As you read this, Primate Ayodele is in a happy mood. It’s Valentine’s day again and everyone’s happy. Lovers are excited because the day offers you the special opportunity to tell those you care about how much they mean they mean to you. Primate Ayodele Elijah, the founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church is one of those in an ecstatic mood right now. And it’s not because it’s Valentine’s day, the day represents something much more than a lover’s day to him. To start with, it’s his birthday, an opportunity for him to thank God for seeing him through the turbulence of life and making him the popular and accomplished prophet of God that he has become today. But most importantly, this is that special time of the year when he holds his Annual Thanksgiving, celebrate God’s goodness in his life and do what he loves doing the most-philanthropy. He loves to give and put smiles on the faces of people. It is second nature to him. Very few men of God can confidently beat their chest and say they have spent more of their resources to better the lives of those around them much more than this prophet with thousands of outstanding prophecies has done. By the time you’re reading this, the Annual Thanksgiving would’ve been held. The respected and globally acclaimed man of God, as he promised, would’ve empowered dozens of widows, dozens of the aged, hundreds of the less privileged, many young students must’ve gotten grants to enable them further their education and journalists too will not be left out. According to Primate, “some will be empowered while several will go home with automobiles,” courtesy of the enigmatic Primate Ayodele. Unknown to many, this incredible prophet with a heart of Gold has transformed the lives of many around him. What gives him his ultimate joy is sharing his little resources with others and knowing he has turned someone’s life around for the better.
Going by the frenetic and elaborate preparations that have gone into this year’s edition of the Annual Thanksgiving, it would surely be the biggest ever. King Sunny Ade, a long time friend of the Primate is expected to be honoured at the occasion. Lots of other prominent Nigerians are also expected to be there. City People’s Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE, Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL and SUNDAY ADIGUN were guests of the Primate last week. It was an exclusive birthday interview that lasted well over an hour and it was vintage Primate Ayodele. He opened up about his humble beginning and revealed the popular Nigerians who supported him from the start and helped him find his feet when it was tough starting up his church. Enjoy the excerpts.
Your annual Thanksgiving and birthday celebration is just a few days away, and it’s looking like it’s going to be a very big event. Can you tell us what your plans are for the event?
We started the programme on January 30th. It kicked off with the widow’s prayers. As you can see, multitudes of women are here in the church premises for their free medicals, they have been here since 4 a.m. We are also trying to give the church a facelift and put a lot of things in place. If we can finish up before next week, fine, if not, we continue with the programme. But the most significant part of it is the fact that King Sunny Ade will be honoured on the day. When we started the church many years ago, King Sunny Ade came. He honoured us with his presence. Everywhere was bushy at the time. Then, he called me and knelt down before me. He said God is telling him that this church will grow much bigger than this. He said he is already seeing the church extending further down the road. And I was thinking in my mind that, I just told this man that I was still struggling to raise N200,000 to buy the land, so where would I get money to acquire more land and extend the church to the point he was talking about? We even had to pay twice. At a point, the omo oniles came to use masquerades to threaten us just because we were still owing them 30,000 naira. In fact, the truth is, I was expecting him to give us money, but he didn’t give us anything. But the prophetic word he gave us was worth much more than a billion dollars. He said I shouldn’t be defeated about where the money will come from, that this was what God told him. And I said, okay, let’s see how it goes. Miraculously, little by little, we began to expand. So, when we began to grow, I started to remember all that he said. The funny thing is that I happened to be KSA’s spiritual father, then my own son was now telling me something that I didn’t see because I didn’t even believe the church could explode to this extent.
