This Thing Called Audacity

I sat in a room filled with business owners, listening to a known founder, let’s call him Dike, tell the story of how he got into Covenant University (CU). Like many founders, he spoke about building a company, taking risks and navigating uncertainty. But strangely, the part of his story that stayed with me had nothing to do with business. It was the story of how he got into Covenant University.

As he spoke, only one picture came to mind. The story of the persistent widow and the unjust judge in Luke 18:1-8. It is one of those stories that reminds you that persistence has a way of exhausting opposition. The judge did not answer the widow because he was compassionate or because he suddenly developed a sense of justice. He answered because she refused to stop showing up. Eventually, giving her what she wanted became easier than resisting her.

Dike’s story felt very similar.

His name didn't appear on the first admission list. It didn't appear on the second either. Most people would have accepted the outcome, convinced themselves it wasn't meant to be and started looking elsewhere. He chose a different path. The audacious path.

He kept returning to the Registrar's office, carrying fresh copies of his WAEC and JAMB results every single time. Every single time, the Registrar collected them. Every single time, he went home without an answer.

You could almost imagine the Registrar thinking, "Not this young man again."

Yet he kept coming.

What struck me wasn't just that he kept visiting the office. It was that he had already settled something in his heart. He started attending classes despite not officially being admitted. His name wasn't on any list, but in his mind he already belonged there. That will probably look foolish to some people. To him, it was the audacity of faith.

The kind of faith that looks completely unreasonable until the story is over.

Then came the conversation that changed everything.

There was only one admission list left. The fourth and final list. As usual, he went to CU to waylay the Registrar, but instead of just leaving his WAEC and JAMB results as he would usually do, he asked a profound question that changed everything.

“What else do I need to do to make it into the next list?”

Before I go any further, let me make one thing clear. This is not a story about cutting corners or paying someone to secure admission. Anyone who knows Covenant University knows that wasn't what happened here. There was no backdoor. Just a young adult who was audacious enough to believe there was still a place for him.

That question changed the trajectory of his life. It wasn’t a question of blame. It wasn’t frustration speaking. Neither was it asked from the posture of a victim hoping someone would feel sorry for him. It was ownership. It was a genuine desire to understand what was missing and what responsibility he still had to take.

I have thought about that question many times since I heard it.