I studied nine foreign varsities before starting Covenant – Oyedepo

The Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Regents of Covenant University, Dr. David Oyedepo, has disclosed that he studied nine world-class foreign universities before establishing the institution.

Oyedepo stated this during the convocation and conferment of first and higher degrees, and the presentation of prizes in Ota, Ogun State, on Friday.

Covenant University was recently ranked 1st in Nigeria and 6th in West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa by the Times Higher Education World Universities Ranking 2025.

The institution, situated in Ota, Ogun State, was listed as the only Nigerian university among the top 1000 universities globally.

Speaking on ‘What Makes Covenant University Unique’, Oyedepo said he got inspiration after understudying Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Caltech, MIT, Stanford, Duke, and Dartmouth universities.

“While nothing was copied, a lot of inspiration was drawn from those studies, which eventually led to the crafting of our core values, making our products very unique,” he said.

Oyedepo, who also founded the Living Faith Church Worldwide, added that the origin of the institution was divine, the pursuit was strategic, and the training modules were “uniquely” designed.

He added, “My passion came alive to provide an alternative education, in terms of quality, that would rescue these young individuals from lifelong crises.”

Meanwhile, a total of 339 students of the university bagged First-Class degrees at its 19th Convocation.

They comprised 339 first-class honours, representing 23 per cent; 762 second-class upper honours, (52.3 per cent); 330 second-class lower, (22.7 per cent); 25 in third class (1.7 per cent)  and 151 post-graduate students.

In his address, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abiodun Adebayo, revealed that the National Universities Commission has approved the commencement of the Open Distance Learning Programme for the institution, starting with a B.Sc. in Computer Science.

In his remarks titled: The Necessity of Patience, the University’s Pro-Chancellor, Bishop David Abioye, urged the graduates to be patient in life.