AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
There was excitement in the air on Sunday, November 12, 2023 as Dr Bamidele Ayanlowo unveils the proposed Zoe University and Philippo Macedonia Foundation before a large gathering of friends, associates and eminent personalities.
The Function Hall, Jogor Events Centre, Liberty Road, Ibadan venue of the event was filled to the brim even as many people who shared the vision from across the globe followed the event via different online platforms.
The joy of the people of Ipapo, a sleepy agrarian community in Itesiwaju Local Government Area of Oyo State where the university is being cited knows no bounds since the news of the plan to establish a university on their soil filtered in to them.
Although the journey may be long, the Promoter of the project said that he rested on the ability of God who gave him the vision 20years ago to bring the project to fruition. That explains why he disclosed to the large gathering of people in attendance physically and virtually that “This is a divine mission. The mission is to train and equip youths that will become leaders of tomorrow with Christ-like virtues and values, possessing excellent skills and wisdom through the medium of education.”
A trained medical doctor, Ayanlowo, did not just delve into the field of education overnight. His passion was shifted from the theatre to filling the void in the life of the poor and vulnerable youth and the masses as a man of God.
He gave scholarships to poor students whose hope of going through school had nearly been dashed. He sets up primary and secondary schools and now braced up to fulfill the vision that God gave him by establishing a conventional private university at the remote recess of Oke Ogun in Oyo State in line with God’s leading.
While addressing the gathering, he disclosed how God sent words to him many years ago about the project and how things began to crystalize step by step without sweating heavily.
Describing the support he got at different quarters, he made a particular reference to the meeting he had with Governor Seyi Makinde, saying, “I met the governor personally and he said his administration is interested in people that are committed to partnering in developing the state. The governor said you are not the one to be looking for us, we are the ones that are supposed to be looking for you. And he said you are sure of my government’s support.
“Without informing him, I went to the office of the Commissioner for Education. He is very civil and committed to education. He appreciated my coming and said you have killed two birds with one stone. The governor would have been here personally, but I understand he is out of the state. But since we have the Commissioner for Education, we have a big representation from the state.
“Let me also appreciate the Kabiyesi for being with us. There is the annual meeting of the Ipapo Community Development Association. It started on Monday and he is supposed to be in that meeting today, but he came for this programme.”
Governor Makinde’s representative at the event, Saliu Abdulwaheed, told the gathering that “The proposed Zoe University belongs to the Deputy Governor and myself being from Oke Ogun. I had it in mind that I have to be in this programme.”
Abdulwaheed, who is the Commissioner for Education in the state, noted that “The greatest legacy one can bequeath to the youth is education. The promoter is doing a marvelous thing and the government would like to assist in the realization of the project. We are going to partner with the university.
“For the Oyo State Government, there is still a lot of things to do. We are working on the Emmanuel Alayande University of Education. The government is doing as much as it can to ensure that students who are in the state looking for admission are able to gain admission within the state.
“We describe those establishing universities as edupreneurs. I want to encourage you not to give up at all. You don’t need any rocket science to know that someone setting up a university for money will not set up a university in Ipapo. I pray that the Zoe University project will see the light of the day.
Bishop Francis Wale Oke, who was Guest Speaker on the occasion, gave a testimony of how God told him that he would build a university (Precious Cornerstone University). With God as a promise keeper, he said, “The establishment of the Zoe University is a done deal. It will bring advancement to Oyo State and Nigeria. Seventeen years ago, I was praying and God told me he would build a university through me and it happened.”
According to Bishop Oke, the President of The Sword of the Spirit Ministries and President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, over two million Nigerian students jostle for admission annually while all the universities in the country has the capacity to admit candidates that are sparsely above one million.
“Where is the hope for the rest of them? That is why we have youth unrest and crime in the land. When opportunity like this arises, it helps to take more of our youth out of the streets. When God is in a business, there will be miracles.”
The Bishop prayed for miraculous supplies for the project to be accomplished. “Many people think that uuniversity is for profit making, no. We add a lot of money to the money being made and plough it back into the university. The God who has been helping us will help you. We may not have anything but we have God. I can see the campus being built, I can see students receiving lecture. With God, all things are possible.
“This is an investment into the future of our children. In this university, I can see zero cultism, I can see zero crime. It is a university that will promote academic excellence and godly character. Our story may be like that of Joseph. The dream didn’t come through on time. While in prison, it was while he was busy interpreting people’s dream that his story changed. There is a part that God is taking all of us to. Let us play our parts.”
He declared, “I see a Nigeria where the youth will bring youth from other nations to study at Zoe University. After five years of running the (PCU) university, we haven’t owed a dime, we haven’t borrowed a penny, I pray that this would be your own story. What are you going to do as investment into the future of our youth? God will make your dream come alive. This is going to be the first full fledged university in Oke Ogun, so it means a lot.”
The Chairman, University Steering Committee of Zoe, Prof. Adeoye Gideon Olajire, butressed the disclosure that the vision dated back to about 20years. “It is God’s programme, He makes all things beautiful in His time. Somebody told me when I spoke about a university in Ipapo that can anything good come out of Nazareth?
“On a personal note, after 47years in the university system, I know there is need for more faith-based institutions to mould the lives of our youth because the decay is unimaginable. Only the spirit of God can build a new nature in man. Please, partner with us to build a new breed of Nigerians, a new breed of Africans and global youth who will not only have intellectual knowledge but build their careers with the fear of God. At the end of their lives, we believe they should be in the kingdom of God.
“Let me emphasize that any support you give will be cost effective and efficiently utilized. It will also have an eternal reward. Whatever we do for God, we shall be rewarded. Join us to fulfill God’s vision and make it a mission possible.”
The moderator said that “Dr Bamidele Ayanlowo is a medical doctor by training. But the call of God in his life bred the passion to fulfill the divine mission to train the youth to become leaders of tomorrow. He engages in practical demonstration of the love of God to the downtrodden and the less privileged. His passion is to train the youth to become leaders of tomorrow.
“Through divine guardians, he raised seemingly hopeless children and gave them quality education. He gave some children scholarship and introduced free medical services to some people in Kogi State. One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Salami Serifat, said that since September 2013, he has been sponsoring her children.”
The university would be sitting on about 285 acres of land in Ipapo, Itesiwaju Local Government Area of Oyo State. It will include Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Faculty of Computer Science and Faculty of Agriculture.
Available courses in the proposed university are Languages and Literature, Economics, Accounting and Finance, Administration, Communication and Media, Computer Science, Chemical Science, Mathematical Science, Agriculture, including Enterpreneurship.
Royal Father of the day, the Eleyinpo of Ipapo, Oba Yekeen Ademola Abioye, expressed joy over the project and prayed that the project would see light of day life soon.
