kennygee: I am a Christian and a born again one at that. There is no where in the bible that the church was a money making venture. Was Oyedepo's education expensive? Most of the men of their generation enjoyed scholarships self. To me, the church should give out, instead of competing with the world. A Church university that cannot be accessed by more than half its congregation has lost it.

If you are a bornagain, it is evident that you are a babe. Is it for you to judge? The fact that he is a pastor means the church should go into dept because he wants to help 'poor church members'? Besides, the cost, stress and risk of running these Universities are not cheap. Convenant University has one of the best facilities in respect to other Nigerian Private University (even though it is'nt the most expensive). You expect that to be free! Ah c'mon, they did'nt achieve that free of charge. But, wait a minute. If a Christian is poor, what do you think he needs? Money or God's Word (Acts 20:32). Stop being carnally minded!!

Yomieluv: Oga oyedepo,education is expensive though,that doesn't give you the impetus to charge exorbitant fee beyond the reach of the common man in your church..

Church encompasses showing consideration to vast majority of the members,than selected few rich..

Your fees is high Mr man.

Dude! Why don't u go make some money and send your kids to the best schools. Why is it your business to worry about the common man? Covenant University isn't for common men.

The richest countries in the world also have common men, just make sure u ain't a common man. Strive to be uncommon and watch the common men whine and complain. The common man never changes anything...just pawns to be used in the game of life.

NL so full of common men thinking common thoughts and making do with whatever life throws at them. I hate to be common, that's why I am uncommon in every way. You too can chose to be uncommon, just hope it ain't too late going by the sound of u.

kennygee: I am a Christian and a born again one at that. There is no where in the bible that the church was a money making venture. Was Oyedepo's education expensive? Most of the men of their generation enjoyed scholarships self. To me, the church should give out, instead of competing with the world. A Church university that cannot be accessed by more than half its congregation has lost it.

In other words...you expect Oyedepo to run his university for free, you expect the staff to work for salaries less than N10000 monthly, and you expect that funding for research would come from the air so to speak.

Sadly, a university is an expensive undertaking.

Dhotseal:


Dude! Why don't u go make some money and send your kids to the best schools. Why is it your business to worry about the common man? Covenant University isn't for common men.

The richest countries in the world also have common men, just make sure u ain't a common man. Strive to be uncommon and watch the common men whine and complain. The common man never changes anything...just pawns to be used in the game of life.

NL so full of common men thinking common thoughts and making do with whatever life throws at them. I hate to be common, that's why I am uncommon in every way. You too can chose to be uncommon, just hope it ain't too late going by the sound of u.

no society can exist without the common man,any society that doesn't take them to consideration is heading for doom.

cole265:

Now that the school is built, (with members tithe and offering) it should be made affordable to at least most of its members.
Now, they should be thinking of building hospitals too because the church has the were with all to do so. Moreover, this is what the church teaches-charity. Private individuals who gets no donation do this and more.

The church didn't build dat skul for its congregation. And d church doesn't preach dat type of charity! D skul is for raising pple of excellence in all ramifications. Not for showcasing d gospel!

Another misplaced priority -"Most of the church members can not afford the fees" - why cry more than the bereaved?
I am of the opinion that people should channel their energies to making govt responsible to bring about good quality education in our public schools. Am yet to see any of the names here among those who stood against the hike in tuition fees of LASU then. If we make govt responsible, maybe churches might not need to come to the rescue.

If public universities are well funded, who will bother attending private universities? Can any private university in the country match the infrastructure at OAU, UNN, UI or ABU before the decay? All the lecturers at the various private universities today are more or less products of these aforementioned public universities.

sarutobie:
ermm about your last question, are you saying the public schools offer less education than the private ones? even when the public universities are funded by the government?

Dhotseal:


Dude! Why don't u go make some money and send your kids to the best schools. Why is it your business to worry about the common man? Covenant University isn't for common men.

The richest countries in the world also have common men, just make sure u ain't a common man. Strive to be uncommon and watch the common men whine and complain. The common man never changes anything...just pawns to be used in the game of life.

NL so full of common men thinking common thoughts and making do with whatever life throws at them. I hate to be common, that's why I am uncommon in every way. You too can chose to be uncommon, just hope it ain't too late going by the sound of u.

oh shut it with your bloody diatribe already. Sounds like the sort of manure that you are being sold in your schools - to justify the extortion and fleecing.

Face it you are no Stephen Hawkings, Che Guevara, Steve Jobs or Micheal Faraday.

Chances are, you are just one of the millions of people that leave school for a paid employment. You will never change your world. You will get married, have kids and die in your old age, just like every other person! Nothing makes you special. YOU ARE A COMMON MAN!

Titiluvly:


That's My Papa...Exceeding Grace Sir!....

if u ever try comment dis kind tin, i will personally propose d motion to kick u out of NL, mtcheww.




plus just because u no dy go d uni u go talk, u knw hw many student parents don resolve to drinking garri because of the fees??

