“Chairman Board of Trustees, Pro Chancellor, Vice Chancellor; I beg your pardon my boss, The Superintendent General of The Apostolic Faith worldwide, Reverend Darrel D. Lee, all protocols observed.
“Education has been, and is the moral beacon of the society, without which there will be no society. A former director of the International Labour Organization has attributed the deteriorating state of our education to the lack of inculcation in students a proper sense of value.
This could not have been better put. Value refers to belief about what is right and wrong and creates a mindset within which people operate, and can only be inculcated in youths in the home and through the school system. To be consistent in your values, such actions require having integrity. This is how to build a strong character. The word integrity means being honest and morally upright. Integrity is the genuine thing. The more you beam the light on it, the more of its details you can see. It means people of integrity always stand out.
“The vision behind Crawford University project was to ensure the investment of our resources in the education, training and development of Nigerian and African youths, to guarantee a secure and morally sound leadership for the nation, for the entire continent and for the world at large. We know that the youths are the harbingers of hope for the nation's future growth. Through such investment in the youth, we are building a future where young Nigerians would be well positioned to eradicate moral decadence, corruption and ungodliness from the society, and propel it towards a virile and great nation.
“Again, the need to find ethical balance is a key challenge in corporate governance as it affects companies, board of directors, managers and other segments of the organization. Ethics have been defined as acceptable standards of behaviour or conduct. Unethical practices and behaviours have ruined many careers and brought many virtues, ventures and projects to the ground. Unethical business practices and individual incidents of unethical behaviour reflect the values, attitude and beliefs of the persons involved. In order to aviate and convert societal ills, Crawford University was established, and its motto is: “KNOWLEDGE WITH GODLINESS”. This is our philosophy. We give praise to God for giving us this vision. Our dream university is the one that will be churning out every year, world-class, God-fearing, knowledgeable and skilful graduates.
“I want to commend the Vice Chancellor, Professor M.T. Ige, Professor Peter Okebukola, and the entire members of staff of this great university for sharing this vision with us and for their commitment and resilience. For us to achieve greatness and total success, I encourage you to be united. Work together as a team, knowing for sure that we are not only working for our daily bread but essentially working for God Who will abundantly reward us above all our expectations. As recorded in Proverbs 11:25, “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”
“To you parents and guardians, I specially thank you for the confidence you have in Crawford University, and I make bold to say that you cannot and will never regret bringing your children to this institution. Surely, they shall be great, and they will have a lifetime and eternal success in Jesus' name. Indeed, you have made the right choice!
“I also congratulate all the graduands. Your names have been written in gold! God has engraved your names on His palm. You have commenced the journey to greatness. May God see you through. This country is waiting for you. Go out in confidence and shine. We should all pray at all times and must not forget God. The university should pray. All of us should keep on praying for this institution. We should pray for ourselves, for the parents and for all our students. Could you please permit me to quote an editorial comment from one of our national newspapers?
'Despite myriads of problems bedevilling our educational institutions, they are not beyond solution. It is believed that these institutions must return to the golden era when religion and moral instructions flourished in schools. Sanity can return to these schools in this way. The war against indiscipline and corruption cannot be won through legalism no matter how justifiable or attractive it seems to be. The potent weapon therefore is prayer. Burdened by the realities of myriads of problems, biting corruption and uncertain future, there is strong belief that only God Whom our constitution recognizes as sovereign can save us. This belief ought to be strongly inculcated in the impressionable minds of our youth.'
“Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for honouring our invitation to grace this epoch-making occasion of the first convocation of our great university. May God bless you all and also take you back home safely as He brought you here safely. We want to let you know that we love you!”