The chief promoter and the presiding Bishop of the Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, has revealed how God spoke to him before establishing Precious Cornerstone University (PCU), Ibadan, Oyo State.
The private institution, Precious Cornerstone University (PCU), located in Ibadan, Oyo State, was granted an operational licence in December 2017 and is expected to commence operations in September.
In an interview with Nigerian Tribune Newspaper, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, discussed about the niche the university intends to carve for itself, among other issues.
When asked about the vision of establishing a private university, Bishop Oke said the Lord spoke to him when he went to pray in a jungle in 2015, the location, now house to the permanent site of the campus.
He said: “It was in 2005. I went to pray in a jungle; I love to do prayer walk. That jungle is a land we just acquired for the ministry, which now is serving as the permanent campus for the university.
“And the Lord began to speak to me from Psalms 144 about raising sons and daughters that would reposition Nigeria and Africa.
“Look at the migrant crisis; why should our children be dying in droves in the Mediterranean if things were well at home? It’s because when they look forward and they can’t see any hope, they want to go abroad at all costs. We want to change that equation. We want Nigeria to be a country where not only will our children love to stay; others would also love to come.
“We want to make our own contribution through quality tertiary education; raising entrepreneurs, raising positive thinkers, possibility thinkers; raising people with moral strength to bring change to our society.
“The journey started 2006, and now we have the licence and we are taking off.”
He said the university will take off with two faculties: Faculty of Social and Management Sciences and Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences; with five departments and12 programmes.
“We’ve been allowed to take off with 325 students, but today (January 13, 2018) the board of trustees mandated the governing council to go and discuss with the NUC so that we’ll be able to take off with 550 students. We have capacity for 550 students. I want to give as many students as possible opportunity for quality tertiary education. So, we, hopefully, are taking off with 550 students”.
