You have a very unique apostolic brand. Was it by design or default? Your style is unique, direct, and very impactful. Was it part of what you prepared for, or did you find yourself evolving into that role?
I placed a demand on God that I didn’t want to be a conventional CAC Minister. As a result of my business management experience. I asked God to help me integrate that part. So, it as by design and i progressively evolved into it. That was how I started applying the management tenets-work ethics, communication, office culture etc. I can’t stand doing the work of God from the vicarage, because my brain is too active.
What are the milestones you want to celebrate in the last 25 years?
The first and primary milestone is God starting me from Level Zero. The ministry started without Money; I wanted to borrow money from one Mr Otedola, my lawyer (now deceased). God said no, I am ending you into this ministry empty, obey me and you will see what I will do. I want us to celebrate God for that. Another major milestone was hen it was extremely difficult for us to secure a place. The parents of the students in the boarding house in Dansol asked Mrs. Adun Akinyemiju to please choose between her church and the boarding house. It as difficult for my aunty but I understood. We moved from hat place to Omole. At Omole, the community said, they’ve never seen this kind of prayer before, that we
were disturbing them. We were chased from that place. I moved to ICC, Solid Rock, When we were at ICC, Solid Rock, people in Redeem didn’twant to come for their Bible Studies again, they would rush
there, and they chased us from that place. At a point. I was ministering by the roadside, until I called on
God and the Lord said, Go back to Mrs Akinyemiju, and she returned us to Dansol. It was then that the Lord said, there is a place for you at the border of Omole. In the third year of the ministry, God took us to this present place, that’s a milestone. We moved in here 22 years ago and the Lord said He would give us the wflole place and He has given us. Another milestone is the grace that the Lord gave me to make the right choice in marriage. Everything you are seeing today wouldn’t have been possible if I had not married Pastor Bukola Oladiyun. Forget it.
That must be celebrated, it’s a great milestone because all along she has been there, as an intercessor for me till today, and the kind of well-adjusted children God has given us. Another milestone was when the
Lord instructed me to start the Wednesday morning prayer service and I started struggling with God. I
said, Lord, this is Lagos, Morning Prayer? And He said, just the way your father was taking you to CAC at 5am in lIe-Oluji, go and start. Wouldn’t people go to work? The Lord said, don’t argue with me, go and start, I will tell you what to do.
Today , the Wednesday service has become our flagship service with people attending from all over the world. So, hearing from God for divine direction has been working for me from the beginning till today. On the first day of our Wednesday service, God told me he would show me a sign. I briefed my followers about what God said. They retorted: Sir, 7’O clock? I said yes, God has spoken to me, the Lord said He will show me a sign.
While I was in my office on that day, they brought a man who could not speak, a Pastor. The Lord said that’s the sign that I have asked you to come and do this meeting. The family members were panicking
and the Lord said this man would speak and he did. That was the beginning of the Wednesday service. The Lord said the man was disobedient. They normally would write on paper for him to read and respond. The Lord said, don’t do that, tell him to hear in the realm of the spirit. repent, obey what God is doing, and you will speak in the name of Jesus. So, I asked the man, will you obey God? The man
nodded. I said, in the name of Jesus, begin to speak now, say Hallelujah. The man shouted Hallelujah. The family members fell, and they were rolling on the floor, a miracle happened on the first day of the Wednesday service. The man is my disciple till today, he’s a General Overseer in Oshogbo. So, we must
celebrate that.
I can’t also forget how God acquired these premises for us. Till today, CLAM does not owe any bank one naira. In my private life, I do not owe anyone, the ministry, we are not owing anyone, and we need to celebrate that. How about God’s preservation and security? We need to celebrate that. Another landmark is CLAM Global Outreach, the crusade. Then we need to celebrate the way God arranged the workers per season. The first set of disciples I had were my enemies, God just fiuled them out. The second set was taken away by a close friend of mine, God fizzled them out until God started stabilizing the ministry. Too many things that we have to celebrate, and there are too many landmarks in the ministry, to the glory of God. In the ministry, in 25 years, no sexual scandal. no financial scandal, no scandal of any sort, we need to thank God, it’s not by our power.
