The recent huge investment by the ICT Sub-Committee of the Board of Regents in Covenant University on the University’s website and portal system has started paying off, as the University has won the award for the Best Tertiary Institution website/portal at the 2022 .NG Award organized by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA). The award was presented to Covenant after her website and portal system were adjudged the best .edu.ng website/portal in the country.

The metrics taken into consideration in arriving at the best were based on how current the website is, the level of local content on the website, ease of use, relevance of the website for delivery of educational services and how dynamic the website is.

Organizers of the award said the essence of the 2022 awards was to celebrate the achievements and innovation of Nigerian Internet initiatives, showcase Nigerian businesses, individuals, charities, and public and private sector organizations that help to make the Internet a more secure, open, accessible, and rewarding experience for all.

In addition, the goal was to identify how the use of the internet has made learning easy for students and tertiary institutions, taking into account the dynamism that has come into play in the global education system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Director, Vice-Chancellor’s Office, Professor Omotayo Osibanjo, receiving the award on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abiodun H. Adebayo, said there was a need for more attention to be directed at public schools in the country, especially with the aim of making internet resources free and accessible to them. According to him, "No country records meaningful progress without a commensurate investment in education."

Professor Osibanjo said while many institutions, public and private, shuttered their campuses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Covenant University was one of the very few whose academic calendar was not disrupted, as the University was able to switch and operate at the cutting-edge of ICT due to the robust investment in internet technology.

"What we enjoy at Covenant University is not available at most public tertiary institutions in the country. As we speak, students in such schools expend more money buying data, which is free in some countries, and our policymakers in the country need to do more in the area of education and internet accessibility, because education is key to any type of development we may be talking about," he added.

While the .NG Awards 2022 voting was open to the general public, a committee made up of representatives of NiRA Accredited Registrars, Executive Board Members, and the NiRA Secretariat acted as the jury, verifying the results and submitting them to NiRA's external auditors.