Retired General Overseer of the Faith Bible Church, Ibadan, Oyo State, Reverend (Dr) Olumayokun Olawoye, will clock 80 in a few days. In this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, he speaks about life, Christianity in Nigeria and other national issues.
As you prepare to join the octogenarian club, you still look so young. What is the secret?
It has been the grace of God and another is that I have a good wife, who has given me peace of mind. Since I turned 70, I have decided not to stress myself whatsoever. I delegate mostly in the church. I resigned as the general overseer of the church when I clocked 70 and we have a new leader in the church. Also, my wife is virtually the one running the school; I only supervise.
Looking back, will you say you are fulfilled?
The journey of my life has been with a lot of struggles, even in business and all I laid my hands on. Time of failure and time of success came, but at the end of it all, when I look at my life at 80, I have every reason to thank God, especially due to the fact that I have a healthy church and when you have people succeeding you, you are a success. I have raised and mentored people across boards. So far, I am self-sufficient even in old age. I thank God for His grace in using me as a mentor to many people spiritually, in business or in the academics. This gives me joy. Looking around my entire life, I am grateful to God as a fulfilled being.
In both the academics as well as the vineyard, how was the experience like?
It was not planned. I believe it is God. I started with academics. Honestly, I was not a brilliant student; I was with the lower half of the class. It was when I got to Class Four that things turned around. I became brilliant. I was on this pace to the university and though I didn’t make a fantastic grade, I had a good enough to proceed to the postgraduate level and I came back to get a job at the University of Ibadan. I also got a rapid promotion at the institution. I realised that God made a way for me in the academics. But the spiritual one is God Himself; I didn’t plan it at all. I never planned t be a cleric, but God called me into His vineyard and I have been there for almost 40 years. The church is not very big, but it is a healthy church. We focus on the word of God, prayer and others. I didn’t even plan my academic life too not to talk of getting to the peak before I left UI.
I didn’t switch from the academics to the call. When I was a Senior Lecturer in UI, I wanted to do something more practical and that was why I resigned to form a consultancy firm and we were doing both international and national researches. The reason I went for that was that the foreign people would come to get the big consultancy jobs and we would be the ones to do the jobs for peanuts. I took a risk to resign from the institution to set up a consultancy firm and it was a success. I was already in business before the call came.
How was it dumping business for the calling?
It was not easy at all because when the call came, the first question I asked myself was what my life will turn to if I quit the business for the work of God. I was very reluctant and stubborn over the decision. I suffered for my actions, the affluence and business went down and at that point, I knew it was a battle I could not win, so I had to surrender and then came into the ministry full-time. My business had grown beyond the consultancy firm, I had diversified. It was tough, but I thank God for giving me the grace to work for Him. If I had not listened, I would have become a retired professor. Also, I would not have enjoyed the peace my life had experienced if I was in the world.
Are you satisfied with the Christianity and the church in Nigeria?
God will show us mercy. When you look at what people do now in the ministry, you will wonder what kind of God we are serving. It has gone from ministry to cultism and foolishness. I think this was why Jesus asked, ‘Will I still find faith on earth when I come?’ As a church leader, I have ensured that my ministry remains Godly. It is uncalled for to use charm to draw the crowd to your church. The number is not the major thing, but how you monitor and mentor people in the way of God. As a cleric, I am always shy to ask people for money; I don’t like to put my burden on people. Our focus in our ministry is not money. Throughout the 30 years as an active church leader, I never earned a dime; I was self-sufficient and the person I handed the ministry to has spent 10 years without earning a dime from the ministry. So, we don’t see the ministry as a means of exploiting people. It is God that can do miracles, if He wants to use you for a miracle, He will not hesitate. You don’t need to use anything to support God, because He is all-sufficient and that has been our philosophy.
The last election indeed exposed the level of spirituality of Nigerian pastors. I pray God has mercy upon us. The state of the church in Nigeria is not healthy and it is only God that can help us. Christianity was not like this 20 years ago and this is because those that were practicing it then were genuine about it, but when you look the Christianity today, most of them are not called. It will show if you are genuinely called. Those that forced themselves into the vineyard want to make money and they make it so ridiculous just to achieve their goals through any means.
What is your assessment of the present administration at the federal level?
Initially, I didn’t support the new president, but the Bible says: “No power that is that is not of God.” The Bible also teaches us that any power that is ordained by God should not be opposed. President Bola Tinubu has taken the leadership of the country and we will be praying for him and support his policies. On the petrol subsidy, as a pastor, businessman and community leader, you cannot please everyone. As a trained economist, subsidy does not pay us in this country. The money they expended every month is a lot for the government to transform the country and we will all see the effects if the subsidy is removed. I think he did the right thing and I will not say that he hurried into it. I pray that people understand the issue of subsidy.
How has it been turning 80?
I keep telling people that anything can happen after 80, so they should not depend on me too much because one will die one day. The Bible says 70 is our year and by the reason of strength, 80 and by the reason of grace is beyond 80. So, anyone that attained the age of 70 has God’s favour and now that we are using the period of strength to come to 80, we appreciate God. I am not the type that wants to live 100 years, why? So, I thank God for all He has done for me, whatever year He gives me more, I will be appreciative, but I am fulfilled at 80.
Even after 80, I don’t have any plans, I just want to rest. If at 80, you have not achieved certain things, let them go. Sincerely, as I step into the octogenarian club in a few days, my primary assignment is to pray for my church, our school, my children, family and friends. This will be my major assignment and I will be open to whoever wants to drink from my wealth of experience.
Some church leaders ensure their children succeed them in the ministry but yours is different. Why did you hand over to someone not related to you?
I don’t judge people. God ministered to me that I should hand over to a successor when I turn 70 and that he will give me a new assignment. It was not sudden; I already announced it two years before I turned 70. People thought I was joking, but I did it for the glory of God. I may be wrong, but the real reason some clerics find it difficult to quit at a certain age is because the ministry is their sole means of livelihood. They claimed that they have sowed and sweated, so no one can harvest it. This is why some of them will want their children to succeed them.
I don’t know where they get their doctrine from. The Bible tells us that it is the prophet who hands over to someone whom God has used under him, while the king hands over to his son; it is a royal lineage. Elisha was not the son of Elijah; Joshua was not the son of Moses. Spiritual things should not be based on family ties. I believe it is fair to have a ministry and neglect those that started with you in all sincerity. Though there may be some cases in which God may anoint the son, he should not take over compulsorily, it is not your ministry, it is God’s own. I have seen a lot of pastors forcing their children to toe their line; it is uncalled for.
Was your decision to marry an American divine or by choice?
God showed me; it was not my decision. I have documented in two of my books how God directed me to marry her. I was very young then in 1959 around March or April. It was during resumption for mid-term in the secondary school that I had a revelation that I will get married to a foreigner. I did not know about marriage then. When I became mature, I had some relationships, but they did not work. When I got to the United States and I saw her, I recollected that dream and the rest is history today. God confirmed the marriage before we got into it. She is from Iowa in Midwest America, and they are strictly farmers and blacks hardly live there. I was the first black to ever talk to her. It is the grace of God that things clicked. She ran away when her parents tried to change her university, but whatever God ordained will be. People thought it won’t last when we got married but we have been together for 52 years. Our courtship was not up to six months. She was happy to follow me to Africa after our marriage and she has been in Nigeria for 50 years.
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