VP’s Remarks At The Proclamation Service For Dominion University

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE PROCLAMATION SERVICE FOR DOMINION UNIVERSITY, OYO STATE ON THE 19^TH OF OCTOBER, 2019

Protocols.

I am honoured to be here to celebrate this very unique day with you all today.

Let me congratulate the visioner of not just the Victory International Church, but this great university, the Dominion University, the presiding Bishop of Victory International Church, Bishop Victor Taiwo Adelakun.

Bishop Taiwo is a very good brother and friend of mine and I am very glad to describe him as a friend because he is a friend at all times.

I share three things in common with Bishop Adelakun, some are obvious; we are roughly the same height but that is a small matter. We are both Pastors, he being a senior pastor, being a bishop. The second is his wife’s name is Dolapo and that is my wife’s name as well. So, we both married right.

As you know, Pastor Dolapo Adelakun is a prolific writer and passionate about Christian living and like my wife also, Pastor Dolapo Adelakun has the Damsel Ministry for mentoring ladies in Christian living, so my wife also has a ministry called the Lighthouse Ministry which also does the same thing for ladies. But the third similarity is that this year is also our own 30th year wedding anniversary. So, on November 25^th, we will celebrate our own anniversary.

Bishop Taiwo and I have followed the same path for the same type of helpmate and married about the same time.

So, for those listening, part of the moral of the story, for those who are not married yet, try and find yourself a lady called Dolapo and try and marry this year!

I have only a small thought to share with you. I hope that it would be something the students will be able to take away as they prepare for life going forward.

The thought is recognizing your most important assignment in life; pursuing the reason why you were born, that thing for which God has given you a passion or burden.

Usually, there is one thing God has given you a burden for, and that may be the very reason God created you and why you are here on earth.

Bishop Adelakun graduated with a degree in Estate Management from the University of Lagos, and by the way, I graduated from the University of Lagos. He started a private estate management company called the Solid Rock Associates, but it was obvious that this was not his assignment in life. Even if he had named it “The Rock of Ages Associates”, that was still not his assignment in life, that was not the very reason he was born.

He eventually found the reason why he is here on earth and started the Ministry, the Victory International Ministry, afterwards he set up the Bible School and then the Victory International Church Worldwide.

But within that Ministry was an obvious passion for education, a mandate to educate children from daycare to University. The Victory Christian College and Academy, a college that has produced many young men and women who have gone on to distinguish themselves in their professions, in business and commerce all over Nigeria and the world. That was set up as part of the Ministry.

The Dominion University is a logical follow up to this assignment of building men and women of character, sending them forth as seed to a world badly in need of principled men and women, men and women who are truly the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

This is in my humble view why the man Bishop Adelakun was created; to bring people into a knowledge of Christ and to educate children of all religions and ethnicities with the best skills and resources that this century has produced.

So, the question for the rest of us is why were you born? What is your most important assignment in life? What is that thing that if you do it, you will impact the world eventually? Some gentleman brought Bishop Adelakun to Christ and discipled him and that was his assignment and he did a good job. He wasn’t the one to build the Dominion University, his assignment was to disciple the bishop and ensure he fulfils his ultimate destiny.

Many of us have similar assignments, we have assignments to support and build up and we are going to be judged by that assignment. The man that God gave one talent, he complained that God gave others more than he had and that was why he didn’t bother to do anything with his talent. God condemned him and said his talent would be taken from him and added to the talents of those who have more talents. Some people will end up in hell for not using the little talent God has given them.

I believe very strongly that the story of Bishop Adelakun’s life and where he is today with the able and active support of his wife is a lesson for us about what our own assignment in life must be and how to fulfil that assignment.

God helping us, each and every one of us will fulfil our assignment. Not only would we find out why we are here, but we will also fulfil all that God has planned and purposed for us to do.

I am here on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria and also in my private capacity. On the 20^th of June, 2019, President Buhari declared that the Federal Government would enforce free and compulsory education across the country for the first 9 years of a child’s life. That assignment is an important one for us. I am very pleased that the Governor of Oyo State has taken up the mantle of free and compulsory education because the Federal Government cannot force a State to do so. Those who choose to do so are visionaries and it is a visionary thing to do. We must educate our people all the way up to university.

This is a determination that the Federal Government has and we will be working actively with the States that wish to do so in whatever way that we can, to ensure that they meet their objectives.

I want to pledge our support for Dominion University, I believe that the seed of what we see today is the beginning of a great thing indeed. Going by all that has been done in the field of education by the Victory International Church and Bishop Adelakun, I think it is obvious that Dominion University is headed for great things.

For those of us who are wise, today we must join in the efforts to make Dominion University the great ideal that has been set forth by its visioner.

Many years ago, Bloomberg gave 20% of his fortune to his Alma Mater and since then, he has given more. There are people across the country who have large amounts of money and we believe such people should also help in setting up endowments in private universities so that these universities can grow and have the resources to grow.

For those who think building a university is a way of making money, that is thoroughly wrong. Anyone who has been part of the beginning of a university would know that it is one of the biggest guzzlers of money you can ever find. This is because there is so much that needs to be invested in personnel, and these days, in state-of-the-art-infrastructure and technology.

I want to urge everyone, especially those of us with the resources, to join hands with Dominion University, with the State and Federal Government, to ensure that this university thrives and takes its rightful place amongst the best educational institutions the world over.

I congratulate again, my dear brother and friend, Bishop Taiwo and Pastor Oludolapo Adelakun on your 30^th wedding anniversary and also the firm establishment of the university. I pray the Almighty God will strengthen your hand, the great assignment He has given you of educating young men and women, bringing them up in the knowledge of the Lord, God will enable you to achieve it, everything you put your hand upon will prosper. The Lord God Almighty will not find you wanting in the great assignment He has given you. All will be well with you and your ministry and God will support you in the name of Jesus!

I pray for all of us including Governor Makinde who will become a pastor shortly, the Lord will help us. All of our dreams will come to pass, we will find the most important assignments of our lives and we will perform those assignments to the glory of His holy name in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen!