Vice Chancellor of Mountain Top University (MTU), Prayer City, Ogun State, Prof. Elijah Ayolabi, has stressed the need for Nigeria to build strong institutions rather than strong individuals to foster a system that works for the citizens.

He made the call yesterday, at a media briefing held at MTU, Prayer City, Ogun State, ahead of the institution’s seventh convocation billed for December 18.

Addressing reporters, Ayolabi identified one of the challenges facing the country as failure to build strong institutions and a working system, noting that strong individuals work against the system.

He said, “If you build an individual, that individual eventually will destroy the system. Unfortunately, what we see in the environment today is an attempt to build an individual, even in politics, and at the end of the day, the individual becomes so powerful that they control virtually everyone. That’s not how to build a system.”

Using faith-based universities as a point of reference, the VC said the institution believes that university education must go beyond academic certification, stating: “We are committed to the total development of the child: academically, morally, professionally, spiritually, and socially.”

Speaking on the convocation, which coincides with the 10th anniversary of the university, Ayolabi explained that the institution is celebrating 10 years of divine faithfulness and institutional growth, and also sharing with the world a success story that has become one of the most compelling narratives in private university education in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.