KSA was one of those who believed so much in us. I have known KSA as far back as 1997 and he had never said such a thing to me before. I want to appreciate him. I want to celebrate him. I want to honour him. I ordered for a special microphone to be made for him abroad. It was very expensive. It’s not about the money, it’s about the value of the message he gave to many years ago. KSA is one of the greatest musicians alive today. He’s a legend, an Icon. He’s spiritually gifted. No musician can match him in the whole world. We will also empower pressmen, give them vehicles, especially those ones we have known for a very long time. And let me quickly say this, sir, and it’s not because you’re here, everything has its own time. I remember when you were somewhere around Oke-Ira or so, I came to your office. You didn’t even know me then. I met Loye Hamzat and he introduced me to you and said, this is my oga. And you stood up to greet me. Your humility touched me. We are still going to appreciate City People because you not only gave us exclusive interviews, you celebrated us. We had lots of other magazines then, but our first prominent publications started coming out in City People around 1998, that was when you started celebrating us. That was when we had prominent people like Okunzua, Primate Olabayo, and you would bring us together along with these top men of God. So, City People brought us into the limelight. And I’m assaying this beforehand, when we are set to commission our church, we will say thank you to City People.
I don’t forget the pressmen who have supported me and helped me when we started this journey. And please, anything I say now is what you should write, don’t edit anything. Dr Seye Kehinde is a publisher whom God has blessed but he’s too humble. Extremely humble. He’s a publisher who has also turned himself into a reporter. He is not a noisemaker. God bless him. The day I came to City People, I knew that the magazine is going to go places. I told Loye Hamzat City People will be everywhere. Dr Seye Kehinde is a role model to many journalists. He is easygoing, very hardworking, you can’t find him everywhere. City People is not a junk publication, that’s what has sustained the magazine till date. They investigate before publishing their stories. I want to say kudos to Dr Seye Kehinde. The Lord will increase City People. I appreciate your support over the years. The other philanthropic activities we do regularly are paying students school fees, sending people to Jerusalem and Mecca, paying house rents, helping the widows, those things that can make life better, are part of the things we have lined up for the event.
I am also aware that you are making plans to bring the Ooni of Ife down for the event…
Well, let me say this, I don’t force people to be my friend or attend my events, but I know those who love me and who believe I am part and parcel of their lives. I can’t invite everybody. I have only invited a few people and I know they will turn up.
Sir, I have noticed that annually when you celebrate your birthday, you don’t make it all about you, it’s also about reaching out to support and empower others, why is this so?
You see the day of one’s birth is a mixture of joy and pain. My mother passed through some pains before she was finally able to push me out and give birth to me. That was when it turned into joy. So, each time I’m celebrating my birthday, I pick the happiness out of the sorrow. Those who are in sorrow, who are in need around me, those who have probably lost hope, I try to put a smile on their faces. I call it my day of surprises. Like I recently surprised someone who has been serving the church for a long time and gave the person a renewed life. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. For the first one month, after I was born, we were sleeping in the kitchen. There was no house. This is why I always celebrate my mother, she went through a lot. I will also be celebrating her on the 14th of February, she is a wonderful woman. I love and cherish her so much. She taught me the way of the Lord. I was a stubborn child, I was not paying attention to things of God. I was following masquerades and magicians all over the place. But my mum was always saying there was a prophecy that I will serve God…
What was the prophecy then, can you tell us about it?
Oh, yes, I asked my mother. When I was growing up, we attended Christ Apostolic. My father was one of the leaders in the church. He was part of those who composed the hymns of the book. He was very active in the church. So, I asked my mother, is there any special prophecy you had about me before or after I was born? She said when she was pregnant with me, there was a man called Baba Temidire in CAC, Idioro. The Baba said this boy is an anointed child, he is going to work for God. There was a time I was so sick to the point of death, I had severe measles. My mum now rushed me to the church, the prophet said, no, this boy cannot die because God is still going to use him in a special way. Let me tell you a little about this church, it’s not Cherubim & Seraphim or Celestial church, I don’t belong to CAN of PFN, because I see no vision in any of these associations. I see PFN and CAN as political parties. Irrespective of who the chairman is, they are also going to be like politicians. I can’t be a member of these associations. Nobody can control me, only God can control me. It’s the government who tells them what they should say and what they should not say.
