Encomium
Two years after completion of Mountain Top University by amiable clergy and founder of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Dr Daniel Olukoya, the N2.5 billion project is yet to take off.
ENCOMIUM Weekly’s check on Saturday, March 15, 2014, revealed exclusively that the delay is not unconnected to the fact that the Nigeria University Commission is yet to give the final nod for its grand take off.
Insiders squealed to ENCOMIUM Weekly that the NUC has inspected the facilities but are yet to give them official clearance to commence operation. We reliably gathered that the issue is giving the fiery clergy a slight headache as all hands have been on deck for the smooth take off of the university.
On Saturday, March 15, 2014, we spoke with one of the ministry’s spokesmen and he confirmed the development.
“Yes, it’s true that the university project has been completed but the final clearance from the NUC has been the only hindrance for the smooth commencement of the university. We have no issue but just the official clearance from NUC.”
Firebrand shepherd in charge of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Dr. Daniel Olukoya joined the league of clerics who own private universities as he rounded off work on his multi-billion naira university project known as Mountain Top University in 2012.
Inside source squealed to us that the university sits atop 100 acres (an acre comprises of six plots so 100 acres has 600 plots).
Information at our disposal revealed that the project commenced in 2010, inside the Prayer City along Lagos/Ibadan Expressway when the land was acquired and the registration for the project approved by the appropriate government agency.
The hostels and other infrastructure such as laboratories, hospitals and administrative blocks have been completed.
Mountain Top University has elected to adopt the nomenclature College rather than Faculty as practised in contemporary universities abroad as well as the newly established ones in Nigeria. At full capacity, MTU will have at least six (6) undergraduate colleges and a postgraduate school. However, the university will take off with three Colleges consisting of courses that are not capital intensive and yet will make the university unique, innovative and responsive to the needs of the Nigerian society, especially in relation to industry, technology, food production and health. The Colleges at take-off (Phase I) would be College of Basic and Applied Sciences, College of Environmental Sciences and College of Management and Social Sciences.
When Dr. Kolawole Daniel Olukoya was born some 45 years ago, little did his parents know that they had gotten an exceptional child ordained by God to fulfill a destiny that would in turn, positively affect the destiny of others. And in pursuit of that destiny, Dr. Olukoya laid down an academic blueprint whose pedigree remains outstanding. At Saint John’s CAC Primary School, Akure in Ondo State, and Saint Jude’s primary School, Ebute Metta, Lagos, where he completed his primary education, excellence was his watch word. Rather than occupy himself with exuberance that was a common feature among youths, he developed a passion for God. Dr. Daniel Olukoya’s academic profile took a leap while at Methodist Boys’ High School, Lagos, where he graduated with Grade One Distinction and was the best student in his set. Not one known to rest on his oars, he took his academic exploits to the prestigious University of Lagos and, as would be expected, the genius in him proved that all earlier outstanding academic results were no fluke, as he graduated with a First Class honours degree. In fact, it was the first from the department since the university was established in 1962.
Dr. Olukoya’s thirst for more academic laurels found expression at the University of Reading, UK, where, with a Commonwealth scholarship, he studied for a PhD in Molecular Genetics, which was completed in record time, making him probably the first Nigerian to obtain a Ph.D. in this subject area. With such an intimidating academic resume, it was only natural that opportunities would beckon. But not even the pressure to stay back in England could sway him from returning to Nigeria. His first port of call on arrival was the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos. He was a lecturer as well as external examiner to a number of Nigerian universities, among them the University of Lagos and University of Benin.
Dr. Olukoya is on record as the first scientist to establish an indigenous Molecular Biology and Biotechnology laboratory in Nigeria. One important contribution by Dr. Olukoya to biotechnology and health care delivery is the creation of a new type of pap (Ogi) named Dogik, a weaning food that has improved nutritional qualities that can control diarrhea. The laboratory also ranks among the first to work on genes in Nigeria.
That Dr. Olukoya would become a mighty tool manifested in 1989, when Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries was given birth in his sitting room at Yaba, with 24 worshippers. MFM has thousands of branches spread across Nigeria, Africa and Asia. A huge percentage of branches are also in the United States and Europe.
Dr. Kolawole Daniel Olukoya’s uncommon gift finds expression as a prophet, evangelist, teacher and preacher of the word of God. In addition to his over 80 scientific publications, he has written more than double that number of spiritual books, 150 of them, most of which are bestsellers. Prayer Rain, a prayer manual which has become a companion of not a few Christians across several denominations has sold millions of copies. Besides, Dr. Olukoya has 70 Christian songs that he composed. His amiable life and that of his wife, Pastor Shade and their son, Elijah Toluwani, are living proof that all power belongs to God.
-FEMI OYEWALE
