years of its existence has charted a new course, broke new grounds within the context of higher education in Nigeria and God also has continued to validate the vision.

She said the humbling feedback from the graduates of the University was also a confirmation of landmark of excellence upon which the University was founded as well as the authentication of the words of the Chancellor that the Blackman was not inferior.
Prof Obayan thanked the Chancellor for his indelible footprints on the sands of Covenant University that would definitely lead to pathways of excellence for the University, promising that as God had heralded CU as the first it would continue to remain the first.

In his own address at the occasion, the Chancellor, who was full of praises unto God, said what he did at the inauguration of the University was in obedience to God’s command, adding that what God spoke concerning the University, His hand also has performed them. " I am not surprised by what we are seeing, I would have been surprised if they were not there. I didn’t need a University but Himself (God) needed one," he said as he reminisced on what happened on the penultimate October 21, 2002.

Dr Oyedepo who enumerated the achievements of the University within the past four years, said CU’s custom-built programmes like Entrepreneurial Development Studies (EDS), Total Man Concept (TMC) and Towards A Total Graduate (TTG) have been tested, proven and are now being copied by other Universities in the country.

He said Covenant University was not an ordinary school but a revolutionary camp whose mission was to effect a radical change that would rewrite the story of the Blackman. He said at the root of Blackman’s servitude was fear and that CU by breaking tradition and setting new platform would infuse a new mentality of bravery, which "is the cure for slavery".
The Chancellor, therefore, charged the University’s faculty to be radical and revolutionary in their approach to creating knowledge and research so as to effect the desired change expected of the University.

Dignitaries at the event were Pastor (Mrs) Faith Oyedepo, some Members of the Board of Regents, the Registrar, Yemi Nathaniel, other Principal Officers of the University, Principal of Faith Academy and her Deputy, Head Teacher of Kingdom Heritage School, Canaanland, Ota, among others.

The activities marking the Founder’s Day were rounded up on Sunday, October 21, 2006 with a thanksgiving service at Faith Tabernacle, where the Winners Family joined hands with Covenant University community in thanking God for His awesome work at Hebron (as the University is known)- the birthplace of kings and queens.

Click here for pictures of event