“Genuine man of God does not keep friends n the reason I sacked 10 pastors....” – Prophet Jegede

In an interview with city people Prophet (Dr.) T A Jegede open up and speaks about rumour and controversy. Prophet Jegede is the Pastor-Founder of Christ Apostolic Church, Ago Adura Nla Ti Gbogbo Eniyan with its Headquarter at Power line Area of Ile-Epo, Oke Odo Area of Lagos.

Couple of years back, the late mystery program presenter, Kola Olawuyi had alleged through his popular program “Nkan Nbe” that the man of God used charms to accumulate some properties from their owners in Ile-Epo area of Oke-Odo among many other allegations.

At another time, another young man alleged that Baba Ago and his spiritual father, Prophet SK Abiara were engaging him to get fresh human heads for them for ritual purposes.

Well, the man of God who rarely grants press interviews for the first time opened up on many of the allegations that nearly ruined his ministry and how he stood his ground to build AGO ADURA in 25 Years. Enjoy the excerpts from his City People interview:

How did you get the call to start Ago Adura Nla ti Gbogbo Eniyan?

If we are talking about God’s work, there is various type of calling. We have those God call into the prophetic ministry. You can call them prophets. We have those who are called into the evangelism ministry, we call them evangelists and there are those who are church shepherds. But let’s say it is of two dimensions, those who are called into the prophetic ministry will not need to go before anybody to establish their own ministry. In fact, we have prophets who don’t go to church at all, but if God gives direction, he or she honours.

Some are in the church, he might not be a pastor or church warding but he will just be in the church and the spirit of God will begin to work in him.  He will direct prayers, preach and nobody will teach him but the Holy Spirit. That is my kind of calling, I didn’t have to go to any Bible School or learn the work from a man; of course, I was born into a Christian family and I loved music. I used to be a good singer and instrumentalist and I will use my songs to minister the word of God through the Holy Bible. \

I will preach the word through my music ministration. My songs were much of prophetic declarations at the time that was in 1984 when I started in CAC, Agbala Itura. We started Agbala Itura at the arrival of Baba Abiara in Lagos. I was the first person to organize the choir at the time because there was no building on that land at the time; the entire environment was still barren.

Then, we used to sit on blocks to conduct service and Baba Abiara insisted that we must have a choir no matter how small the church is.  That was how I set up a ten member choir group and we were the first set of choristers at Agbala Itura. So, I organized the choir and we started singing. Nobody made me the choirmaster but when the church saw how I directed the affairs of the choir, they decided to allow me continue as the choir master and that was how I got the inspiration and graduated into a Bible teacher. I equally interpreted dreams for them and I grew to the stage when my choir members didn’t want to see any other pastor than me.

If I finish my music ministration, they will line up to see me one by one and I will give them spiritual directions on what to do. That was how God established my gift at CAC, Agbala Itura. In year 1990, November precisely, God asked me to leave the church. In fact, before I left, there was already a state of envy and jealousy for my talent. Some leaders were so threatened, if I start to speak in tongues in the choir, people will just be threatened and you will see them peeping from the window that ‘Ah, is this man trying to establish his own church?’

So, how did you escape the steam of envy in the church?

Yes, at that period of my life I was still a neophyte to the strict things of the spirit but I noticed the spirit directed me to move out of the place. I didn’t know where to go because I was just a singer and a drummer. So, I never taught of ever being a shepherd.  In fact my first album was “Baba Mimo O Se” and I was about doing the second album when that spirit asked me to leave, that I should go and be praying. That was December 1990, I stopped going to any church. In fact I was in-door for months because I couldn’t just comprehend where next to go. So, that was how I left Agbala-Itura.

  

Having heard the instruction to leave the church, were there other things God did to show you that He really needed you to work in His vineyard.

What I just know at the time was that I was very familiar with the Bible and the teachings of God’s words. I didn’t know how I developed that but it got to a point I started preaching inside Molue (Public transport vehicle), then when it was a year to the calling, God asked me to start a fasting session, that was few months before I left Agbala Itura. The funny thing was that I was always going to work despite the divine instruction to start fasting. I used to ride my motorcycle to work in Lagos Island and it got to a point, they stole the motor cycle when I didn’t want to preach as God directed.

So, I started traveling by Molue, you can imagine a shy person like me, God asked me to stand up and start preaching inside the Molue. But I had to honor His voice, I stood up and first read Psalm 1 up to Psalm 3, I read it off hand. Then I started preaching and to my surprise, everyone became quite, listening to my sermon. I was fasting and praying daily. God said I should continue the fasting and I did till the year ran out. In 1990, when I moved out (From Agbala-Itura) I started receiving different prophecies that I will change my church, I will change my rented apartment and many other things. But I didn’t reveal such to anybody, even, I didn’t attend the mountain.

