The Chancellor and Chairman, Board of Regents, Covenant University, Dr. David O. Oyedepo, has tasked matriculating students of the University to get serious from the onset of their academic pursuit so as to make the most of their adventure in the institution.
Dr. Oyedepo made the call at the 20th Matriculation Ceremony of Covenant University held last Friday, March 11, 2022, at the University Chapel. He called for the renewal of the minds of the freshmen. According to him, “Embracing new values and reengineering of the mind, as it pertains to the way you think, is vital to emerging an entity to be envied.”
Dr. Oyedepo said how well behaved a person was, determines the outcome and outlook of such individual in the race of life. “Nothing devalues like lack of character,” he posited. He reiterated the fact that no pleasure-seeker in whatever mode or form had a future because life was not a playground.
In his remark, the Pro-Chancellor, Bishop David Abioye, said while every matriculation ceremony was seen as a rite, where the admission process of students was being formalized, he, however, noted that this did not determine the ultimate performance of any student.
Bishop Abioye said Covenant, being a highly customised institution, presented a set of life-changing Core Values that helps in training each student for a productive life. “By Covenant, every child of God is destined for an enviable future, which is realisable when one chooses to apply these Core Values to his/her life,” he added.
The Pro-Chancellor said testimonies abounds to validate the excellence synonymous with graduates of Covenant in the world of work and in their personal endeavours, by simply adhering to and imbibing these Core Values while passing through the Campus.
Bishop Abioye admonished the freshmen to embrace these values for enhanced performance in their academic engagements, noting that, it was absolutely impossible to get distinguished in one’s studies or in any field of human endeavour without being self-disciplined.
“I believe that studying at Covenant University, meeting with our distinguished faculty, interacting with co-students and passing through this incubating ground will certainly be a memorable adventure not to be forgotten in many years to come,” he concluded.
In his welcome remark, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abiodun H. Adebayo, said the significance of the matriculation ceremony could not be overemphasised in the admission into the undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes of institutions of higher learning, as it serves as the platform for conferring the matriculants with the full rights and privileges of studentship, having subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance and the institution’s Code of Conduct.
Professor Adebayo advised the matriculating students to be mindful of the fact that they were in Covenant to receive life-applicable and life-transforming education, which the University’s Board, Management, Faculty and Staff had covenanted.
“I hope you will maximise this privilege, and it is instructive that you all take heed to this wise counsel of our Chancellor, Dr. David O. Oyedepo, ‘You are absolutely responsible for the outcome of your life. It takes high-level discipline to make high-level achievements’,” he counselled.
Professor Adebayo said that with over 20,000 graduates since inception, many of whom were doing great things in the industry, telecommunication, academics, and other sectors of human endeavours, Covenant University was looking forward with renewed hope that the 2021/2022 Matriculating Class would within the next 4 to 5 years join the ranks of Eagles making waves and doing exploits in their various areas of professional calling.
The 20th matriculation ceremony witnessed a total of 1,927 matriculating students, with 1,807 in the undergraduate and 120 postgraduate cadres.