When Obasanjo told prison tale, opened sanctuary
The occasion marked the fulfilment of a promise made about 12 years ago in far away Yola, Adamawa State, when he was serving a prison term there. The dedication of the Chapel of Christ the Glorious King was not a ceremony for political jamboree, but that of thanks giving, preaching and praise worship, as Obasanjo […]
The occasion marked the fulfilment of a promise made about 12 years ago in far away Yola, Adamawa State, when he was serving a prison term there.
The dedication of the Chapel of Christ the Glorious King was not a ceremony for political jamboree, but that of thanks giving, preaching and praise worship, as Obasanjo himself acknowledged the presence of God at the well-attended dedication ceremony.
As early as 8:00am, members of the new church, led by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT), Deacon Victor Durodola, BOT members and the Chaplain, Rev. Femi Olajide, were seen moving from one end to the other to ensure smooth proceedings.
At about 10:00am, the former president, his wife, Bola and the President of the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsajafor, led other notable men in christendom in the country to the frontage of the church to start praise and worship choruses. It was spiced with the preparatory hymn: “O Worship the King” by the choir. The opening prayer was made by Rev. A. A. Adewole and the dedication of the church and its components were done.
The chapel components where various hymns were rendered included that of the children’s chapel, baptistery, the church bell and tower and the main entrance. The inside components that were also dedicated included the pews, alter, pulpit, organ, audio/musical equipment, the choir and vestry/offices.
The congregation having gone round the complex, moved inside for the first dedication service. Rev. Olajide formally welcomed all to the church. This was followed by a beautiful presentation from the children’s wing, led by Brother Gbenga Soremekun.
Ambassador Christopher Kolade who is the chairman of the BOT, OOPLF, gave the first Bible lesson, reading from Psalm 46 (God is Our Refuge). Pastor Nyaknno Osso led the tithes and offering session. Wife of the former president, Mrs Bola Obasanjo, gave the second bible lesson.
Oritsajafor who led about 40 eminent leaders of the Christendom to the event presided over the sermon. In his about 20 minutes preaching entitled, The Word, the CAN president minced no words on the state of the nation.
While congratulating Obasanjo for facilitating the building of the church, the cleric said irrespective of some people’s opinion about Obasanjo, the achievements by the former president during his eight-year rule as civilian president could not be taken away from him.
Oritsajafor expressed, “There is no perfect man, even Jesus said so. Irrespective of the views of the people about this man, there are two things which stood him out during his administration. Number one, is the revolution he brought into the telecommunications industry. The Lord used this man to make communication easy for every Nigerian. It is a fact.
“The second one, if we can all remember, the National Christian Centre was nowhere near completion. If not for the former president, who ensured that the centre was completed during his administration. The project would have been a mirage,” Oritsajafor hinted.
On the state of the nation, the cleric said there is need to embark on special prayer sessions, stressing, this has become imperative in view of the malady that has been plaguing the country, even after 50 years of independence. He expressed the belief that with spiritual supplications, the country’s lost glory could be restored.
“I am thinking of having a day for the country to pray. We are going to plan it in such a way that all Nigerians will volunteer to pray for Nigeria, even if it’s for just a minute. From all the 36 states, including Abuja, one minute prayer can do the magic. The God we serve will listen to us; He will hear our cry just for one minute on a particular day,” Oritsejafor posited.
“The problem of the nation today is that people worship money and other mundane things. Money can buy you the best mattress but cannot guarantee you good sleep; Money can buy you the best car but cannot guarantee your safe journey home. We must take our eyes off money and be focused on serving God,” he told the congregation, assuring that if this could be done, God’s mercy and favour would abound in Nigeria.
There was special prayers for the country and the Obasanjo family. Pastor Bisi Kolapo anchored the thanksgiving session, as she was able to draw presence of the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Adegboyega Dosunmu and his chiefs to the alter to give thanks to God.
Obasanjo who described himself as “facilitator” of the project stepped on the alter to give thanks, reflect on his prison experience. Obasanjo was in 1995 sentenced to life imprisonment by the Sani Abacha administration for alleged coup plot, but was released by the administration of Gen. Abdulsalam Abubarkar in 1998 after the death of Abacha.
Upon his release, he vowed to dedicate a church for the propagation of christianity. Obasanjo told the congregation that he was quite sure that he will survive the prison travails.
He said the experience in prison made him to be more committed to God even though the pressure to come and be president in 1999 took him years back from realizing his dream. He however thanked God for sparing his life to fulfil the promise to build a church to appreciate Him.
The former president who held the congregation spellbound with his prison tale said, “when I was in prison, I knew two things. One, I will come out alife; second, that the man who imprisoned me would not be the one to release me. The only thing was that I did not know when and how it would be done. And these two came to pass; I want to thank God for that.”
He said, “When I was in prison in Yola, something happened in Kirikiri prison! Some white garment preachers went to Kirikiri prison and they gave some prisoners white garments. Some of the prisoners took advantage of this and escaped from prison, so the prison authorities in reaction to this incident banned clergymen from coming to prisons to preach.
“This is how I became the un-ordained reverend at Yola prison as I turned a preacher, ministering the word of God to other inmates. I was leading the ministry and I made a chap who was the leader of Arewa Boys, a notorious armed robbery gang in northern Nigeria, Baba Ali, to be coming to church.
“I promised him that if, get out of prison, I would send him to Bible School. I got out of prison before him, and he came to me in Aso Rock after leaving prison. I sent him to the Bible School as I promised and today he is an ordained pastor. This was one of the promises I made in Yola prison. If you want to reach him, you can get his address here from the pastor.”
Obasanjo disclosed that because christian inmates were conducting their worship under a tree, he made a vow that he would build a church in the prison if the prison authorities would allow such and vowed to God to purchase a Landrover to be moving from one place to another for evangelism.
But achieving all this became tasking. According to him, “my evangelism on Landrover had not gone the way I had expected because as soon as I was released from prison, pressure was mounted on me to run in the presidential election. Initially, I cursed those who called on me to run. Primate Sunday Mbang also helped me to curse them but as time went on, I left the matter in the hands of God and God eventually had his way.
“I never thought of being president, but I was under intense pressure from almost every where.”
Of his two covenants with God, building a church and pursuing evangelism, the former president said he could not fulfil the latter because of his security details. “After leaving Abuja, I then decided that I have to go back to my promise to build a church and that was how we started.
Obasanjo advised the congregation not to regard the church as belonging to him, saying, “I am not a pastor, I am not a General Overseer, I am not a Reverend gentleman. The temple does not belong to Obasanjo but belongs to the worshippers of God. I’m only a facilitator. It is a place for every denomination; it is a sanctuary.”
While thanking everyone present, the facilitator thanked the church choir whom according to him, had in some weeks back, performed below average, “but, today, you are simply excellent,”
Indication that the dedication programme received the blessings of the Almighty God soon emerged as the heavens opened up and virtually all those present had a feel of the showers from above, including newsmen.