I was just the only one receiving the message, even Baba Abiara was not aware. Nobody knew, it was only my choir people that started noticing my changed appearance. Later, my boss who is an expatriate became afraid, he said my face had changed but I assured him there was no problem.

Were you forced out of Agbala Itura?

Never, I wasn’t forced out, yes my gift of prophecy bothered some people but I had no fight with anybody. I was instructed to move and I moved forward. In fact, there was no rancor; I left on my own volition. If I call Baba Abiara today, he will be here. He even calls to say “My son, how are you doing” and I will say “Daddy, I am fine”.

So, there was no rancor at all, I left and I told my chorister team, I said ‘where I am going, you don’t know the place, please, don’t leave here. Continue singing here in Agbala Itura’ and that was how I left and started living at No 17, Oduroye at the time. In 1991, God said I should change that particular house. He said I should leave the apartment quickly and He gave me signs. So, I took a new apartment at Yaro’s house here in Ile-Epo; that was January 1991. But God instructed me again to start praying that I want to release an album.

So, I started praying for a new album and I titled the album Freedom that God should raise me helpers that will establish me. Then, I suddenly saw ten people I have taught instruments in the past. Those ones like to move around with me, they said they had no where to go than to follow my music ministry. After church, they will always be with me, we started praying and I will organize vigils from 12am to 3am and it was during those vigils that God said to me “I am sending you to the entire world, not by releasing albums alone” and that was where those who were following me started leaving one by one because they were expecting me to establish a band and they can all benefit from the tripping.

But I told them ‘Sorry, this is what God wants me to do for Him and I cannot deny my maker’. I was still going to my secular job all those period. I finally started my ministry on Good Friday of year 1991. I told my followers, I said “God said you should all bring your wives and start sitting here that I may be blessing your families”. And they obeyed and God added that ‘Since they are now under your anointing, they should not go anywhere any longer; you, just begin a church for me’ but I was still shy. I said ‘No, I cannot call it a church, it is a meeting’ I was naïve.

So, we started it all in my sitting room and behold, every other things started adding up. People started bringing friends and relatives and they will say “Sir, we want to see Pastor Jegede” and I will scold them “Look, I am not Pastor o” and God ministered to me, He said ‘Stop de-robbing yourself, stop saying you are not a Pastor’.  I will go to work and on my return from work, legion of people will be waiting to see me for spiritual consultation.

I was working at Idumota, Lagos Island but I will still return home and start consulting for people. One will say ‘oh, I have this dream’ and I will interpret the dream and tell him what to go do and he will get a smart divine solution and that made them to bring in more and more people and that was how the church started and by August 1992, I officially decided to start the church and because of his compassion for me and the way I work, my boss the expatriate, noticed my calling and he quickly offered me a place in his factory but I rejected. I said ‘I can only stay where God ask me to say’ because he was so happy with the way I treated his job, up till now if I call him he will be here.

Can you recount one of your most challenging moments in 25 years of ministry?

Like I said earlier, I have been so filled with the spirit of God that makes my behaviour peculiar. I don’t see challenges from the perspective of challenges but what give me concern most is those people who speculate that I use charm to run my ministry. That is one thing that baffles me, even some elders in the Christ Apostolic Church are so surprised at the rise of my ministry and they will always say ‘No, you are using something’.

They ask ‘How are you doing it?’ and all I will say is ‘Just watch and see’ and that scenario has made many of them to avoid me because they are so afraid of me. In fact, there is a man who is doing this kind of your job, they went to report me to him that I am using charms to run my church and I said ‘Charms?, how do you mean that I am using charm to run my ministry?’. I said ‘ok, where is the charm? Go and uproot that charm and let the world see it’. ‘If it is true, bring before me those who made the allegation and let’s see eyeball to eyeball. I am the one feeding them, how will they allege that I am using charm?’; he said ‘No, they cant come and face you’. But what made me so angry with that man was when he said ‘If they don’t see, they won’t allege’.

And I said to him ‘Why didn’t you invite them over to come and confront me?’ I said ‘You don’t know what is called faith’ and he replied ‘That is how you people always say’ and that struck me hard. I said ‘All the People standing here move back. I said if truly God called me to serve Him, by one year you will know’ (Kola Olawuyi, the man he is referring to in this interview died the following year). I uttered the statement because the word he made was very demeaning. I said ‘How on earth will you compare God’s action with idol worshiping?’ I said ‘if it is God who commissioned me on this job in this country, you will see what will happen by next year’.

