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Today (19th of March, 2022) is her 70th Birthday, her name is Omolola. Today is my daughter’s birthday; one of her names is Omolola (one of her grandmothers gave her that name without knowing that the name of the woman God used to give me my first university education is Omolola).
God ordered my steps to Winners’ Chapel, Okuku (the Church) (this is a story for another day); it was at a time when Pastor Kim Pam was the resident Pastor, that should be around 1999. Pastor Kim’s wife was another case study of a supportive pastor’s wife; she was nice not just to Church members but to people in Okuku. Most people know and like her husband (Pastor Kim) because of her positive attitude. She called me aside after one choir rehearsal to ask what was wrong with me. She made me open up to her. I explained to her that we were told in school on Friday that we would be sent back home on Monday if we did not come with our PTA fee. I don’t know how I will raise the N150 over the weekend; every button pressed was not productive. I was an orphan transferred from Lagos to Okuku, and I have never experienced being sent out of school before when my father was alive; my father will not only pay my school fees at the beginning of each term in Foundation Junior Nursery and Primary School then but will clear off every bill including buying of books, new shoes and uniforms, without even telling me. My name never made it to any debtor’s list; if we are given any letter to our parents to pay any money, either for excursion or anything, my father will get to the school the next working day to pay. He was that prompt. Now he was dead, and a few years after his death I was still trying to adapt to the new reality.
Mama Kim (as we call her then) counselled and prayed with me that day; she told me to trust God and God would surely come through. I was surprised when I was told after service on Sunday to see the assistant pastor for my school fees. Wow! I was not even aware the Church could help on such matters; I was not told I could approach the Church office for such an issue. I just love God and think we should be the ones contributing to the Church. Even after that, I did not approach the church for warfare for any reason. Yes, I was always in need of one thing or the other, but I just was not approaching the Church for warfare. I also benefited from the Bishop Oyedepo Undergraduate Scholarships more than once.
But, beyond the school fees, the Winners’ Chapel teachings changed my life for good. One of such teachings that God used to change my life for the better was the teaching of ‘positive confession’ (‘A closed mouth is a closed destiny- Bishop David Oyedepo ). We were taught to say what we want to see, not what is happening to us; we were told to confess the scriptures. And, as a young secondary schoolboy, I was doing it the way I understood it then. I kept telling my friends in secondary school that I would go to university to study because before my father died he always told me how he wanted me to go to university so that I would not suffer in life. So, my mind had been conditioned to see studying at university as the path to greatness; and that was the centre of my confession every time. After my father’s death going to university becomes bleak; if paying the PTA fee was very difficult, how will I pay the numerous university bills? The question of who will feed me, accommodate me, or pay my tuition fee in thousands of naira always arises, but, I kept confessing as taught in Winner’s Chapel. We were told God would do it no matter how big our desire was, so, I just kept telling people I would pass my WAEC once and gain admission to the university without wasting any year at home. And that was how it happened! HALLELUJAH!
Finishing secondary school was not easy for me by any standard. I was owning every fee. My school principal at a point, Mr Saka paid my PTA, at other times, Auntie ‘Bunmi Ogunbunmi ( Ajoke Ade O Johnson ) raised funds from some of the student-teachers to pay my PTA, and even-handed me over to somebody when she finished her teaching practice in Odo-Otin Grammar school, she told me to be free to ask the person for assistance anytime I need anything, Auntie ‘Bunmi showed me, love, she fought for me several time, advised me never to give up (this also is a story for another day), I also benefited from the money late senator ‘Bayo Salam gave to some students in our local government then (it was handed over to me in Okuku town hall by the Osun state Governor then, Baba Bisi Akande). God is always sending help to me.
I remember when it was time to pay for my WAEC, it was in thousands of Naira, and if I was having a problem with N150 to N300 per term, where was I supposed to get thousands of naira? I was saving money towards it, but my savings were insignificant to the WAEC fee then. I also kept the money I benefited from an NGO of a family in Ada (I think it was an NGO owned by Mr and Mrs Ponle-I am not sure of the name) and I told the Principal then (Prince F. A. Adejumo) to keep it for me for my WAEC. Even with this, it was still not enough to pay the WAEC fee. It was one of my aunts; Late Mrs Sarah Olaegun that came to Okuku to visit grandpa-her father (that I was living with) that asked me about the situation of things as she would always do anytime she come visiting, I told her about my WAEC; she said she did not have such money on her, but she went into town to burrow it for me that evening, and that was how I was able to pay for my WAEC. So, talking about studying at university under that condition seemed not reasonable, but I kept confessing and believing I would study at the university. I so much believed what we were taught in Winners Chapel.
I was already a part-time bus conductor with another lovely person (Late Mr John Ogundiji, Lander); the family of Lander opened their doors wide for me; I was received as a family member. At a point too, I tried working on a construction site as a menial labourer and ended up in the hospital after just 1 day of working with them on-site; my Uncle (Late Mr Philip Olagunju) and grandpa (Pa James Olagunju) spent more money than what I made as a labourer on treating me in a private hospital. But, I did not relent in trying to make money for myself (this is a story for another day).
