Covenant University’s commitment to excellent delivery of world-class education has again received external validation, as it was awarded the “Best Private University 2017” by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The maiden edition of the Excellence in Education Award ceremony which was organised by the Education, Printing and Publishing Sector of the Chamber, took place on Saturday, August 19, 2017 in Lagos.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor AAA. Atayero, the Director, Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation and Discovery, Professor Olawole Obembe, noted that it was an external validation of the Vision and Mission of the University.
“We receive this award on behalf of the Chancellor, Board, Management, Faculty, Staff and Students of Covenant University as an external validation of the Vision and Mission of our citadel. We are committed to raising a new generation of leaders and making quality and affordable education available,” he said.
He also emphasised the importance of education to the development of a nation, noting that to collapse a nation does not require atomic bomb or missile but collapse of the education sector.
Earlier in her welcome address, the Chairperson, Education, Printing and Publishing sector of the Chamber, Mrs. Modupe Onabanjo, stated that the award ceremony was organised to recognise, appreciate and see the good faces of the people and institutions that has contributed so much to the education sector. “This event is also put together to motivate each and every one of us, our little support to education will turn the sector around for better,” she added.
She decried the deliberate or otherwise poor funding of education, calling on all stakeholders to reposition the sector through adequate funding with good management in order to get the desired result. She promised that her Sector of the Chamber would continue with the event on yearly basis.
In his keynote Address on “Creativity as a Driver for Entrepreneurship,” the President, All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Lagos State, Mr. Isaac Olatunde, enjoined all stakeholders, particularly the school leavers to acquire skills in order to create businesses that would invariably develop the nation.
Other awardees in the Institutions Category were the Imo State Government, as the “Most Respected State Committed to Education 2017”; MTN Foundation, as the “Widest Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Education 2017” and Maple Education Canada Incorporated, as the “Most Reliable International Education Support Service Provider 2017.”
The Individuals Category went to the Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor Rahamon Bello, as the “Vice-Chancellor of the Year 2017”; Professor Oye Ibidapo-Obe, “Tertiary Education Lifetime Award 2017”; Mr. John Akinpelu of Lagos State Ministry of Education, as the “Oldest Serving Principal 2017”, and Mrs. Adeconde Abiola, also of the Lagos State Ministry of Education as the “Oldest Serving Head Teacher 2017”.