I was very angry because he challenged my calling and because I was really angry, the spirit said I should mellow down. But I was angry. That was one episode in my career that challenged my faith and called God to prove His calling in my life.

At another time, a guy came out to allege that you Pa SK Abiara and some other prominent Pastors do engage him to bring human heads which you bury under your church cathedral.

How did you survive that episode too?

I don’t count such things as big challenges, I only said ‘People will see and know the truth’. Some people phoned to ask me about the allegation and I said ‘Please, let’s wait for the Lord will unveil everything’. I said ‘leave the man alone except if God is not involved, if it is not God that called me, you will see signs in the country’ that is how I always respond to such controversies when they come my way. It doesn’t bother me because God is involved in my dealings. He will never disappoint me.

Prophet T

Did your parent have a Prophecy while growing that you will be a great prophet someday?

Even my father and mother were just going to church but they didn’t believe I will one day be a prophet of God. The person they taught will be a prophet is my elder brother. Because I was so quite as a child, if I see anything, I won’t say it out.

But right from age of 4 I have become clairvoyant. If I stand I will be seeing things and when I clocked 7, I now saw the vision. I saw an Angel of God singing around me, he was dancing round me. I saw that vision but I didn’t tell my parent. Later on, another good day in the midnight, I saw this same angel came, my mum and I were in the room and the lantern in that room was turned down to dim the light reflection in the room.

I saw this strange being kneeling and praying but I didn’t utter a word. But as the angel was praying for about 15 minutes, if my mum wants to turn on the bed, the angel will disappear. I didn’t talk and I kept seeing such strange beings from time to time but I wouldn’t tell anybody or relate the scenario to anyone.  And my parent don’t evil believe me whenever I say this things out and as a kid, I used to say things people won’t believe and my parent will call me “Oniro” (Liar).

If they are looking for something in the room, the spirit will tell me to tell them to go and search so-so place but instead of them to believe, they will say ‘Oh, you have come with you pranks again, you kept it there. How did you know the thing is there?’ So, I was labeled a liar. I was a liar and even till I grew up but today they will say ‘See the lies of those days have now become the truth’ and for me, it is quite instructive and as well, interesting.

In fact sir, can we conveniently say “Irodola” (Laughter)

Well, because they see me as too young for the kind of things I see and say those days. Nobody believes I could be so clairvoyant. It is quite interesting, anyway. I return all glory to God.

Were you the last child?

Not really, I am the third child. We are 8 in number but I am the number three.

What are those things you learnt from your parent while growing up?

You know people like me are always stubborn as kids. Yes, I was stubborn and I will be beaten up seriously because our parents don’t understand the kind of spirit living in us. So, they will beat me up and we all grew through what I call parental cane. My dad and mum were passionate Christians; their fate was so strong that till I grew up I didn’t know what is called syringe; I was never taken to a hospital to take injection. It will be holy water, if you are ill, my parent will give you prayer water to drink and bath with and your illness will go away. So, we grew through faith.

I said I am going to ask you this; you are one Man of God who does not put his wife’s picture with his on crusade posters? Why, because a lot of men of God these days will put their wife’s pictures with theirs in any program bulletin and poster?

Can both of them die same day? That is the question you should ask such a pastor when you see such. Ask him that ‘Sir, if you want to die, can you take your wife along?’ is it the same calling God gave them? It is he God calls that He calls nobody shares a divine mandate with the bearer. Leave your wife and children out of church affairs; your wife can cook your food for you and take care of the home front but when it comes to gospel work, there are categories of gospel works a woman can do if you don’t want to put yourself in trouble.

WHY CAC’S CRISIS CAN NOT END NOW…

Sir, the Christ Apostolic Church is one great Church that has given birth to many families which Ago Adura is one of them. But one unfortunate scenario with the church is the fact that the church is presently divided into two factions, sir, what do you think is responsible for this and how do we solve the crisis?

The reason for all these fights is one, money. The second one is position. Everyone wants to hold the position of authority; that is all. If you say you want to eradicate all these, it could be difficult. I told them like 8 years ago, that this fight can never end. That was before our faction’s president, Ogunlade died. I said the end of the rift might come but you elders should pray that it should happen in your life time because you can’t appease death. I said all the elders will die; they won’t get to Canaan Land because they are full of mistrust for each other which mean this man does not want to stoop low and the other man wants to be in position of authority. So, even if the fight ends, they will be looking for whom to make the head because the fundamentals have gone wrong. There is war and mistrust in the leadership cadre of the church and no good leadership can come out of mistrust; except God takes all these elders away and we now have young a cream of young people that will get to Canaan land.

