The head of Living Faith World Outreach, a.k.a. Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, is one of the anointed leaders of Pentecostal Churches in Nigeria, which is arguably the richest clergy in Africa and will never stop springing surprises. The fiery Bishop, who years ago led the pack of churches with private universities with world-class Covenant University, which boasts more than N500 billion worth of architectural masterpiece buildings. In his hometown of Omu Aran, Kwara State, he has since established another called Landmark University.
Another first from the sophisticated pastor was the sprawling Winners Chapel headquarters in Ota , Ogun State, that can sit 50,000 worshippers at a time. Truly, Winners Chapel ‘s founder and shepherd-in-charge is an epitome of wealth and wealth.
With the outstanding Cannanland, reportedly worth more than N90 billion, with numerous projects built and revenue earned from it, four jets valued at N25 billion, N15 billion at three universities and many other colleges, a projected N250 billion housing estate upon completion, made him a shepherd with uncommon grace for prosperity.
Bishop Oyedepo is arguably the richest pastor in Africa according to the Wikianswers.com. The church which he founded in 1981 developed in leaps and boundaries. The ministry now has more than 2000 satellite branches in 60 countries and currently boasts more than one million members worldwide and several others by outreach. In 2008, when he became the pastor of the world’s largest worship centre, with a sitting capacity of 50,000 and an excess of 250,000 in Canaanland, Ota , Ogun State, the bishop passed into the Guinness Book of World Records.
“Winners Chapel ‘s international headquarters is named Faith Tabernacle. It covers an area of about 70 acres (280,000 m2) and is built inside a church complex of over 10,500 acres (42 km2) called Canaanland, the international ministry headquarters in Ota, a suburb of Lagos. The building took 12 months to complete. The laying of the foundation took place on 29 August 1998 and the announcement of the one-year time frame for the building project was announced on 13 September 1998 by Bishop Oyedepo at the Iyana Ipaja church, while the construction began on 18 September 1998. The building’s dedication took place on September 19, 1999, attended by 97,800 faithful.
Faith Tabernacle is currently the world’s largest church building with a seating capacity of 50,400 people and an outdoor overflow capacity of more than 250,000, with four services each Sunday. Construction completed in Canaanland to date is projected to be no less than $600 million (N90 billion) with an additional Canaan City Estate already under development which would be Africa’s largest housing estate and possibly one of the world’s largest of 15,000 housing units at $1.6 billion or N250 billion. It is part of the church’s grander scheme of 150,000 houses to be designed.
As an educationalist, the mission of Bishop David Oyedepo is currently pioneering the establishment of educational institutions at all levels in and outside Nigeria, including the widely established Hebron or Covenant University with over 7,000 students, and the Faith Academy with 1,500 students both in Canaanland. Covenant University was well documented on Nigeria ‘s 50th Independence Anniversary in a Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) documentary due to landmark achievements in its few years of existence. In 2005, Covenant University was named the best private university in Nigeria and one of the institution’s aims is to be among the best in the world by or before 2020.
According to Bishop Oyedepo, “Covenant University is not just an institution, it is a revolution in education.”
By contrast, during the 2010 Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE), Faith Academy placed fourth of all secondary schools in Nigeria. The church’s second university known as Landmark University in Omu Aran, Kwara State, was approved by the Nigerian government in March 2011 and immediately resumed academic activity with around 1000 students that same month. The building at Landmark University is reported to be at least $50 million (N7 billion) in the realm so far, though Bishop Oyedepo insists that ‘spending continues.’
Landmark University (LU) has the mandate to spearhead Nigeria’s agrarian revolution. In August 2010 Bishop David Oyedepo reported that traveling around the walls of Landmark University requires a trip of more than 100 km. Landmark University has an area of 1,400 acres. The third one under construction is Crown University, Cross River Province, in Calabar. There are clear proposals for about four more universities across Africa, including Abuja, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya, as announced during Shiloh 2007 by Bishop Oyedepo.
1,000 acres have already been acquired for the University of Ghana, while 300 hectares (about 750 acres) have been acquired for the University of Congo and this will be a university of French-speaking origin. Recently, Gambia ‘s President Yahya Jammeh has appealed to Living Faith Church’s World Mission Agency (WMA) to build a university in the Gambia. Many other projects which were announced during the initial foundation laying in Canaanland in 1999 include, among many other projects, a towering administrative headquarters, and a 500-bed hospital.
Winners’ Chapel also runs a chain of about 30 secondary schools in Nigeria, and more than 50 primary and nursery schools. Secondary schools are known as Faith Academies, with the exception of universities known as Covenant University and Landmark Secondary Schools. The kindergarten and primary schools are known as Model Kingdom Heritage Schools (KHMS). Some of the high schools are located at Badagry, Iyana Ipaja, Ibadan, Asaba, Kaduna, Ilorin and Osogbo. The mission is currently working on establishing, in every country in Africa, at least one secondary school each.
The Winners Chapel has a Goshen Village, which is a camp like Canaanland in Abuja and is along Abuja-Keffi Street, kilometer 26. It has a state-of-the-art auditorium that holds more than 15,000 people and a high school, the Faith Academy, a community center, and the Kingdom Heritage Model School (nursery and primary), all dedicated on 2 October 2010. The auditorium is a Tabernacle of Faith replica. Goshen is complete with a dual-carriageway running through the 740-acre street lightning facility as well as a housing estate of more than 45 housing units among others and all of these were constructed in just 15 months.There are proposals to establish a University in Goshen. Goshen is now the Living Faith Church’s world headquarters. It’s worth more than N15bn. Winners Chapel has many architectural masterpieces throughout Nigeria and Africa which emphasize utility.
The use of pillars in their auditorium is de-emphasized as they require visual access to the altar for any worshipper. Several of these masterpieces are Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Goshen, along Km 26 Abuja-Keffi Expressway, the old site of Winners Chapel in Durumi, Abuja, constructed in six months; Garden of Faith, Kaduna, Winners Chapel, Kano, Winners Chapel, Benue and Winners Chapel, Nairobi (Wonderland), Kenya to name only a few. Winners Chapel, Nairobi is East and Central Africa’s largest church auditorium, with an auditorium of 20,000. It had been dedicated on April 20, 2013, reportedly worth N3.5 billion.
The church’s other assets currently include four aircraft (Gulfstream 1 , 2 and 4 and a Lear jet) worth N8 billion worth each of the Gulfsteam. That’s N24 billion while an old Lear jet valued N1billion.
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