Ignyte:



if u ever try comment dis kind tin, i will personally propose d motion to kick u out of NL, mtcheww.




plus just because u no dy go d uni u go talk, u knw hw many student parents don resolve to drinking garri because of the fees??

While her comment was a bit too lavish...the fact remains that Oyedepo cannot afford to reduce fees unless the Govt takes over Covenant University and subsidizes the fees.

I sympathize with the poor students...but sadly things like labs, classrooms, staff salaries, and so on have to be paid for, and in the absence of govt funding, or pockets as deep as an oil sheikh....

Yomieluv: no society can exist without the common man,any society that doesn't take them to consideration is heading for doom.

Let me rephrase that for you:
Any society that tries to only move at the pace of the "common-man" is heading for doom.

Nobody has suggested that the common man should not be taken into consideration. After all, federal universities still typically cost much less than N50,000, and there's good reason to believe that they are still of higher quality than Covenant. Don't you get it? You don't have to attend Covenant (or other expensive private universities). There are cheaper alternatives that are even better in many respects.

The gospel that you guys are preaching (that if as a collective, we do better than the our least common denominator - your common-men" - we've somehow done wrong) will bring this country to ruin. Just as there should be low-cost versions of everything, there should also be excellence-at-all-cost versions. Think of Covenant as an excellence-at-all-cost approach to university management. And feel free to encourage your religious (or social) organization to float one for the common man. It's a free world and all that.

Ignyte:



if u ever try comment dis kind tin, i will personally propose d motion to kick u out of NL, mtcheww.




plus just because u no dy go d uni u go talk, u knw hw many student parents don resolve to drinking garri because of the fees??

'' It's normal to be challenged but unscriptural to be defeated, Challenges are stepping stones to make champions''. wow! I'm not one of his fans but i think this one got me

The question that Bishop needs to answer is how many students have they awarded scholarships and to what value in naira. Again must the university be profit oriented organization or non-profit oriented organization. I thought that the university must be a social enterprise and not a capital enterprise. So where are the profit largesse going into? We must remember that the missionaries that came to our country years back from other countries. Many people benefited from their free education delivery. They ever complained about the cost of providing education to people.

Please journalists go and ask Papa this questions.

Celepope: Many Nigerians just like condemning anything church perhaps it is based on poverty.You guys should cut them some slack.I am not taking side with this man but he is not far from the truth.Most private University even in the US owned by churches are also expensive.A good example is Oral Roberts University.I have not come across where the owners of the religious Universities forced anyone to attend their school.It is by choice.Some will soon start complaining that his members can't attend his school.Funny enough many of them are not complaining so why are you guys bothered?If you think you have the money then your can send your kids there but if not you can sure look else where i.e Adekunle Ajasin University and other.Anyways even the useless state Universities in Nigeria are getting expensive daily without any meaningful infrastructure and wack administration so you guys should ponder on the difference between both.

You spoke well bro
do you low that today, Oral Robert university is now owned and run med by the government, because they could not fund the university and the reasons in not far fetched, dey were giving more freebies and providing quality education at the same time, so therefore they had issues funding the university
3 times, they did a public funding to reclaim the university from govt...
so what are we saying....
if covenant becomes 200k, and provides poor service is u pple that will talk and condemn the school, or if the schools folds up, u will talk
you can't eat your cake and nd have it back!
not possible

Those of you criticising men of God.be warned don't incur the wrath of God upon yourselves.you remember Miriam in the bibles how she criticise her brother Moses and God stroke her with leprosy Numbers 12:1-16. BE WARNED

sunnychykes: Those of you criticising men of God.be warned don't incur the wrath of God upon yourselves.you remember Miriam in the bibles how she criticise her brother Moses and God stroke her with leprosy Numbers 12:1-16. BE WARNED

Ahem. Chief, tune down the touch not my anointed, criticize not my anointed thing. Christians use this to justify all sorts of sloppy thinking and behavior. Christians are allowed to use their brains you know. You can defend Oyedepo without resorting to threats.

Make una kip rantin 4 all i care..Abi una follow am build the University?Wetin be una own..Oya,make una build una own university 4 d poor na..RAAAAAABISH

bigtt76: If public universities are well funded, who will bother attending private universities? Can any private university in the country match the infrastructure at OAU, UNN, UI or ABU before the decay? All the lecturers at the various private universities today are more or less products of these aforementioned public universities.

so the private universities are better funded?? so you are saying the private universities offer better education and yet you want them to offer cheaper or equal charges to the federal and state universities wow!

are most of the people working in this fraudster's church like ushers not working for free?

Mudley313: are most of the people working in this fraudster's church like ushers not working for free?

Well, an usher is a volunteer. Most of them already have jobs....so as such can work for ''free''.

I think you mean the pastors, clerical staff, etc.

QuiverBox:

7 out of the 10 items you stated has to do with the Failure of the Government.

If you read what he said the key word is "priority"

Sending your ward to a Private University is all about choice.

SInce the school is built on the foundation of Christ, it should be a non profiting organization, the church which is the body of Christ is not meant to make profit in form of money rather to get rich in winning Souls for the Kingdom of God, any deviation for the above said is a quick lead to End time.

