Rev. Dr. Delight Uzezi Olise, Project Director/CEO, Covenant Child Academy, Lagos is a renowned educationist and an ordained gospel minister, author, former lecturer and President/Convener, Daughters of Zion International Fellowship (DOZIF), who is married to Apostle Divine Olise, and is blessed with beautiful children. The school recently celebrated its 25the anniversary with the dedication of an ultra-modern complex. Rev. Mrs. Olise spoke with EJIKEME OMENAZU on the uniqueness of the school and other educational issues. Excerpt: How did the journey of Covenant Child Academy start? The journey of Covenant Child Academy began over 25 years ago and we are celebrating its 25th anniversary. It was challenging, but dramatic. But, in all, we give God the glory. Three years after the call to start Covenant Child Academy, I had no money, and was having dreams and revelations about children crying. A voice would wake me up and say, “Pray for them.” Sometimes, the voice would ask, “Do you want to pray for them? Or “Would you provide them with the necessary knowledge?” I would always respond affirmatively 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 the challenge of transiting from the university level to the grassroots, specifically working with young children, which in addition to financial challenges. I kept postponing the take-off until I started approaching people I felt had the financial capacity to assist me, and they would say, “We know you are an educationist and would do a good job in school business, but give me time.” The more it was delayed, the more the revelations kept coming. One morning, while on my way to the University of Lagos, I saw a group of children putting on the same uniform going in the same direction. I felt that the school they are going to was not run by professionals who had my type of knowledge and that if I start the school God was leading me to start, I could do much better to educate children. With that drive, I started a free evening lesson for my neighbours’ children in March 2000. Within a short time, the evening lesson grew and I could no longer cope alone. I brought in teachers in the evening after they closed from their normal schools to join me. I then appealed to the parents to pay a token as a lesson allowance every month, and they obliged. As the number increased, my apartment could not accommodate them. I started making wooden chairs and tables for the open school in the evening on the ground floor of where I lived. The number of students kept growing and parents started telling me that their children go to school and gain nothing as much as they learnt from the evening lessons, and asked if I could open a normal school in September. But, I did not have the means to start a school in September, and I approached my landlord, who had a warehouse in the compound. The warehouse was not in use, and he agreed to let me 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 the place, he rented out the warehouse to a church. I called to inform him that the invitation has already been printed and shared to launch the school. He questioned my right on his property, and that threw me off balance. With determination 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 would not approve a newly rented hall for such a purpose. We then hired canopies and mounted them in 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. What made the school unique? The uniqueness of the school is that we did not have a better last year. Every year is a plus. It is either 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 do not fail exams in our school. Before the results of the first secondary school exam we wrote at the WAEC level were out, one of the children had already secured admission into 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 with nine distinctions, which was our first distinction result from the first WAEC exam, and till date, the story has not changed; it has always been distinct and unique results. One of our staff members is nicknamed Annie A1. His name is Anna Young, he is a Mathematics teacher, but his colleagues gave him Annie A1 because no child gets less than an A1 in his subject. If our students can get A1 in Mathematics all through, how much more than all other subjects? Our parents know us as a distinguished school, and they will tell people, “Take your child to Covenant Child Academy. Their results speak for themselves”. Our results are unique and children do not fail exams because they have professionals who are also trained. We pay heavily and bring professionals to continue training and retrain our teachers. How would you describe the present state of education in Nigeria? What 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 educational heights. Our slogan is “Teacher is not taught if the learner has not learnt”. Until the learner has learnt, no teacher 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. 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 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, we have those who started with us and they are still here. 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 must go with people because I want to go far in life, and for people to go with you, you must learn the people’s principles. Some of the principles of people management are: You must come to their level, know every one of them, know their various challenges in life, and be ready to identify with them and their challenges. In our school, we have travelled to many states in the country to stand with our staff. Either they are getting married or have lost a parent, we do not allow them to travel alone; we go as a team and stand with them because they belong somewhere. We have seen husbands coming to plead for their wives when they heard their wives misbehaved and are about to be relieved of their jobs because we show human faces and give them the future pictures of this commission, that if this place is progressing, they too will be progressing. There was no time we promised, this is what we would do to appreciate you. Still, we recently rewarded and appreciated 35 members of our staff from the Environmental Officers (how we call our cleaners) that have spent 10 years, with others who have spent up to 25 years with us, financially, for their dedication, commitment, and loyalty for long service in Covenant Child Academy. They were not expecting it, but we surprised them. Others who had spent up to five years with us, would also be appreciated. What is your advice to the Nigerian 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 labour, and business owners should endeavour to reward and appreciate their loyal and dedicated staff. If an organisation is making progress, let the employees be part owners of that progress to the extent that they benefit from it when they merit it. We should reward those who are working. The economic situation we keep seeing is harsh, but in a harsh economy, we progress. Those who have sacrificed and laboured with us should also enjoy the labour of their efforts. The 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 efforts to produce more results in that organisation.