The Founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, clocked 62 penultimate Tuesday. Landmark University (LMU), Omu Aran, Kawara State, which Oyedepo established in 2011, embarked on the distribution of education materials in schools in Omu Aran neinbouhoods as a sign of the founder’s large heart. In this interview with ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, the Vice Chancellor of LMU, Prof Aize Obayan, speaks extensively on the founder’s vision for LMU and how the university is living the vision in its five years of existence. Excerpts:
Despite government’s lack of commitment or regard for agricultural development, what has stoked the fire in the founder’s quest for agrarian revolution through Landmark University?
I will describe the drive as a visionary thrust in the sense that the black man has for too long been equated with lack, poverty and everything that will place him at the mercy of donor countries. Africa and Nigeria in particular have been blessed with enormous resources, but this has not translated to wealth.
We have seen it with our (black) gold. We have the crude that we refine and sell abroad, but the price of our black gold is determined outside of us. We are disempowered.
Nigeria is blessed with arable land. Anytime I travel around, I see massive sprawling land filled with grass, weed and wild plants. When you travel abroad, it is the opposite. This cannot continue to be so. It is not in line with the vision of Landmark University.
Going back to 2011 groundbreaking day when Landmark foundation stone was laid, what the Chancellor stated then was that God asked him to drive the pursuit of an agrarian revolution in addition to running various programmes in the university. However, with the natural endowment, it’s about what Landmark is able to do in ensuring that nobody goes hungry. God has endowed us with land, so we do not have to perceive everywhere as bush. So Landmark is able to build capacity through courses, research and product development.
So how did the founder derive the vision?
Before he started, he thought of countries that were doing this and Israel came to mind. So some academic board members and the Council that was in place at the inception of LMU were made to visit Israel to see how much land they have despite that it’s a desert area. Interestingly, Israel has been one of the largest food exporters till today.
A hungry man is not a dignified man. So we cannot talk of a dignified people if their basic needs are not being met. Government is not doing enough in feeding her people well, but we believe no Nigerian should go hungry. With our natural endowment, people should not be seen rummaging dustbin for food
Could you shed light on the innovations with which Landmark is operating agriculture?
We are not conservative. It’s not about the way our forefathers tilled the ground. For instance, we look at how a production engineer can conceive developing products that will help us have better yields. How can Agricultural Science laboratories test the soil to know that it will grow well? Are we able to know what are indigenous in our immediate environment? How we can impact this on the local farmers so that mindset and practices also change? Are we able to raise the next generation of leaders who will be agric practitioners? Many of our young persons equate going into agriculture with implements that will make them look like menial workers. It doesn’t have to be so. We are talking about new vistas in agricultural practice.
Why does Landmark insist both students and workers must own and operate a farmland on the campus?
Simple! The founder believes that Nigeria is so blessed with land and if everybody should have a small farmland at the back of his house, then you are able to grow your own lettuce, cucumber, vegetables and all that, thereby you don’t even need to rely on what is taken to the market. Once that is achieved, there will be a glut and prices of foodstuff will be forced to come down in the market. We are then able to be sufficient in food and securing the future in such a way that food security is something that is achievable.
This is also tied to ensuring we have a robust and healthy population which also forms a segment of the Total Man Concept that we inculcate in our students here. Another thing that drives the Founder is that right from here (Landmark) Nigeria is able to grow her own food without waiting for what is important. The Founder believes God has endowed every nation with what is indigenous to them.
We don’t need to import turkey and chicken because those things that they need to nurture them are available here. Some of these imported items had been preserved with chemicals and their consumption by us brings in more diseases that are never associated with us in this part of the world. But by the time we produce such things here, based on our understanding of the kind of soil and the ecosystem, makes the value chain a lot easier as we do not need to go into preservation.
What is the mode of agricultural practice in Landmark?
Every student in Landmark is involved in agricultural practice regardless of their discipline. Every staff is also involved. For instance, I have my own farm not very far from where I live. As a leader, I also must show the proof of my engagement with the vision. I grow tomatoes, garden eggs, carrots, vegetables, maize and okra. It might interest you that for about a year, I have not gone to the market to buy okra. The okra I grow is fresh with no chemical fertiliser.
The beauty of being with nature and of planting things and being able to grow can sometimes be awesome. When tomatoes were expensive, I was harvesting the ones in my farm and it could sustain me. The Fadama rice that we planted in September last year, we began to harvest it by November and we sold a lot during the Yuletide. And from one hectare, which initially is a project from teaching and research farm, we have expanded across the university gate to two hectares. The Commercial Farm, which is quite a large area, has also taken off.
This year, we are sure we will have a lot of rice. This year is very encouraging as we embark on our Marketgelism project. This simply means marketing products from Landmark, and it is not just left to chance. We are looking to see how our students understand that beyond planting and harvesting, the marketing and packaging are also there. So we are talking about the entire value chain in agricultural entrepreneurs.
In another instance, we have a cassava processing plant. It is not about planting cassava, but how you process it. How do you conduct research to know which of the varieties has more starch, quick yielding or do well around here? And how do we bring in out grower to sustain it? With that, we are also impacting on the rural development. So the Agric Extension and Rural Development programme in the College of Agricultural Science of LMU is already reaching out to local farmers who will be trained. We will get our cuttings and that way, they sell back to us because we are in control of the varieties that we want.
We are also encouraging faculties as well if they can farm on the faculty’s expanse of land. Acquisition of land by Landmark is still ongoing. We have a massive long term plan beyond here. We have a large expanse of land at Eleyin just as you drive out of Omu-Aran. Landmark has also acquired another land in Agbonda. But beyond that, we are also focusing on skill acquisition for local farmers and training is part of it.
