Towards a Disciplined
Pursuit of Covenant
University Vision
Yemi Nathaniel
What is vision?
The vivid and
compelling image of
an exciting future that
can, should and must
be attained by us
Capturing a relevant image in our view
What is vision?
 Oxford Dictionary –”The ability to think or
plan about the future with imagination
“a shared
picture of the
future we seek
to create”
Peter Senge
Famous quotes about Vision
 “The Principle of vision is the key to
understanding leadership” -Dr John Haggai
 “There is no more powerful engine driving
an
organization/Individual
towards
excellence and long range success than an
attractive worthwhile vision for the future”
Burt Nanus.
 When there is no prophetic vision the
people perish, they cast of restraint
and die (ESV Bible-Prov 29:18)
• This is explained to mean without
prophetic vision “is a people made naked”
Vision therefore, is the custodian of colour
and beauty of destiny”
• Vision though not physical yet is
phenomenal; it is relevant in our case
in 3 dimensions
• “There is nothing so tragic as a man
with sight but without Vision”.
• -Helen Keller the Blind Composer
Our Ultimate Corporate Vision
To be a leading world-class
University, committed to
raising a New Generation of
Leaders in all field of human
endeavours
 However our ultimate corporate
vision must be annotated by
our specific venture vision, as
Vance Havener once said:
 “it is not enough to stair up
the steps, we must step up
the stairs”
Our Venture Vision -in the pursuit
of our Ultimate Vision
• It is our venture vision (stepping
up the stairs) that really makes a
race of our ultimate vision
calibrating it with specific targets
in demarcated time lines
• One of ten in ten-
•Vision 10:2022
Our Personal Visions in pursuit
of our venture vision
 It is your personal vision within the
venture vision that makes you
relevant, allocates a place for you,
in the vision flight
 What is your personal vision in the
pursuit of our venture vision for the
attainment of our corporate vision?
You must respond to this!
Why must you respond to this ?
In one of his presentations, the
Chancellor said:
 Every great accomplishment begins with a
clear definition of vision, goals and
objectives.
 Knowing one’s destination is foundational
to undertaking any meaningful adventure
 Because if one does not know where he is
going, anywhere may look like it
What is Discipline?
 Advance Learner’s define it as:
 The practice of training people to
obey rules and orders and
punishing them if they do not
 A method of training your body or
mind or controlling your behavior
 The ability to control your behavior
or the way you live, work etc
What is discipline?
Dr David Oyedepo gave the following
elucidattion to discipline
 Fulfilling an objective as
demanded or commanded not as
convenient
 Denying yourself the present
pleasure in order to lay hold of
the future gain
Why is Discipline Important for vision pursuit?
 Vision is a race Hab 2:2-3
 Know ye not that they which run in a race run
all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that
ye may obtain
 And every man that striveth for the mastery
is temperate (restrained) in all things...”
 But I keep under my body, and bring it into
subjection: lest that by any means, when I
have preached to others, I myself should be
a cast away- I Cor 9:24,25,27
By all standards, winning races,
battles and competitions require
planning, diligence, and
determination
But discipline is the denominator
of these other 3 determinants of
success
Importance of Discipline in
the pursuit of Vision
By Scriptural definition a vision is a race:
“And the Lord answered me, and said,
Write the vision, and make it plain upon
tables, that he may run that readeth it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed
time…” Hab 2:2,3a
There is a Scripture-based
disciplinary compulsion on our
visionary pursuit:
“Where there is no prophetic vision,
the people cast off restraint”
Prov 29:18 ESV
Covenant University is running with
a prophetic Vision: Vision 10:2022
We must not cast off the necessary
restraint in order to avoid shame
The Future We Envision:
Thinking Solution, Impacting Generations
Only those
who think
the
‘unthinkable’
can ever
dare the
‘impossible
I see a world class
university emerge
at a record
speed dedicated
to finding solutions
to real life
problems.
 A prophetic vision had been declared
for this University, it is a sworn verdict
and only those who keep the vision law
will be happy: it takes discipline to keep
to this law, verdict
 Only those who obey rules become
rulers and only a disciplined army
returns victorious- Dr. David Oyedepo

If you imagine the huge demand of
becoming a world class university
you should readily agree that we
have a race to run, indeed a battle
to fight, we need a disciplined army
to win
George Washington thus said:
“Discipline is the soul of an army, it makes
more number formidable, it procure
success to the weak and esteem to all”.
