Covenant University, a private Christian university in Ota, Ogun State, affiliated with Living Faith Church Worldwide is currently in intensive public scrutiny following the death of Professor Joseph Olugbuyiro, a former staff member whose appointment was allegedly terminated in 2024, without the payment of his terminal benefits.
A close colleague, Samuel Tuesday Owoeye, broke the news in an emotional post on social media, alleging that the university of subjected him and others to untold hardship by withholding their entitlements for over eight months.
“My brother and colleague, you couldn’t survive the shock,” Owoeye wrote, just as he also added that “Covenant University terminated our appointment in September 2024 and gave us three weeks to vacate our residence… not because we violated any regulations, but to bring down the wage bill.”
Owoeye alleged that while the sack was painful but tolerable, the greater injustice was the university’s prolonged refusal to settle their benefits.
“As I make this post, they are still devising how to cut, cut, cut… It is now over eight months and the organization we spent almost half of our lifetime to serve doesn’t care if we go and die. Of course, you have gone and now you have died untimely,” he lamented, just as he also recalled their last conversation on May 4, 2025, where both men discussed the harsh economic realities facing them.
Quoting Jeremiah 17:9 to add a spiritual angle to it, describe the betrayal they felt: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it.”
Owoeye, who expressed fear that even in death, his colleague might still be short changed, added, “I am sure Covenant University will now call your next of kin and pay him/her what they like and not what you are entitled to receive. God will judge the wicked,” he concluded.
As at the time of filing this, the school authority has yet to comment on this allegation.
Meanwhile deluge of reactions have stated pouring in like a torrential rain on online, with many people, including former staff , sharing similar experiences of alleged maltreatment and unpaid benefits.
“The same thing done to us in 2020 after the COVID-19 break… Some of us are dead, but I give thanks to God who has sustained the rest of us.” Joshua Israel Jonah Odubele recalled a similar ordeal
A former student, named Solomon Nwankwo, expressed sorrow and revealed a disturbing pattern. “My dad is still being owed till today and he is late too… Thanks for the good treatment you gave me in school. May your gentle soul rest in peace.”
Others like Omoyele Enoch Olufemi, criticized what they called hypocrisy within religious institutions: “The same people will come out and preach prosperity with this high level of wickedness.”
“Some of the things we are allowed to see are just facades. May the good Lord keep you and comfort the family of your late colleague.” Ola Honesty noted
Amid the emotional tributes, George S. John offered a sobering reflection: “When the man was alive and calling, how many people answered him? But now he is gone… it’s a very painful exit.”
The incident has sparked fresh calls for accountability and justice within religious-affiliated institutions, with many urging Covenant University to uphold the values it professes.