However, I was active in Church, I was in Choir and Drama Unit; I just love everything about God and I like being in Church (I am still a Church boy) I attended all services I could. The Church was far from our house and even if I had the money for a bike then I would rather use it to eat; trekking was not a problem. After all, we trekked to school every school day. I think before the arrival of Pastor Korter (as Okuku Resident Pastor), a senior Pastor was sent by the Commission to visit the Church in Okuku and several committees were instituted for that event; I was privileged to be in the hospitality unit headed by Deaconess Omolola Oyinlola (Mama), wife of former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. I think that was my first close contact with her. As usual, at every point, I was raising my hands to give my opinion, not intimidated by the calibre of people in the meeting, and not minding whether my ideas would be accepted or not. I like the way Mama coordinated the committee; she was calm and intelligent. I think that was when she knew me.
So, when I finished my secondary school I was employed by the Church through Pastor Korter Joshua Vershima after I went to report my uncle to him (this is also a story for another day). I was employed as an office assistant. One day I told him I wanted to join the police force so that I could make more money and go to University, which I have always wanted; he tried to counsel me against it but I told him I did not want to waste time waiting for somebody to help me. I want to make my own money and use it to sponsor my university education.
One day he came back from Osogbo and told me he spoke to Deaconess Omolola Oyinlola about me and she said I should come anytime I gain admission to any university. What? I did not see this coming at all. I was excited. Although I had a UME result which was about 250+, it was my friend, Dr Michael Opeyemi Olugbile that paid for that UME during my final year in secondary school, while encouraging me with his personal stories, he was also planning how I will go to the university, he said he pay my tuition fee if I can raise other funds like rent, feeding etc (this is another story for another day). I chose Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSU) then, Pastor Korter from his own purse, fuelled his Mercedez Benz car, drove me to Pastor David Ibiyeomie –David Ibiyeomie ) in Port Harcourt, fortunately for me, there are many lecturers, HOD, etc of RSU in Pastor Ibiyome’s Church, in fact, the HOD of the course I wanted to study was he’s Church member, so, Pastor David Ibiyeomie called the HOD to a meeting after Sunday service in his living room and he told us admission is closed and my score is not enough for the course I chose, I was advised to choose another course then change to my desired course next section but I turned down the offer. We were received with love at Pastor Ibiyome’s house. We returned to Osun state and I picked up Ladoke Akintola University of Technology’s pre-degree form.
I got the Pre-degree admission and went to Mama’s office to inform her, some of her staff felt I was not being reasonable, why Pre-degree? That is too expensive, did you know how many people she is sponsoring in school? They told me I was not ready to go to school; they advised I write UME again and choose Federal Universities. but I begged them to allow me to at least see Mama before I returned to Okuku that day; thank God they obliged. I met her in her office that day and she did not even ask about the amount I needed, I just told her I have gotten a pre-degree admission, she congratulated me and started asking about the condition of the Church in Okuku and that was what we discussed throughout my stay in her office until some security officers came to order me out, on my way out she told me to prepare a document of what I will need in school for the program and the amount like feeding, rent and tuition. And that was how I became one of the people Mama sponsored through university. The story of her kindness continues, but let’s leave that for another day. One of our fellowship members asked me in school one day about what I was doing around GRA. He said he saw me one day but he was far from me so he could not call me, I told him I went to collect my school fees from Mama; he was surprised, he said, he went to her office for the same purpose. He was a medical student, so I am obviously not the only one being sponsored by Mama.
Anytime her staff wants to be hard on me, I just need to insist on seeing Mama, and when I see her, my purpose of seeing her will be secondary; Mama will start asking me about the Church, and when I am leaving she will tell her staff to attend to me. Her staff will think we discussed my request and they will grant my request on that assumption. She never for once placed any demand on me, not even to work on her farm in Okuku. She is always telling me how proud she is of me. Mama never sends me on errands, even in the Church. No matter the security around her, immediately she sights me, she will stretch forth her arm to me, and with that, I will move closer to her unhindered by the security personnel. I remember going to her house after I graduated and I was asked to go and join the long queue of people that wanted to see her or her husband. That hall (in their house) was full of people that want to see them; I insisted I was not going to join these people in the hall; I told the security to please go and tell Mama my name as one of the people that want to see her; after several minutes of back and forth she went in to inform Mama, and Mama sent for me from the crowd of visitors I met in their hall. Mama, I love you. I appreciate you. I celebrate you. Your humanitarian work has had an extraordinarily positive influence on my life. Education is not just the certificate; it has an unpredictable ripple effect. Thanks for allowing God to use you for me.
Happy 70th Birthday, Deaconess Omolola Oyinlola.
You are a known humanitarian whose good deeds have brought succour to many families; you’ve uplifted the downtrodden and put smiles on people’s faces. You are a loving mother, God-fearing, accommodating, kind-hearted, supportive wife, and friendly.
