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Tag: Topfaith University

  • Topfaith University hosts Troost Ekong’s camp NEXGEN

    Topfaith University hosts Troost Ekong’s camp NEXGEN

    Topfaith University played host to an exciting and transformative event – Camp NexGen, a dynamic three-day programme designed to ignite passion in young minds by merging athletics and STEM education in a truly unique way.

    Held from June 24 to 26, 2025, the camp welcomed over 150 students aged 12 to 15 from schools and communities across  Akwa Ibom State. 

    The event was organised under the auspices of The Troost Ekong Foundation and Idara Otu, a U.S.-based Nigerian Olympian and a passionate youth advocate. The Troost Ekong Foundation is founded by William Troost Ekong, the Super Eagles Captain, playing in the Al-kholood Club, Saudi Arabia.

    Camp NexGen is designed to bridge the gap in access to quality educational and developmental opportunities for young people in underserved areas. 

    By integrating athletic training with hands-on STEM activities, the camp provided participants with a rare opportunity to explore emerging technologies while cultivating life skills such as discipline, resilience, and teamwork.

    Throughout the programme, students engaged in a range of STEM-focused tasks including building and piloting drones, as well as athletic and soccer sessions that promoted physical fitness and character development.

    Speaking during the event, Mr. William Troost Ekong emphasized the importance of empowering youth through innovative learning experiences, stating that the goal is to offer the children a world-class exposure their peers in more privileged environments receive. “Camp NexGen is not just about sports or science, it’s about showing the children that they belong in any room and on any field”, Ekong said.

    Topfaith University’s collaboration, serene campus, and facilities provided the perfect backdrops for this dynamic initiative, reinforcing the institution’s commitment to educational excellence and youth development.

    During a courtesy call on Professor Patrick Ebewo, the Vice Chancellor of Topfaith University, The Troost Ekong Foundation and Idara Otu were commended for their commitment to youth development. 

    Prof. Ebewo praised them for not being the proverbial ostrich, one who feigns ignorance of societal needs, but rather choosing to act by initiating a programme that equips the next generation of leaders with essential life and leadership skills.

     He emphasized that such an initiative aligns perfectly with the vision of Topfaith University as an ivory tower of learning that meaningfully engages and impacts the surrounding community. “The success of Camp NexGen signals a promising future for similar collaborative efforts aimed at nurturing the potential of youths.

  • Role of universities in character building

    Role of universities in character building

    Sir: Recently, a few colleagues and I had the privilege of interviewing Dr Emmanuel T. Abraham, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Topfaith University. Dr Abraham, who delivered the 34th and 35th Convocation Lecture at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO),  titled “Twists, Turns and Triumphs of University Education in Nigeria,” posed a question that was not merely provocative but profoundly unsettling. He asked: “The companies in Nigeria that once thrived and employed thousands but have now folded up—who managed them? And which tertiary institutions produced those managers?

    This question demands more than a casual answer. Its logic is structural. UNCorruption, mismanagement, and leadership failure are not standalone phenomena; they are symptoms of deeper systemic deficiencies. Dr Abraham’s philosophical inquiry compels us to excavate the foundational values that structure our national life.

    Pressed to identify what we have missed in diagnosing the Nigerian problem, Dr Abraham answered with one word: Character.

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    This answer, though deceptively simple, is deeply profound. Do our universities genuinely assess the character of their students before declaring them “worthy in character and learning”? Dr Abraham maintains that the collapse of institutions, corporate or governmental, stems not merely from technical incompetence but from moral failure. If we are serious about national transformation, we must return to the roots: to the ethical formation of the citizen.

    As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in child and man—body, mind and spirit.” True education must stimulate not only intellectual faculties but also cultivate the moral imagination. John Dewey echoed this, arguing that “the establishment of character is a comprehensive aim of school instruction and discipline.”

    In this light, Topfaith University has taken a bold step. It recently became the first institution in Nigeria to institutionalise Character and Leadership Education as a mandatory course across all semesters. There are no written exams; students are assessed through reflective, behavioural, and performance-based methods.

    Every student receives a university-authored textbook on character and leadership development. This is not symbolic, it is strategic. It is a practical affirmation of the philosophy that education for moral character is what redirects human energy toward the flourishing of humanity.

    All tertiary institutions must embrace this responsibility. They must become the conscience of the nation, the moral compass of the Republic. Universities must act not only as agents of enlightenment but as guardians of character.

    Education finds its truest meaning when its aim is the cultivation of virtue. The time has come for the National Universities Commission (NUC) to declare a state of emergency, not in literacy rates, but in moral literacy. We must rebuild the moral infrastructure of the Nigerian state, and our universities must lead this renaissance.

    •David Bassey Antia Topfaith University, Mkpatak, Akwa Ibom State