From the President
Dearest Eagles,
Happy New Year and Welcome to 2022! We made it!!!! Despite the challenges of 2021, we made it!!! As always, every opportunity to interact with you is a delight and this is no exception. I am thankful for you and even more thankful that you have taken the time to read this report. As you know, communication is the bedrock of any healthy relationship and I (and the team) hope to always stay in meaningful contact with you.
This is the final report for the 2020-2022 CUALA Executive Council and I must confess that I am experiencing a wide range of emotions. First, I am very grateful to my ‘Day 1s’ – the incredible outgoing Executive Council team that I had the utmost pleasure of working with. Together, we strengthened the foundation of this world-class Alumni community and I am so proud of all that we achieved as a team. We pioneered so many new value-adding programs/services – the CV Clinic, Job Change Bootcamp, Eagle Spotlights, Exclusive Job Board, the Lift-An-Eagle program, the Alumni Mentoring Program, various life/business/career capacity development events, Digitized Transcript Applications & Certificate Delivery services, just to mention a few – that impacted thousands of Eagles from all over the world. Our impact was felt from Lagos to London, Ota to Ottawa, Abuja to Australia, Jos to Japan and more. I consider it a real privilege to have led and learnt with this great team. I will let you read all the juicy details of our work and impact in the rest of the report.
Next, I am grateful to you – yes you! – for giving me the privilege of serving for a second term, alongside another fantastic set of leaders. As the path of the just is as a shining light that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day, I am convinced that we are truly in a better dispensation. We remain committed to building a stronger and more empowered Alumni for All. I am excited for this second term because of the opportunity to do even more. If you think we did great work before, just wait and see!
We will be unveiling our plans to you shortly at the upcoming town hall and I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag yet, but what I can say is that, this time around, we are coming to meet you where you are. We are facilitating stronger connections between Eagles. We are showcasing Eagles more to the world and flying our flag high. We will be serving you value back-to-back-to-back!
Even though some people have said that 2022 is 2020 too, we say and declare that no matter the circumstance or situation, as Eagles, we would continue to soar, dominate and reign in all our endeavours. In this new year, it is my hope and prayer that each and every one of us will unleash the potential that we have been equipped with and do great things. I hope that as we go about being world changers, pace-setters, trail blazers and problem-solvers, we remember to look out for one another more and practice kindness on a daily basis. I hope that you get out of your comfort zone, dare to do big things, break every limiting mindset and be the best version of yourself. I hope that you do all things powered by the Holy Spirit and that you walk in the fullness of your identity as a son of God. No limits, no boundaries! I look forward to hearing about and witnessing all your exploits this year.
As a reminder, don’t do life alone. Take advantage of this robust CUALA community via your former class groups, service unit groups, chapters, or through our website, social media or emails. Stay connected – there is safety in numbers.
In conclusion, we have a lot to look forward to in 2022 (including Covenant University turning 20!), and as we have made a commitment to each and every Alumni, we hope you continue to commit and support CUALA in turn.
Yours in service and love,
Kemi Onabanjo-Joseph
Finance Directorate
- Audited Financials: Our financial records up until 2020 have been reviewed by an independent external auditor and published on the website. The audit exercise for 2021 financial year would be concluded within Q1 2022
- Periodic Financial Reporting: The finance team commenced monthly financial reporting to Executives and bi-annual financial reporting to Eagles
- Financial Policy: The finance team developed and implemented a finance policy to define funding allocations to directorates and major activities within the association, improve the budgeting process and clarify expense authorization limits
- Electronic Payment System: We transitioned from manual banking to electronic banking processes, reducing transaction processing time by over 80%. We also deployed online payment channels to aid timely and seamless payments by Eagles for services, donations and dues
- Dues reconciliation and write-offs: The dues balances of Eagles from inception to 2019 were reconciled and up to 50% subsidy off dues balances was applied to all Eagles in H1 2020
- Electronic dues statement: Dues statements of Eagles were automated, eliminating the need for manual reconciliation and communication by the Secretariat
- Budget Monitoring: Commenced monthly budget performance monitoring at directorate and organization level
- Debt Recovery: At the beginning of the tenure, loans receivable were at #7.2million. Circa 60% of these amounts have been recovered with repayment commitments to further the recovery rate to 78% in 2022. An independent loan recovery agent was engaged in 2021 to facilitate the process.
