Bishop David Oyedepo, the Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Regents of Covenant University, has disclosed that the establishment of the university was inspired by studying nine prestigious foreign institutions. Oyedepo, who is also the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, revealed that his vision for Covenant University came after examining Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Caltech, MIT, Stanford, Duke, and Dartmouth.
Covenant University, founded by Oyedepo, has now achieved significant recognition, being ranked as the best university in Nigeria and the sixth-best in both West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa in the 2025 Times Higher Education World Universities Ranking. This announcement was made during the university’s 19th Convocation ceremony held at its campus in Ota, Ogun State.
Drawing from the best practices of these renowned institutions, Oyedepo incorporated valuable insights into Covenant University’s core values. He noted that while nothing was directly copied from these universities, their study provided critical inspiration, ultimately shaping the unique framework of Covenant University.
“While nothing was copied, a lot of inspiration was drawn from those studies, which eventually led to the crafting of our core values, making our products very unique,” Oyedepo stated.
He further emphasized that his motivation was driven by a desire to provide young Nigerians with quality education that would steer them away from future challenges. “My passion came alive to provide an alternative education, in terms of quality, that would rescue these young individuals from lifelong crises,” he said.