Let’s talk about the People factor. I know there have been a lot of disappointments, betrayals, and backstabbing. In all of these, how have you coped, I know it’s difficult to train, mentor, and disciple people only for them to leave suddenly.
Well, at the beginning, I wasn’t coping well. The hurt was getting to me. I was a very poor manager then, please, let it be recorded, I was a very horrible manager. I was too vengeful; vendetta was just a core part of me. If you hit me once, I would hit you seven times until God told me that the battle wasn’t one I could fight on my own. He said, hand over everything to me. The people backstabbing me were very close to me. I had a particularfriend, he’s still alive. He took away 95% of my workers. Some of those I trained, were not even saying hello to me. He took them away, they are just all over the place, they are not doing well, and I am not happy about that. So, I was too vengeful and I used to curse. God took all those things away and gave me peace; I am a better person today, I give God the glory.
Looking into the future, what should we expect from you? I know CLAM has ventured into several innovative ventures; Soteria Maternity, Soteria Farms, and the prayer centres are manifestations of growth and expansion. Looking into the next 10-20 years, what should we expect from CLAM?
Internal capacity remains a challenge we are grappling with. I believe that with the intervention of Brand Stewards and its partners, we should be able to put our house in order and begin to harvest the low-hanging fruits from what we have invested. By now, we should be very comfortable financially, even if we don’t take offerings for one year. We have the resources there. In the next 20 years by the grace of God, a bigger, better, utilitarian, and more prosperous CLAM would have emerged. A reform is coming, there is a model God has given me which we will begin to implement in 2024. I want to see the upcoming youths assuming leadership positions, and doing very well all over the world. I will just be in the position of overseeing all the conglomerates. I want to see CLAM, especially the youths, in every nation of the world, so that we can harvest them for God. I want to see many of those people I have trained going into the field for soul-winning. I want to see ministers I am impacting doing well in ministry and entrepreneurship, in governance, in advocacy, you know taking on responsibilities, making the nations of the world better than we met it. So I want to see CLAM doing the bidding of God, not derailing.
Let’s look at the country today and the role of the church. Do you think the church has played the desired role? Do you think the church has done very well in terms of nation building, in terms of contribution to the development of Nigeria? Has the church occupied its rightful . position, has it done what it is required to do?
I have sent you some messages in time past on the relevance of the church in nation-building. The church has played a noble role in Nigeria’s development. The Catholic Church, for example, has done well in terms of the schools and hospitals they built all over the country. They are doing great things that no government has been able to match. The issue is that the achievements of the Church are rarely acknowledged and celebrated. Look at the Lagos Business School. it stemmed from the concept enunciated by Opus Dei, a prayer group of the Catholics. The likes of Pastor Adeboye and Bishop Oyedepo are trailblazers in this area too. Look at RCCG, the Redemption Camp is like a city being effectively managed by the church; there is a 24/7 power supply, the roads are good, there is security, etc. It is a mini-nation.
We should give kudos to the church. How about Living Faith? Look at Covenant University, one of the best universities in Africa. Look at the church and the estate there. I believe if Nigeria is given to the church to manage, it would be the cynosure of all eyes. My candid assessment is that the church has contributed immensely, but we can do more, we can do better. Nigeria is structured in a way that honest
people would not be allowed to do good things for the nation. So, we are in a kingdom that has its peculiarities, we have our kingdom language, we have our kingdom behavioural traits, and we have our kingdom norms, but the mindset of the average Nigerian politician or leader won’t allow for genuine ideas that can develop the country. They won’t allow us to integrate those hings that are obtainable in our kingdom into the Nigerian nation. So that’s why we have rifts, that’s why you see Christians going into politics, behaving like them, or pulling out. In all I give credit to the church of God in Nigeria, and while saying that, I believe we can do more
