The Making Of The World Class Mountain Top University

THE MAKING OFTHE WORLD CLASS MOUNTAIN TOP UNIVERSITY

very down to earth person, Dr. Olukoya is very Ameticulous in all his affairs, and so makes copious preparation before undertaking any projects and programmes. Consequently, he set out developing a Foundation prior to the establishment of the Mountain Top University. His intentions were obvious; to ensure that a lot of Nigerian youths were afforded the opportunity to have qualitative and stress-free tertiary education To begin with, Professor Emmanuel Adedun, was appointed the Chairman of Dr. D.K. Olukoya's Mountain Top University Foundation. This is a vehicle through which the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries (MFM) offers financial succour to indigent students of the institution as the church's own contribution to boosting national manpower development. The foundation awards full and partial scholarships covering tuition and feeding to lucky students, who are selected through a transparent test.

According to Prof. Adedun:

"The foundation was inaugurated four years ago, just about the time that the university was commencing. When we were trying to put together the university, the GO, in his wisdom, thought that something like this foundation should come on so as to undertake the

sponsorship of the education of indigent students in the new university whose parents might not be able to afford the tuition fees. So, the foundation was set up to seek and garner resources, to undertake different kinds of approved projects that can be used to sponsor the education of less privileged members of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries. "The philosophy came about as a result of the unpleasant experience he read or heard concerning mission- based institutions that started before Mountain Top University. It was in the newspapers, that members of some churches promoting the universities were not very pleased, because their children could not attend the institutions, whereas when the universities were starting, they made contributions towards the take-off, everybody was carried along then. But when the university started, not everybody had to the opportunity to put their children there. "So, Dr. Olukoya learnt a very big lesson from that and said he was interested in building a university where everybody can attend. Initially, a committee was set up to prepare the ground for the university and the committee suggested a moderate tuition fee. That is why today, in all the private universities in Nigeria, Mountain Top University has the least paid tuition. Even at that, Dr. Olukoya was still not pleased with the amount recommended, although it is the least payable in all Nigerian private universities. He was still exploring options of how to reduce the tuition fees. But the committee said, if you have to run a private university, you need money to do one or two things, you can't make it free, people have to pay something. But, he believed that amount that people have to pay was still high. The foundation has a way of bridging that gap and that is why the foundation was established. We have been in operation for four years, and to the glory of God, this year, the university shall graduate the 1st set of its students, and 46 of them shall graduate on scholarship of this foundation. They are beneficiaries because the foundation paid their tuition fees from day one to the final year." Prof Adedun also explained why it took so long before the university became operative, stressed that everything worked to portray Olukoya as a man who hears from God as well as one who believes in the will of God as the ultimate It's an interesting story. It was only in the 7th year that Mountain of Fire applied to the National Universities Commission (NUC), for the establishment of a university that it was approved.

And the question is, why did it take that long a time?

The answer is simple: The Holy Spirit was at work.

Following in the footsteps of their General Overseer, members of the church have keyed into the church's Adopt a Student' policy where some members take the responsibilities of one or more of the students. Some of these members include the Assistant General Overseer, Pastor Ladejola Abiodun, he was gracious enough to adopt two students for us, AGO, Research and Development through Agege Region. The RO, Pastor Moses Adewale, Lekki Region, Pastor Olumide Oni now in Maraba, Abuja, Pastor Rotimi Olugbile in Darko, Abuja.

TRAIN UPA CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO: AND WHEN HE IS OLD, HE WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT - Proverb 22:6

Students of the Mountain Top University visits prison

Students of Mountain Top University

A Students of MTU holding fish from the university fish farm

Proud Students of MTU

The Testimony of a MTU Lecturer

The Vision and Mission of This Environment Are Unique Dr. Anana Mariam Emmanuel

r. Anana Mariam Emmanuel is a lecturer in the DDepartment of Languages, specialising in Discourse Analysis. She teaches phonetics, phonology and grammar at the university. The don bared her mind below:. “Here is the language lab. It is a multipurpose language lab where students come to learn languages, especially English and French. We call it Department of Languages because any language can be learnt in this laboratory. Specifically when you are not around as a lecturer, you can do everything and put it in the PC and then the students can come around, go through whatever lessons you must have taught and answer questions that you might have set there for them. “It depends on the pattern and style you actually want. If you want them to see your picture, you can putit for them as you are lecturing. It has been a very wonderful time teaching in this environment. It is not that they just use it for only languages, other courses like mass communication come here to do the same thing as well as the phoneticians since we are all Nigerians. We also allow them to listen to white phoneticians and then compare and contrast the sounds. As a lecturer, you can also speak to them and be imitated too. “When we talk about speaking, we also mean articulation, situating its place as well as the manner, position and what is being articulated. By the time you put it through, they can see the place of articulation. For instance I say per, where is the place of articulation? By labia (the two lips). It has been wonderful.”

What stands this place out?

The vision and the mission of this environment are unique compared to other faith-based universities. But I want you to understand that this particular institution is quite unique in the sense that it is not only the physical things that we do here, the spiritual aspect is even stressed to the lecturers, thus one is constantly reminded that it is not just how you learn but also who helps you to learn it. I have been a product of federal universities, but from my interactions with people from faith-based and private universities, I discover that MTU is really a very special place

where God is being put first before any other thing. Others can talk about God first theoretically, but for MTU, it is the practical aspect where as a student, you need to pray, fast and do deliverance before you think of anything academics.

Are you saying that all the students had undergone these?

Yes, all the students. Even the staff. You must go through the oneweek deliverance before even contemplating teaching.

What were yourprevious stints?

I had been a graduate fellow at the University of Lagos where I did my PhD. I had also worked there as a Lecturer. While there, took students on GSTcourses, especially GST105 (Use of English). In public schools, we care less about the spiritual aspect of someone but here the discipline is awesome. Recently, a colleague of mine came for her sabbatical and walked up to me and said, your students are mannered; and she lectures in a public university. We that are here, we feel we have not done anything for them. Even the students are not allowed to use handsets, others would not have felt okay but they comply and go to the central phone centre to make calls.