Pastor Olusola Adeyeye, a Senior Pastor at The Redeemed Christian Church of God and a member of the church's Board of Trustees, will be celebrating his 80th birthday in a few days. In this interview with GBENGA SALAU, he reflects on his journey into full-time ministry and reaching the milestone of eight decades.
How do you feel celebrating 80 in a country where life expectancy is 50 plus?
I feel elated and very grateful to the Most High God because it has been by the grace of God. It is not by power, by might, or by my wisdom; it is simply the grace of God. This is why I am eternally grateful to God for preserving my life this far. It must be God, and it can only be God. I return all the glory to Him.
What have you done humanly to aid your longevity?
It is a great question, and if I am to be honest with you, I will be lying if I say I did some things that gave me the privilege to enjoy longevity. I must repeat that it is just the grace of God. I consider it an unmerited favour and grace of God. The truth of the matter is that all I am enjoying is the unmerited favour of God. It is amazing, and I say to God be the glory.
What has life taught you these past 80 years?
Life has taught me in the past 80 years that you need God in every facet of your life. It has taught me that the only way out of any trouble is the way of the Lord. No matter the trouble and challenge, if you have God, all you need to do is to celebrate and rejoice because it is written that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. It is not that every knee may bow, not that every knee can bow, or any challenge can bow—no! The Bible says in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. And that is just it in my life.
How will you describe life in the last 80 years?
Life is simply a gift of God, and we are only privileged to live it according to the precept and help of God. In the last 80 years, life has been so beautiful and wonderful. It is a long story. For instance, at birth, my parents never knew I could survive one month. History even told me that I was sick to the point of death, and my parents were only expecting me to breathe my last breath before burial. But suddenly a man of God came to town, and I was prayed for. Miraculously, life came back, and I survived. Since then, I have been enjoying the grace of God, health, and abundant life.
Do you have any regrets?
I have several regrets, as there are a lot of things that I did wrongly, particularly when I did not know God. When I did not realise the need to get born again and be led by the Holy Spirit—because when you are led by the Holy Spirit, all will be well; it will be a most perfect life. But if you do not have Christ, life without Christ is full of crisis. When you do not know the Lord and begin to live your own way, the devil will be in charge. But when you are born again and give your life to Christ, the devil will not have the upper hand over your life because the Lord will take the lead and guard you, and all will be well.
Nigeria is regarded as a religious nation, but when it comes to leadership, we are not getting it right. As a pastor, do you think the church is taking the right step by just praying alone?
I would ask you a question: Aside from praying, what do you think the church should have done? The truth is that the Bible says the hearts of men are desperately wicked, and a question ends it—who can know it? And that is the truth. It is unfortunate that most of them (leaders) do not have God and do not know God and are led by the devil. This is because the Bible says whoever commits sin is of the devil. Any leader, man or woman, that has not given his or her life to Christ is of the devil, and you can be sure that there is no good thing in the kingdom of the devil. What we are lacking and the troubles in Nigeria are orchestrated by the devil, and this is allowed because of our sins. If we repent from our sins and turn to God, in a short while all the troubles will disappear. That is the truth. Thank God for the people who are praying; if not for the prayers, it would have been worse than you could have ever seen. But thank God for His grace and for giving us some people who are praying either in secret or openly. It is the power of prayers that is holding this nation; if not, this nation would have been on fire by now.
What one loving memory do you like to recall?
The most important memory for me was the day I gave my life to Christ. The day my sins were forgiven, that moment when the load of sins over my life was terminated and I became free and a child of God—that is the greatest memory, which gladdens my heart. Each time I remember the day I got born again and decided for Christ, joy unspeakable floods my heart.
How did you meet your wife?
My first marriage came up in 1974, but sometimes in 2017, she went to be with the Lord. Two years later, I decided to remarry. I thank God for my first marriage because through it I have the best choice of children. And I thank God that my first wife, just like my second wife, was a loving and caring woman who passionately and intentionally stood by me to ensure that we overcome the difficulties of life. Through the grace of God, we were able to overcome the challenges that stared us in the face.
How did you come into full-time ministry as a clergy?
It all happened in 1996. I was in the United Kingdom for my annual holiday to rest, meet some friends, and partners. At that time, I had been a book seller and motor dealer, and God had helped me so much. I was thinking the next thing was to establish a car assembly plant in Nigeria. So, I went on holiday hunting for partners to join me in establishing a car assembly plant in Nigeria. But when I got to the UK, it was during winter, and it was so severe that I could not travel around as I had intended. I had to stay indoors, rest, eat, pray, and study the scriptures. After some days, my love for God increased. Then, on one of the days around 4 a.m., I got ministered to that the Lord was calling me to full-time ministerial life—that I had been busy counting money, but now it was time to win souls for the Lord. That was how I received the call. When I came back to Nigeria, I went to meet my leader, who encouraged and prayed with me. That was how the journey into full ministry started with The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).
How has the journey been over the years?
It has been beautiful, and God has been so faithful to me. I have been a parish pastor, area pastor, state pastor, state overseer for years, regional evangelist, and at present a member of the Board of Trustees of the church. I am also the coordinator of the Royal Fathers Fellowship of the RCCG. It is a fellowship that we have never had that way before in any church in Nigeria. To the glory of God, it is growing in leaps and bounds.
Despite the growing number of churches in Nigeria, criminality is on the rise. Why?
The devil is the root cause of the issue, and he is busy going all around every day. The Bible says he goes around looking for whom to consume. The devil has no other business than that. The Bible says the devil cometh not but to steal, kill, and destroy. He does that on a daily basis, and he has no holiday or resting day. He goes about to mobilise as many as possible—those who will yield themselves to him to do one evil or another. With so many churches, one might wonder why all the evils have not gone. But nobody can kill Satan until his time comes, and God will deal with him accordingly. As long as Satan is alive and all over the place, there will be issues. But the truth is that God is up to the task. As Satan goes about causing havoc here and there, God is also using His people to counter all his activities all over. That is why God has raised some leaders for us like Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Bishop David Oyedepo, and Pastor Williams Kumuyi, and I can go on. You have men like these all over the world, and I thank God for the efforts of men like these scattered all over the world. That is why we have the relative peace we have at the moment all over.
What is your advice for young clergy men?
The younger ones should put Christ first and totally yield their lives to God. Let Him be glorified in their lives so that all shall be well.
