How Covenant Child Academy Started Under A Canopy 25 Years Ago – Dr (Mrs) Delight Olise …rewards 35 dedicated and pioneering staff with millions of naira

Dr (Mrs.) Delight Uzezi Olise, is the Project Director/CEO., Covenant Child Academy, Lagos. An alumna of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, a Master’s Degree holder from the University of Ibadan (U.I), an MBA product of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and PhD Award in Educational Administration from Anointed University Worldwide, Johannesburg, South Africa. She is an astute educationist, who has taught at the Queen’s College, Lagos, and for several years, a lecturer at the Faculty of Education, UNILAG, before joining the service of the Federal Ministry of Education, where she served meritoriously in various capacities for 27 years before her voluntary retirement in 2018 as a Deputy Director.

The Cambridge Certified educationist is an acknowledged conference speaker, mentor, trainer, ordained gospel minister and author of several books. She belongs to several Christian and professional associations. Also, the President/Convener of Daughters of Zion Int’l Fellowship (DOZIF).

Dr. (Mrs.) Olise is happily married to Apostle Divine Olise and is blessed with miracle children: Joshua, and Joyful. 

The school celebrated her 25 years anniversary with the dedication of an ultra modern school complex at Surulere, Lagos and rewarded 35 members of the school staff for dedication and long service. She spoke with Gracious Akintayo on the unique journey of the school and other educational matters. Excerpt:

Briefly share with us the school journey.

It would be challenging to brief you on the journey of Covenant Child Academy, which began over 25 years ago and we are celebrating our 25th year.

Three years after the call to start Covenant Child Academy, I had no money, and I was having dreams and revelations about children crying. A voice would wake me up and say, ‘I should pray for them.’ Sometimes, the voice would ask, ‘Do you want to pray for them?’ They would be crying out for knowledge and would ask, ‘Would you provide them with the necessary knowledge?’ I would always respond positively, until I understood that this appeared to be a school and God was trying to communicate with me to give knowledge to the little children.

However, as a university lecturer, I faced another challenge when transitioning from the university level to the grassroots level, specifically working with young children, which was in addition to the financial challenge. I kept postponing the take off until I started approaching people I felt had the financial capacity to assist me, and they would always say, We know you are an educationist and would do a good job in school business, but give me time and the more it is delayed, the more these revelations keep on coming.

One morning, while going for my lecturing job at the University of Lagos, I saw a group of children wearing same uniform, going in the same direction, I felt that the school these children are going, they are not professionals who have the knowledge that I have, and if I start the school God is leading me to start, I can do much more better to educate children. With that drive, I started a free evening lesson for my neighbour’s children on 1 March 2000. Within a short time, the evening lesson grew so that I could no longer cope alone. I started bringing in teachers in the evening after they closed from their normal schools to come and join me. I then appealed to the parents to pay a token every month as a lesson allowance, and they obliged. As the number of students increased, my apartment couldn’t accommodate them, and I started making wooden chairs and tables for the open school in the evening on the ground floor of the approximately 8 flat apartments where I lived.

The landlord and other tenants didn’t find it funny, but the more they quarrelled and wanted me to stop the ‘nonsense’. The number of students kept growing. Parents started telling me that their children go to school and gain nothing as much as they learned from the evening lessons, and asked if I could oblige them to open a normal school in September. But I didn’t have the means to start school in September, and I approached my landlord, who had a warehouse in the compound.

For 10 years, I lived in the compound as a single lady. The warehouse was not in use, and he agreed to let me if I could pay the rent, which I accepted and started saving for. Two weeks after we agreed on when the payment should be made and to start using that place for the school, I discovered he had rented out the same warehouse to a church. I called to inform him that the invitation has already been printed and shared with the venue to launch the school. He questioned my right on his property, and that threw me off balance as to where to take the school from.

With determination not to turn back, and because invitations had been sent out, I approached the church to see if they could permit the use of the hall. They said they are a branch and their headquarters will not approve a newly rented hall for such a purpose. We then hired canopies and mounted them in a space of the compound for guests. Many of my lecturer colleagues were part of the ceremony under the canopy to inaugurate Covenant Child Academy on 24 August 2000. To the glory of God, the story is clear for all to see and know that it was a call I responded to.

What is the uniqueness of this school?

