Church Universities: Diary of their deeds

The last time, i wrote about church Universities, today i want to take a step further by giving you the diary of the various varsities, then after reading through you can decide if they are for God or for Gold. Winners’ Chapel’s Covenant University
It is regarded as one of the best universities in the country, built on expansive land somewhere along Idi-Iroko road, Ota, inside the premises of the headquarters of the Living Faith Church Mission or Winners’ Chapel as it’s called. Though the founder and leader of the church, Bishop David Oyedepo had at different time stated that he did not collect money from the church to erect the structure, many are of the opinion that the claims of the bishop may be far from the truth as he was not known to be doing any other work apart from the one he’s doing in the church. The school which was built with the assistance of people God sent to help the ministry, as most pastors claim, was supposed to help give quality education to children of every member of the church, but the case is that the church’s school ended up being one of the most expensive schools in the country, with school fees ranging from between N300,000 and N450,000, which makes it not a school for the child of an average member of the church. 
Baptist Church’s Bowen University 
 It is one of the oldest church-owned universities in Nigeria. The university, which is in Iwo town in Osun State, was built by the Nigerian Baptist Convention headed by the Secretary-General, Reverend (Dr.) Olasupo Ayokunle. Like other church-owned universities, it was the belief that it would help educate ordinary members of the church as well as the rich. But it seems the school is now a school for the rich, as the school fees are between N400,000 and N500,000. 
Christ Apostolic Church’s Joseph Ayo Babalola University
It is one of the newest church-owned universities. Information revealed that the church, led by Pastor E H L Olusheye, collected offerings and donations from the congregation towards the building of the school, only for the school to become something that is beyond the people that contributed towards its construction. The school fees, it was revealed, go for nothing less than N300,000 per session. 
Anglican Church of Nigeria’s Ajayi Crowther University Coming from a church that has a huge number of the society’s so-called elite, many would have expected them to have done all in their power to make quality education accessible to members of the church as they were mostly products of cheap or even free, quality education. But investigation revealed that the school’s tuition fee goes for between N350,000 and N500,000 per session, thereby dashing the hope of many members of the church who felt Ajayi Crowther was a product of free education and that the institution named after him would provide affordable, quality education for them. 
 Catholic Church’s Madonna University 
It is the oldest church-owned university in Nigeria and it belongs to the oldest church in Nigeria, the Catholic Church, a church known for its philanthropy and its care for the needy. Many would have expected that the church would make education easier for the congregation but investigation revealed that the fees at the church-owned Madonna go for between N300,000 and N350,000. Apostolic Faith’s Crawford University 
This university which belongs to a church which is known for it principle on the way things should be done and with the population of most of the members tilting comfortably towards the average income earning ordinary Nigerian, people would have expected they would take into consideration their congregation while fixing the school fees but the N350,000 or more, depending the course of study, does not seem to justify this position. Redeemed Christian Church of God’s Redeemers’ University The church is one of the largest in the country. There is a saying that there is a Redeemed Church every one or two poles to another, which invariably means it is a church for the masses who cannot afford to send their children to any of the private schools in town. But it is appalling that the church has chosen not to put into consideration the majority of its congregation by competing with other schools out there. It has fixed its school fees for between N325,000 and N400,000 per session, which makes it not a school for the masses, against what the church is to the people.
Hmmm, church Universities, for God or for Gold?

Church Universities: For God or for Gold?

The rate at which churches and other religious organisations are building universities in Nigeria in recent time really calls for concerns and inquiries. Most importantly due to the many issues surrounding the so call church varsities ranging from who are the students to other questions like whom the establishment of the schools favours, could the this be a new chapter in the short literature of patriotism in Nigeria or another page in the voluminous book of ‘cabalocracy’-an establishment of a cabal by members of the same cabal and for the cabal. For the records, it is important to note that that the early missionaries who brought Christianity to Nigeria brought also with it the western education, more worthy of note is the fact that as far back as 1864 at the CMS grammar school under the tutelage of Mr. Claudius Philips, the missionaries then started teaching the able bodied men and they were taught and fed free right under the supervision of the missionaries as a way of fostering the gospel. History also revealed that they were issued their employment letters immediately they finished their education. Such was the romance between western education and the gospel just in the fall of yesteryears before we closed our eyes, one thing led to another and we open our eyes to discover that first there is proliferation of churches in our nation and all of them are trying to help the pitiable condition of wreck that the national leadership has made education to become, unfortunately not all of them can actually help. Then comes the crises that must be resolved, with virtually all the churches trying to open one university or another, the question is could all of these moves still be for God or some are for gold. To start with, I dare to say that with the minimum wage set at N18,000, the cost of school fees in church Universities are rather high. As much as I agree that with the current situation of the economy in the nation and the cost of running the academic environment, education cannot be free. In fact, if anyone thinks education is free let him try ignorance. However, let us be sincere, how many average members of these churches can afford to send their children to the same school that was built with their offering along with the offering of other members, are there any considerations for the poor and average citizens. How many students of such varsity are on scholarships provided by the school? Even if the scholarship is not for everybody, at least for the church members whom I believe are stakeholders too. As much as believe that these Universities are not supposed to run a charity home, it is clear that their services are not for average Nigerians, if this is however confirmed, the next question will be what is the major source of funding for these University, can it be separated from church account, the answer is definitely a capital no, the next question will be of what immediate benefit are these institutions to the church members who are the major source of the funds that set up the institution, practically none! So, these church universities, are they really for God, for Gold or for both?