The founder of the Living Faith Church, Bishop
David Oyedepo, has defended the tuition fees
charged by schools owned by the church, describing
the provision of quality education as an expensive
venture.
Oyedepo said this while addressing journalists on
Friday in Ota, Ogun State, at a media chat
organised in commemoration of his 60th birthday
coming up on September 27, 2014.
Private schools in the country, including Covenant
and Landmark universities, owned by the church
are often criticised for being too expensive for
average Nigerians to afford.
But Oyedepo highlighted some of the church’s
humanitarian programmes which include providing
scholarships and bursary awards to assist students.
He said, “I’m sure we all agree that education is
expensive. Education carries cost; nothing of value
is free. Our mission for years long, before we
started any university or secondary school, was a
bursary awarding church and we have not stopped
doing that till tomorrow.”
Oyedepo said that the church was committed to
providing quality education to youths, adding that
many Nigerians complain about the cost of
education in private universities because they have
got their priorities misplaced.
“Our problem most of the time is priority; an
average Nigerian can spend N1m on burial but to
spend N200,000 on education (is a problem),
because of wrong priority.
“On a yearly basis, we have N1.5trn that Nigerians
spend to overseas universities, so people thrive on
it. Nigerians spend N463bn a month on recharge
cards, how much are they paying for schools fees?
So it’s all a matter of priority. This is the
largest market for telephone in the world. Now,
to pay N500,000, some people have only one son,
they have huge business and houses all over the
places, they will never pay it.”
Speaking further, Oyedepo said he had chosen not
to respond to the many controversial reports about
him on the social media because he considered it
as a waste of time.
He said, “My understanding of opposition,
persecution is simply someone’s opinion harshly
expressed. Everybody has a right to his opinion.
Today, millions follow after Christ but you will be
surprised that when you get to Israel some people
do not believe that Christ has come.
“People have rights to their opinions. I naturally
don’t feel it’s necessary (to respond). The energy I
would need to react, I can use it to make moves.
I have enough to think about than start running
after a man who says you are a fool.
“If he says you are a fool and you are behaving
so, then he’s right. If you leave your job and
start pursuing somebody who says you are a fool,
he has already said so, your going around doesn’t
change it. So why going around, why don’t you
settle on your job and make moves?
“I’ve also come to understand that those who
make news hardly watch them, they are so busy
making news while others are busy watching.”
Asked about the challenges he has faced in life
and in his ministry, Oyedepo said he had never
dwelled on his challenges but that he has rather
been fuelled by them.
He said, “Life essentially is full of challenges, it
is those challenges that make champions. You
can’t emerge a heavy weight boxing champion
except you receive punches. You can’t change
classes in school except you write exams.
“So to me, life is an adventure in challenges and
I’ve said often that it is normal to be
challenged but it’s unscriptural to be defeated.
Challenges are the stepping stones for the making
of champions.”
At age 27, in 1981, Oyedepo started his ministry
in Ilorin, Kwara State and sited his first church
two years later in Kaduna State.
At the media chat, he said that the church now
has branches in 63 countries in the world and
that the Faith Tabernacle in Ota, where he
pastors, hosts “over 200,000 worshippers every
Sunday morning in four services.”

source: http://www.punchng.com/news/oyedepo-defends-fees-charged-by-private-varsities/

FTC haha! Make I no talk wetin dey my mind on top this matter before 'Bishop' dash me Slap.