Mudley313: are most of the people working in this fraudster's church like ushers not working for free?

now answer this you hypocrite! if you happen to be a lecturer worth his salt will you lecture students in a private university for free? will you go through the stress yearly for free? if you happen to be a building contractor will you offer to build hostels for them free of charge? if you happen to deal in scientific equipment will you supply them necessary chemical and biological equipment needed for researches for free?

That is to give credence to the fact that these are not churches but businesses. When these guys were growing their businesses, it was the very poor men who carried the blocks that built the foundation of these churches in the name of God. Now that these businesses have grown, the owners' ego has been inflated by money such that their congregation forgot to ask whats in it for me. By the way, do these pastors pay tithes and if so to whom?How many poor people's kid do they sponsor to their schools every year? How much is the value of their scholarships? Finally when they die, who takes over the reins of the businesses?

" If so are the priests, God Bless the congregation". A middle Eastern saying goes.

If education is expensive, try ignorance.....

the reason this argument exists is cos most Nigerians claim to worship God but instead worship their pastors. imagine someone called bishop Oyedepo a demi-god.

as for me, I dont care if he's fake or real as far as his message is real. if he likes he should create a business enterprise, all I need is his message which God inspired. God can still use a fake pastor to win a soul to His kingdom

Endougs: President and founder of the Living Faith Church aka Winners Chapel Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, has defended what many consider to be the exorbitant tuition fees charged by the church’s schools, describing the provision of quality education as an expensive venture.

Oyedepo defended the fees while addressing journalists on Friday in Ota, Ogun State, at a media chat organised as part of activities to celebrate his 60th birthday coming up on September 27, 2014.

Private schools, especially faith-based ones 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 the popular cleric highlighted some of the church’s humanitarian programmes which include providing scholarships and bursary awards to assist disadvantaged and brilliant 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, who seems to have developed thick skin to many controversial reports about him on the social media, revealed that it is a waste of time to respond to his critics.

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 focused on his challenges but rather, has 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”.

In 1981, at the age of 27, Oyedepo, who would later become a household name in Nigeria and beyond, 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, which had humble beginnings, is now located in 63 countries in the world and that the Faith Tabernacle, Ota, where he is the presiding Bishop, plays host to “over 200,000 worshippers every Sunday morning in four services”.

http://endougs..com/2014/09/oyedepo-defends-fees-charged-by-private.html

This man must be high on weed.
OLE OSHI

How I love and respect dis man

He has said it all, no time to respond to criticism, many things to do like writing his books

People that make news don't have time to watch d news

The more they talk about you, the more God bless you

The LORD is your Strength Bishop David Oyedepo

rhames: That is to give credence to the fact that these are not churches but businesses. When these guys were growing their businesses, it was the very poor men who carried the blocks that built the foundation of these churches in the name of God. Now that these businesses have grown, the owners' ego has been inflated by money such that their congregation forgot to ask whats in it for me. By the way, do these pastors pay tithes and if so to whom?How many poor people's kid do they sponsor to their schools every year? How much is the value of their scholarships? Finally when they die, who takes over the reins of the businesses?

" If so are the priests, God Bless the congregation". A middle Eastern saying goes.

When i read this, this remember me what i read on the website of madonna University from Nigeruia it is also a private University, i know it is a catholic UNiversity and they wrote that students who want to study there should apply also when they didnot have the money for the school fees gecause they have ways to help them and that this University is open to all students from every religion.

This you will never read at this University from this new churches.

God sent you to spread the gospel, you turned the church into a company. Instead of catering to those in need, you are looking for the elite to sponsor the "education" in schools that you used the poor mans offering to build. Eat well, in the end we will see if you are a "man of God".

Oga pastor no be your fault for your next life you go be follower, I go be your pastor. I go give you spiritual millions collect your physical naira.
Seriously I blame those who pay tithe without collecting receipt. Like say receipt dey and every body dusty their receipt for refund, that pastor go either make the school affordable or sell the building to refund people their tithe money or show us the account when e take transfer our tithe money go heaven.

sarutobie:
now answer this you hypocrite! if you happen to be a lecturer worth his salt will you lecture students in a private university for free? will you go through the stress yearly for free? if you happen to be a building contractor will you offer to build hostels for them free of charge? if you happen to deal in scientific equipment will you supply them necessary chemical and biological equipment needed for researches for free?

Moses, John the baptist, Hezekiah, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha etc... All greater prophets than oyedepo. Please name one who used church money to fund his own side business. When you claimed the "Lord called you" did He not tell you the job description(to spread his word) ? Stop justifying rubbish. Even the 12 disciples with all the power of the Holy Ghost couldve just conjured up billions and gone home but they chose to sacrifice earthly greed for the work of God. Its blind congregation like you who worship the pastor instead of God.

You keep saying "bla bla for free" like its the pastors money that bought the cement for the buildings or pays the lecturers. Every week politicians and the common man alike pay offering and tithe.. Where does the money go? Its pastors like this that discredit Christianity.