Bishop David Oyedepo at 70: A Perspective
BDO is a lot more than we can begin to understand or explain…
Bishop David Oyedepo will always be primarily seen as the enigmatic, generational and transformational church leader he is. He will probably be the first to agree to that being his defining identity. God’s worker. To only see him that way will amount to wilful blindness or sincere ignorance. None is acceptable.
He is much more. No private individual, dead or alive, can lay claim to his legacy in education from primary to secondary education and two world class universities in Covenant University — arguably Nigeria’s best university- and Landmark University.
Beyond these, the man is a maker of men. Not just in terms of building them up as a church leader. A maker of men in terms of literal economic empowerment. There are thousands of enterprises that cannot tell their stories without referencing his direct contribution. Let’s not speak about the exceptional exploits of his university products. You just know there is a design at play.
He is a nation-builder.
A man whose footprint finds its presence all around the world. You couldn’t write a single book on his impact, let alone one social media or medium post. This is only to say that when you think of the man, understand that whatever you see or know is only a vignette of his fullness.
Love or hate him, admire or detest him, this is an extraordinary symbol of pride to the Black race. If we were as committed to telling stories of greatness about our people, as Americans are used to doing, we’d understand better. Happy birthday to Bishop David Oyedepo. I can’t explain. It’s extraordinary. #BDOat70