The uniqueness of the school is that we have never had a better last year; every year is a plus. It’s either that we have gone on an international trip, carried children to one country or another, or the staff to one country or the other; every year, something new happens in Covenant Child Academy. Plus the fact that children don’t fail exams in our school is a case of distinction. The first secondary school exam we wrote at the WAEC level, before the results were out, one of the children had already secured admission in UNILAG on merit. Our prayer was that the WAEC results would come out in flying colours, and the child would have also made her results. Otherwise, with merit admission, the child secured in UNILAG will be disqualified. Luckily, the child passed the WAEC exam. When the result came out, the child had nine distinctions. Which was our first nine distinctions result from the very first WAEC exam we took, and to date, the story has not changed from the inception; it is a distinct and unique result.

We have one of our staff members nicknamed Annie A1. His name is Anna Young, but his colleagues gave him Annie A1. No child gets less than an A1 in his subject, and he’s a mathematics teacher. If maths can have A1 all through, how much more than all other subjects? Our parents know us for a distinguished school, and they have formed various songs for our community. They will tell you, take your child to Covenant Child Academy; their results speak for themselves.

At Covenant Child Academy, our results are unique, as children don’t fail exams because we have professionals teachers and non-teaching staff who are well trained and equipped to handle the students academic environment. We also pay heavily, bringing experts and professionals to continue training and retrain our teachers.

How would you describe the present state of education in our society? 

One thing that drove us into Christian education, as a calling of God, was the moral decadence in society and a decline in the quality of education. Our call is to launder the image of education so that a Nigerian child can achieve their educational pursuits. Our slogan in Covenant Child Academy is: “the teacher has not taught if the learner has not learned”. Until the learner has learned, no teacher in Covenant Child can claim to have taught, and this has gone a long way to help us.

The issue of moral decadence in our society is a carry-over from the political sector to the educational sector and all other pillars of influence in the nation. We should end corruption, exam malpractice, and moral decadence in our society so that our country can rise again. Because every child can succeed as far as the right to quality education is concerned. No child is a write-off if given the right atmosphere.

If parents are corrupt and the children see them in that light as a way of life in the society, it will be difficult for education to thrive. The more you think you are doing, your children are affected by the same environment they grew up in. Parents should change their ways, the government should change, everyone, also in the corridors of influence, should change their ways, and launder our nation’s image.

How do you manage a retinue of staff for years in the private sector?

From the inception to date, we have those who have started with us. They are still here, and the reason is, in leadership, if you don’t want to go fast in life, go alone. But if you want to go far, go with people. I learned that I must go with people because I want to go far in life and for people to go with you, to make you go far, you must learn the people principles and some of the principles of people management are; you must come to their level, know every one of them, know various challenges they are facing in life, and be ready to identify with them and their challenges.

In Covenant Child Academy, we have travelled from many states in the country to stand with our staff. Either they are getting married or have lost a parent, we don’t allow them to travel alone; we go as a team and stand with them because they belong somewhere. We’ve seen husbands coming to plead for their wives in my office when they hear their wives misbehave and are about to be relieved of their jobs. Their husbands come as, my marriage will also be affected if my wife leaves your school, others threatened their wives when they learn their wife wants to leave our school because in Covenant Child Academy we show human face and give them the future pictures of this commission that if they will stay with us as this place is progressing, they too will be progressing. There was no time to say, if you stay for 10, 15, or 20 years, this is what we would do to appreciate you. Still, we reward and appreciate long term of service in Covenant Child Academy, like the 35 members of staff we recently appreciated financially, from the environmental officers (that’s how we call our cleaners) that have spent 10 years with others who have spent up to 25 years with us for their dedication, commitment, and loyalty, they weren’t expecting it but we surprised them. The only people we have not appreciated are those who have spent up to 5 years with us, and they will be appreciated.

What is your message to society and the private sector on the reward system? 

The slogan that a teacher’s reward is in heaven must come to an end. Where a man works, that is where he eats. School owners, employers of labourers, and business owners should endeavour to reward and appreciate their loyal and dedicated staff. If the organisation is making progress, let the employees be part owners of that progress to the extent that they benefit from it. We give cars to staff when they merit it, and at the end of the day, we see the result.

As our desire and dream is to own a university, and the organisation is growing and progressing, we must reward those who are working now. The economic situation we keep seeing is a harsh economy, but in a harsh economy, we build a school. How harsh is the economy on us? If we build, those who have sacrificed and laboured to build with us should also enjoy the labour of their efforts. The Bible says, You will build and inhabit. You will not plant for another to harvest. If people plant and we see the harvest result, they are part of the harvest. The Bible also says, My elect shall long enjoy the labours of their hands. They are labouring; they should enjoy the labours of their hands.

In the same way, society at large should encourage and appreciate people who are working and make them enjoy the work of their hands. Then they will put in more effort to produce more results in that organisation.