Disciplined pursuit makes a
different pursuit
 Winners don’t do different things,
they only do things differently,
 Universities all over the world do
nothing different from the triune
functions of Teaching, Research and
Community services; the difference is
that the Leading Universities affect
Teaching, Research and community
services differently
 Those who are literate enough
to write and read their vision
always run with it Hab2:2
 Racing is about discipline and
intelligence, not about who has the
heavier foot. The one who drive
smart will always win in the endGarth Stein
 A choice for discipline is a choice for
dignity, your refusal today is your regret
tomorrow
 We make our choice and our choice either
makes us or mars us
 Everyone who is not disciplined can not be
diligent so cannot become a leader
• It is the quality of your investment today
that determines your harvest tomorrow
 Our focus on discipline here is in the slightly
complex matrix of
oExternally imposed discipline (rules of the
organization)
oSelf-imposed discipline (personal vision
discovery)
 By
o Time or productivity discipline
oLiquid resource discipline (finance and
others)
oOpportunity resource discipline
Demands of a disciplined pursuit
 Enlist in this army: Get firmly
strapped with the vision
considering the words of
Michelangelo:
 "The greatest danger for most of us
is not that our aim is too high and
we miss it, but that it is too low and
we reach it."
Demands of a disciplined pursuit
 Commit yourself to the university
vision by setting your own personal
goals towards it and refuse to be
distracted by seeming attractions:
 When Albert Einstein was invited to become
President of Israel he declined saying ,
“Scientific problems are familiar to me,
but I have neither the natural capacity
nor the necessary experience to handle
human beings”
Demands of a disciplined pursuit
 Possess the possibility mentality core
value especially connecting to the spirit
of faith through the spirituality core
 This vision is spiritual and no one
pursues it in energy of the flesh:
 "If you limit your choices only to what
seems possible or reasonable, you
disconnect yourself from what you truly
want, and all that is left is a
compromise.“- Robert Fritz
• Respond quickly and firmly to the
instructions of your commanders:
University Management, College
authorities and supervising Heads
remember that:
• We must all suffer one of two things:
either the pain of discipline or the pain
of regret or disappointment. Jim Rohn
“It is very dangerous to go into eternity with
possibilities which one has oneself prevented from
becoming realities. A possibility is a hint from God.
One must follow it.”
• He is an undisciplined Christian who
has no work to show for His faith,
remember Sören Kierkegaard
said:
• It is very dangerous to go into eternity
with possibilities which one has oneself
prevented from becoming realities. A
possibility is a hint from God. One must
follow it.”
• We can make vision 10:2022 a
reality.
Management staff and students on
this flight must watch the following
1. Become more disciplined in the use of our
time because attaining vision 10:2022 is
about dividing the 2022 knowledge impact
expectation by 7 years, by 84 months, by
2,525 days, by 60,600 hours, by 3.64 million
minutes or by 218.16 million seconds
1. To this end we must take conscious steps
to escape the following trap of time
indiscipline which are potent at shutting
us off critical productive time asset..
:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
Television watching and Telephone
time and timing
Unnecessary meetings and noncontributive events
Work
free
day
syndromeUnproductive culture of regular public
holidays
Weekend Holiday Syndrome
Retirement- seen as the final goal of
work John 5:17
“Living without working is
knowing”-Dr. D. Oyedepo
dying
without
2. Become more disciplined in the use of
resources considering that demand for quality
IT-facilitated teaching and research is
enormous, so:
i. Avoid embarking on project that are not
directly contributive to venture vision by
preliminary evaluation of contribution to
our immediate goals and vision.
ii. Drop programs dragging the speed of
vision pursuit.
iii. Track the utilization of your capacity and
trace the condition of your asset to
avoiding waste with every strength..
• In conclusion a disciplined
pursuit of our vision is clarion call
for a more dutiful commitment
to the fulfillment of the vision
• Remember the Chancellor’s
admonition: if we are committed,
we become more creative, more
productive, more successful and
more impactful
• Nobody who has an undesired
past should dwell on it because
a vision is more about our
future than about our past
• Create your future from your
future, not your past.
• Nothing stops an organization faster
than people who believe that the way
you worked yesterday is the best way
to work tomorrow.”
• Let us believe the 2022 tomorrow of
the One of Ten in Ten
• It was character that got us out of
bed, commitment that moved us into
action, and discipline that enabled us to
follow through. Zig Ziglar
“Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman
can do against the enormous array of the world's ills -against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and
violence. Yet many of the world's great movements, of
thought and action, have flowed from the work of a
single man. A young monk began the Protestant
reformation, a young general extended an empire from
Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young
woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a
young Italian explorer who discovered the New World,
and 32 year old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that
all men are created equal. ‘Give me a place to stand,’
said Archimedes, ‘and I will move the world.’ These
men moved the world, and so can we all.” Robert F.
Kennedy
Just before we go…
 I see an army of highly disciplined, highly
resourceful and highly impactful faculty and
students.
 I see the rise of intellectual giants of global
reckoning.
 This is our aspirations, this is dream and all of
these are our desires.
 “Whatever you cannot imagine, you cannot make
happen”
 “Whatever is too big for your mind, is too big for
your hand”
 “If you cannot think it, you cannot take it”
 “Whatever you don’t desire, you don’t deserve”
and
 “Whatever you don’t expect, you cannot
experience”
Thank you and best
wishes for the
2015/2016 session
It shall indeed be a
session of Heaven on
Earth Experience for us
all. Amen