Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo and Chancellor, Covenant University, has commended Diamond Bank Plc for its robust Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and commitment to strategically empower Nigerian youths with cutting edge ICT knowledge.
Oyedepo said during the commissioning of a state-of-the-art ICT Centre built by Diamond Bank as part of her CSR initiative at Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, that the Bank has through the ICT Centre opened a window of limitless gateway to knowledge.
“Let me thank the management of Diamond Bank Plc for identifying with our vision here in Covenant University which is to become a research hub not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa. One of the reasons why Nigeria seems not to be growing is the trivialization of important aspects of development such as this Centre where research can be carried out to find solutions to problems. I think it is time for more corporate organizations to get involved in this type of effort to help facilitate research in academic institutions,” Oyedepo stated.
The Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank, Uzoma Dozie, while speaking at the commissioning ceremony, stated that the project is in line with the bank’s commitment to ensuring that academic institutions in Nigeria adopt up-to-date technology in research projects.
“We would like to thank the Chancellor and the entire management of Covenant University for facilitating this partnership. For us at Diamond Bank, it is not only a dream come true but also an expression of our commitment to ensuring that academic institutions in Nigeria, like their counterparts all over the world, adopt cutting edge technology in their research projects which will ultimately increase academic excellence.”
Dozie expressed hope that the Centre would make it easier for students of the University and researchers to access data for research analysis.
He added that “the availability of data for research is fundamental to qualitative analysis of the problems affecting humanity. It is our hope that students of this institution and other researchers would be able to access information faster at this centre.”
Reiterating Bishop Oyedepo, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Charles Ayo, said the university is proud to be associated with Diamond Bank. Noting that the Centre is symbolic given the University’s vision to become one of the top ten universities in the world in the next ten years.
“The university is proud to be associated with Diamond Bank and this partnership is unique. The commissioning of the project today resonates with Covenant University’s vision … and this partnership a step in the right direction.”
The ICT centre is fully equipped with an e-library, an e-banking centre with Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and an e-classroom with 48 smart PCs. In addition, it is strategically located within the research centre of the University.
Diamond Bank is also deploying other technological facilities within the university such as e-attendance register and unified payment and Identity System.