What are some of the contributions Landmark is making to the development of its host community?
There is this research project on chicken genetics. It’s an African project and one of our faculties won an award to be involved in that. They will get special breed of chicken and find a local community to distribute these chickens to. That way, they are able to engage the communities in raising chickens that are indigenous to this environment. That way, they are able to raise their own and we let them know what to feed them so they can get returns from whatever they have invested.
The Agbonda project is to be able to look at history of farm settlement. The Eleyin Project is to see how farm settlement can evolve so that when these farm settlements evolve, they can keep these persons on the farm, so that community health centres and schools for children of these farmers, including other facilities, will come up and automatically make those areas self sufficient.
There have been infiltrations of Fulani herdsmen in farmlands across certain areas. What is the university doing to guard against this?
It is simple. We make them (Fulani herdsmen) see themselves as stakeholders by involving them. When you know that someone could be a part of a problem, you bring him in and make him a part of the solutions. So rather than moaning that they are a challenge, we have taken them as a part of the entire work. We are also looking at how to bring them on board so they can look beyond the grazing to having a ranch.
Cows that do well in terms of dairy are the ones fed fat. We don’t have to rear cattle that are grazing and going several kilometres. That does not really lead to quantity, yield and care that you expect from these animals when compared to the very robust ones from Australia. If they get them (herdsmen) a ranch fortified with hay and straw fortified with vitamins, that might be a new beginning.
It’s about intentional effort in terms of doing it differently. It’s about letting these people see that more can be got in terms of what they have always had, and getting them to understand that nobody is taking what they have from them; and ensuring that you secure their trust. So far, we have ensured a peaceful co-existence among these people.
Landmark University had its third convocation in August. So far what are the feedbacks from past graduates?
The feedbacks have been quite encouraging. A good number of them have created their own jobs. Some have started their own farms. We have a number of them willing to take up appointments here, particularly those with first class degrees.
We heard that the director Aerospace institute National Space Research and Development Agency (NASDRA) recently visited Landmark, and how joyful and validating it is to see that one of our students is really doing well there. Besides, NASDRA is looking at how they can open up the place for more of our graduates who we fondly call pathfinders.
As at today, we have graduated up to 1,555, and it appears that many of them have been able to get into paid employment. Some of them wish to come back for their post graduate programmes, even though we have not yet started. But we are in touch with the National Universities Commission over that.
We are also in touch with employers. The alumni body of Landmark has just been instituted, even though we have only had three sets of graduates. They are very much involved in what is happening here. Some of them were here during the last convocation. Management has also worked out regular meetings with the alumni base. Management also plans to set up alumni office so as to engage and keep them abreast of what is happening here. The management engaged some of them during the 62nd birthday of the founder. They were part of all the things we did.
Recently, we recruited some of them. One of our first class graduates, Esan, is returning to his Civil Engineering as an Assistant Lecturer.
Your sister institution, Covenant University, places priority on leadership training of its students. Is the tradition replicated here?
That will always be with any arm of education mandate of the Living Faith Church Commission. There is this mindset of going out to take charge. So whatever you have seen in Covenant University is being replicated here and is very much entrenched in the overall curriculum.
For example, it is embedded in our Total Man Concept, ditto for the expectations we have of every student. We see every student as being raised to go out and be a global leader, and not only in the Nigerian context. We also have regular charges from the Chancellor and management investing heavily in regular orientation programmes and ensuring that beyond certificates, students understand how to apply that which they have learned.
From a spiritual perspective, we charge them to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. It is about raising men and women of impact and being clear about the purpose of their lives and what calling they are responding to. Interestingly, just like CU, the Landmark curriculum is to engage you towards what God is calling you to do.
When you talk, you hardly mention challenges. Does it mean that there are no encumbrances at all?
We set our goals and this is part of our being able to drive the vision. As part of that programme, one is in touch with regards to what one calls first feels. I do believe that challenges are part and parcel of the entire package. Challenges are meant to be overcome, and the mindset of a leader is the ability to discover problems and solve them rather than bemoan them. With that mindset, you have the overcomer mentality. Such challenges therefore become a springboard.
As challenges come, we identify and address them immediately. At the end of the day, you find out they are simply not there anymore.
We anticipate and second guess largely what could be challenges. For instance, it is obvious many youths today hardly express interest in agriculture because of who will employ them when they graduate? Many are waiting for government jobs but nobody thinks that they can go out there, get their own products and be a part of the value chain in terms of the entire process.
So what did we do? We sat down and rolled out 50 per cent rebate from the proprietor base and recently 100 per cent full scholarship for the very best that meets certain grade points. That way, we get the very serious ones going into a sector that is not highly subscribed; and then you are also helping to cover up tracks in terms of shortfall in persons.
Besides, there is a lot the private investors can do because government cannot do everything. We all know that at present, the economic is in recession. But to us, recession is an opportunity to see what we can learn and fast track. So I believe as we talk of recession and oil failing us, our strength is embedded in the massive land God has endowed us with, only If we can do it from a research mindset, be frugal and look for indigenous practices that can be scientific.
Can we have an example of this indigenous practice blended with research?
For instance, during mango season here (Nigeria), we see a lot of mangoes wasted. South Africa, for example, does not grow as much mangoes as we do, but they sun or freeze dry so that when there is no mango anymore, the sundried mangoes arrive. They don’t have to use chemicals to preserve them. By the time you put them back in water, it swells up. These are indigenous ideas. Our forefathers did that (sun drying) with okra and vegetables and the values therein are not lost.