They don’t have proactive leaders, that’s why Leah Sharibu is still in captivity. Nobody in PFN or CAN is speaking for her or pressuring the government to press for her release. Churches have to be empowered so you won’t need to depend on the government or anybody. I am going to empower a church and some pastors on February 14. How many pastors has CAN empowered? Anyway, we have digressed, let’s go back to the question. Before we started the church, a woman who happens to be my mother’s friend, Iya Ibeji, called me and said, I am seeing you in a church o, and the church will be known all over, but I don’t know the name o. Then, I was attending Cherubim & Seraphim church. I have been to many churches before. I have been to Cherubim & Seraphim, Celestial, Anglican, Catholic, Deeper Life, Seven Days Adventist Church, CAC, Methodist, Baptist, Jehovah’s Witness, I just attended all of these churches just to see and compare things. I even read the Quoran. My wife was a Muslim before she became a Christian. So, my point is that all of these things gave me the courage to go on. I come from a humble family in Ikere-Ekiti, that’s idile Elemo in Ikere-Ekiti. I learnt something from the chief of our family, that’s Chief Adewunmi, the father of Niyi Adewunmi. We are of the same blood. Niyi Adewunmi is my brother. The man said, you, you will be great. And I keyed into that prophecy. These are the people who encouraged me today. The man is late now. These are some of the things that are responsible for my success today.
Before God called you, so to speak, as a young man, what were your aspirations?
I wanted to be a military man. I felt I could rise in the army and become the president through a coup. I love the military personnel. In fact, I had been training myself towards it. My plan was to go through the NDA. I was looking for a General who could help me and when I found a General who could help me, God didn’t make things happen the way I wanted. On the day I was to meet the man, he gave me an appointment for 8 am on the dot but I was caught in traffic and I lost the opportunity.
How was it, sir, when you first started? How tough was it?
It was tough. I had lots of experiences. There was no money. I had particular clothes for four years and I could barely feed myself. Life was very difficult. But that is not even a big deal. God gave me experience. He made me see the good and bad sides of life. God told me that if I could pass through this phase, that He is going to bless me, that I will become one of the best. I never wore any good clothes when I started. I would buy fairly used clothes, fairly used shoes and even used my mother’s Ankara to sew clothes. I remember one incident that happened to me. Somebody invited me to an occasion and I was to minister briefly there. My wife had an Organza lace, I said she should use the Organza to sew for me because I didn’t have N5,000 to buy the cloth that they were selling for the event. When I got to the party, I put my Sutana inside a polythene bag and wore the clothes I took with me. The woman said to me, ‘do I want to change?’ And I was like, ah, this is what I have. Inside me, I wept. In the process, the organizers skipped the part where I was to pray briefly for them because I did not dress well. I just smiled and I left the place. All the same, today, I give glory to God. Today, there is no clothes I cannot wear, no matter how expensive it is. I remember back then, we will go and buy night meat because it is cheaper. It has lost all its ‘vitamins.’ That is why I appreciate my wife. She stood by me during those tough times. She was like my mum, she prayed for me.
How do you feel, sir, when you look back at those years and where you are today?
I feel good. When I was coming up, despite how tough things were, God was speaking to me, telling me I should not be discouraged. There was a time I was considering carrying cocaine, it was that bad. Even to feed was a problem. But God said to me, calm down, you will get there. And bit by bit, we got there. Some people helped me along the way. A man, he is a Muslim, gave me land, his name is Mufutau Olanrewaju, he’s now a Baale in Ilaro. That was the first sign I saw that God was solidly behind me. But the one woman I respect so much and who has contributed a whole lot to my life is Chief (Mrs) Kemi Nelson. Kemi Nelson is a wonderful woman. She’s the Angel that God sent to me. She connected me to those that matter in this country. I will also never forget Jimoh Ibrahim, he sowed a big seed into my life. Jimoh Ibrahim told me, he said ’you will be great.’ Nobody introduced me to Jimoh Ibrahim. DBN television introduced me to Jimoh Ibrahim. City People introduced me to Kemi Nelson. I was interviewed on DBN television by Benjamin Peters and Jimoh Ibrahim called me after the interview. He touched my life in many ways. He is the first man to buy me a wristwatch worth 500k. He also bought me a car. So, I can never forget Jimoh Ibrahim even though we don’t see him quite often anymore. Forever till I die, I will never forget him. Kemi Nelson, I will never forget her as well. I will always be praying for them. For these two people, if you say terrible things about them around me, I will fight you seriously.
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