WHY I SACKED 10 OF MY PASTORS….

How do you really think multi-pastoralist tendencies can stop in the church, what is your own strategy in Ago Adura?

Ah! My brother, my aides here will testify to it; I send away like 5 pastors sometimes ago. After that episode, I sent away another set of 5 pastors when I saw this kind of thing (Beef for Power) rearing among my pastors.  Secondly, I also sent away all my elders, why? They will destabilize the church. What really fuels this kind of crisis in the church is when these people see rich men, they will start to run after them and the rich man does not know anything, the rich man is driven by the craze of his money, rich men will always think money is the ultimate and that is why these elders keep running after them, and because the church now derails a bit by appointing these rich people as Baba Ijo, as elders, as Pastors etc; except the church stop these nonsense and consult the Holy Spirit to give direction on who to appoint to position of authority. That is the only way multi-pastoralist tendency can stop in the church.

MY BIGGEST LESSON IN 25 YEARS….

What is the biggest lesson you have learnt in 25 years of running a big church like Ago Adura?

The first one is ‘don’t be proud’. Anyone that wants to lead a tribe of people should humble himself because of the needy ones. A church leader must not be arrogant, don’t start creating some ambiguous budgets that ‘oh, you want to build some big cathedrals or you want to organize an event that does not tally with people’s challenges’. Don’t say ‘Oh, we need hundred million naira to do this and that’ always say ‘If God permits’. Don’t go and be borrowing money to do God’s work.  A shepherd is there to guide his sheep not to hurt or milk them. Imagine someone like me who relates with the poor people now saying I want to start using a Private jet, it can’t be possible. Let us be moderate in whatever we do, if it is water we can afford to drink during an event, let us drink the water, we don’t have money for minerals. That is how I behave. If I want to buy a car worth N7million, I will say ‘please get me a second hand value’. I will say ‘I can’t buy the brand new because the money for this brand new can buy two’ except you buy the car yourself and give it to me. But for me to dip hand in church’s purse and go buy one exotic car, no, no, no. That is not me.

Why I won’t receive a private jet as gift….

Sir, if you are given a private jet, would you now reject it?

Where am I taking the private jet to? Where am I parking it?

I mean, you can just park it at the airport and pay for the space?

What do I want to be doing with it at the airport? My brother, an aero plane is not important to me. It is not a priority; my ministry caters for a whole lot of people. If you bring money that is ok but aero plane is not important to us; in fact, it is a vehicle of arrogance.

Can you tell us your favourite Bible verse?

You know, anyone that is adept with praying, he must be familiar with the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. There is no verse we can’t use to pray, I cannot say this is my favourite verse in the Bible because I have interpreted the entire Bible from the beginning to the end. That is it.

Why Christians must read Psalms…

Your prayer books always emphasize on reading of Psalms, what is the secret of praying with Psalm?

Psalm is a conglomerate of covenant words written by spiritual people who lived in times past. Majority of them wrote it under various divine influences, some under condition of poverty while some wrote theirs under the atmosphere of praise. The words used in writing those lines are so powerful in today’s world. That is the reason why Psalm is so powerful. It is the word of God and those who wrote Psalms wrote it under serious conditions. If you read it, it drives away evil spirit and we encourage Christians to use Psalms to support their prayer life because those words are covenant words.

4 Things That Can Ruin A Man Of God…

In 25 years, what are the things you find out that can ruin the life of a man of God?

The first thing is that they should be wary of women. Because when I started my ministry, it was with men, it was the men I asked to be coming to the night vigil but those who fail to understand or who lack knowledge in the things of God, they will not understand that women can scatter things in the ministry. Secondly, they should be very careful with money, the love of money is evil. It is not bad for you to be rich but to now have the love of money in your heart could be slightly dangerous. A man of God should not be too conscious about money, that you must look for money at all cost, it is evil in the sight of God. The third one is Juju (Ogun) they must stop using Juju to influence God’s work. They should not use anything Juju; they must run away from it so that they won’t be destroyed.

So, Juju can ruin the life of a man of God?

Yes, because if they do small Juju today, tomorrow they want to do a bigger version of the Juju and that is the beginning of getting addicted to Juju and from there their calling will be destroyed by the devil. Another one is that they should not have friends; a genuine man of God does not keep friends. A man of God who has friends or committee of friends will never be faithful to his call.