Covenant University, Africa’s number oneprivate tertiary institution, has initiated moves aimed at signposting itself on the global stage as contributing positively to the emancipation of people in its environment, the Covenant University Community Development Impact Initiative Committee (CU-CDIIC) has revealed.
Speaking at the 2016/2017 Executive Advance of the university, where he presented a paper titled, ‘Advancing the Community Development Initiatives of Covenant University for Greater Impact’, the Chairman of CU-CDIIC, Dr. Humphrey Adebayo, said after years of community development services facilitated mainly by the proprietor base of the university, it had become imperative that CU-CDIIC re-invent itself for greater impact.
He said a proposal already exists for the transformation of CU-CDIIC into a registered community development foundation, which would be run as a full-time office with a complement of staff.
On the expected outcome of the repositioning, Dr. Adebayo said, “there would be measurable impact in targeted communities and the foundation will work towards winning grants and also serve as a resource pool for evolving research topics for the academia as well as ensuring the outcomes such research endeavors are put into practical use”.
“We need an environmentally friendly community through selfless service to attain Vision 10:2022,” he emphasised.
Earlier in his presentation, the CU-CDIIC Chairman, who said community development relies on interaction between people and joint action, pointed out that what Covenant University is doing is not different from what other world-class universities are doing.
Inaugurated in 2006 basically to inculcate the spirit of leadership in CU students, who embarked on environmental sanitation in Sango Ota, CDIIC, said Adebayo, has over the years grown into providing social amenities like boreholes, electricity transformer, healthcare, Information Communication Technology gadgets, laboratory equipment, construction of amusement parks, among others, for people in neighbouring communities.
Speaking on some of the projects being undertaken by CU-CDIIC, Dr. Adebayo said: “We organised workshops for teachers and donated instructional materials to schools. We organised Breast/Cervical Cancer awareness programme to mark the World Women’s Day in 2013. In 2014, we organised the Oyedepo Day of Service in Ota village, where people were given free vaccination.
“There was provision of borehole at Osuke village and Onigbongbo community in 2014. Till date, we have sunk not less than 10 boreholes in Ota and its environs. Also, we donated a 500KVA transformer to Onigbongbo community.”
Dr. Adebayo urged people, who have close relationship with influential individuals, to appeal to them to fund such endeavors, while also disclosing that CU-CDIIC is ready to partner with companies.