We can spend N1m on burial but not on education – Oyedepo defends high tuition fees in private universities

Bishop David Oyedepo

The founder of the Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo, has explained why schools owned by churches charge high tuition feees.
He stated that the provision of quality education is an expensive venture.
The cleric said this while addressing journalists on Friday in Ota, Ogun State, at a media chat organised in commemoration of his 60th birthday coming up on September 27, 2014.
Private universities owned by churches in the country have been criticised for being too expensive for average church member to afford.
However, the pastor believes that if an average person can spend 1 million on burial, it is not a bad idea to invest it in education.
He said, “I’m sure we all agree that education is expensive. Education carries cost; nothing of value is free. Our mission for years long, before we started any university or secondary school, was a bursary awarding church and we have not stopped doing that till tomorrow”.
The pastor insisted that the church was committed to providing quality education to the youths, adding that many Nigerians complained about the cost of education in private universities because they had got their priorities misplaced.
“Our problem most of the time is priority; an average Nigerian can spend N1m on burial but to spend N200,000 on education (is a problem), because of wrong priority.
“On a yearly basis, we have N1.5trn that Nigerians spend on overseas universities, so people thrive on it. Nigerians spend N463bn a month on recharge cards, how much are they paying for schools fees? So it’s all a matter of priority. This is the largest market for telephone in the world. Now, to pay N500,000, some people have only one son, they have huge business and houses all over the places, they will never pay it”.
Speaking further, Oyedepo said he had chosen not to respond to the many controversial reports about him on the social media because he considered it as a waste of time.
He said, “My understanding of opposition, persecution is simply someone’s opinion harshly expressed. Everybody has a right to his opinion. Today, millions follow after Christ but you will be surprised that when you get to Israel some people do not believe that Christ has come.
“People have rights to their opinions. I naturally don’t feel it’s necessary (to respond). The energy I would need to react, I can use it to make moves. I have enough to think about than start running after a man who says you are a fool.
“If he says you are a fool and you are behaving so, then he’s right. If you leave your job and start pursuing somebody who says you are a fool, he has already said so, your going around doesn’t change it. So why going around, why don’t you settle on your job and make moves?
“I’ve also come to understand that those who make news hardly watch them, they are so busy making news while others are busy watching”.