- Accounting Officer: A full-time accounting officer was engaged in to manage the daily financial processes and other financial management activities within the Association
- Regulatory Compliance: Resolved outstanding Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) filing obligations, as well as staff pension and personal income tax obligations
- Staff Welfare: Commenced processing of health insurance and national housing fund payments for all staff
University Relations Directorate
Key Statistics Over Last 2 Years
a. “Just Checking on You” viral video with over 10,000 views on CUALA’s YouTube Channel
b. 12 graduating students given full tuition support in year 2020
c. Approximately N4 million raised for Final-Year Tuition Support in year 2020
d. 1,500+ graduating students attended TTG CUALA session in 2020
e. 9 graduating students given full tuition support in year 2021
f. Approximately N2.4 million raised for Final-Year Tuition Support in year 2021
g. About 70+ faculty and staff attended the financial literacy programme via Zoom in 2021.
h. 13 alumni members were present for the town and gown sessions in the 2020/2021 academic session
Key Achievements Over Last 2 Years
a. Meeting with The Chancellor 9 months after in office, 2020
b. Several meetings with key University Management members to discuss collaboration opportunities that add value to both Covenant University and the CUALA community
c. Final Year Students – Tuition Supports
d. Featured in TTG (Towards a Total Graduate) Sessions with 2020 and 2021 Graduating Classes
e. Special Feature at the Covenant University 18th Birthday/Founder’s Day Celebration
f. Successful Investiture and Alumni Awards for 2020 and 2021 Graduating Classes
g. CUALA being part of the CU Town and Gown Sessions
h. Facilitation for hosting CUALA’s website on the CU’s domain and inclusion of CUALA’s website link on CU’s website
i. Pushed for the spotlights of alumni members on CU’s website
j. Held the first organized virtual programme on financial literacy for Covenant University faculty and staff
on the 19th of March 2021
k. First Aid CPR Training in collaboration with Covenant University Community Development Impact
Initiative Centre (CU-CDIIC): An Eagle Give-Back Initiative.
l. Another meeting with The Chancellor in 2021, 19th October
m. Successful hosting and organizing of a mini–Eagles’ Summit in 2021 during convocation week and 19th Birthday/Founder’s Day Celebration
Welfare Directorate
As an intending representative for the CUALA body, I planned to use this platform to raise a community that as a whole respond to the Needs (physical, mental and spiritual) of its members and ensures a constant flow of communication and growth through effectiveness and efficiency.
The tenure that ran through the years 2020 till 2022 (2yrs), gave us the opportunity to reach out to over 100 alumni who were in dire need at different points in time.
· 63 cases of covid-19 relief support
· 30 of financial aid to cover for medical housing etc.
· 7 condolence visits and support
· 6 mental health/spiritual support
· Not to exclude the constant welfare support for chapters and sub-groups.
· During the Covid-19 era we also were able to feed over 2000 Lagosian
Within these 2yrs, the HOPE Foundation (our very own NGO) reached out to the community as a whole through various initiatives touching the lives of over 2000 people in and out of the alumni e.g the CIT Fellows, EXCEL Series, and many other to name a few.
As a representation of the spiritual structure of which we are formed, the directorate launched our quarterly Worship & Declaration sessions which has now evolved into monthly virtual prayer sessions where we intercede on behalf of the entire Alumni community and our prayer series ‘The Interceding Eagle’ launched in March 2021. This is a means to keep us all in the faith, remembering that our sole essence is God.
The welfare Directorate has its un-ending quest to support the needs of our community and will continually do so through the tenures.
As a directorate we look forward to consistently building a system where needs ranging from physical to mental to spiritual and much more as God wills.
