Rev Paul Toluwani is the General Overseer of the Evangelical Apostolic Church and the chairman, burial committee of the late Apostle T.O. Obadare who will be buried this week. In this interview with SEGUN ADEBAYO and OLAIDE ALADESANMI, he speaks on the preparation of the committee to give the late preacher a befitting burial and his relationship with him. Excerpts:
How far has your committee gone in the planning of the final burial of late Apostle T.O Obadare?
By the grace of God, we have covered about 90 per cent of the schedule. As we speak with you, everything that should be done has been done. We are just putting final touches on them and that’s why there was a delay in the timing of the burial. You will agree with me that Baba died in March and we are burying him in August because we have to contact so many other people outside Nigeria.
Have there been obstacles from anywhere so far?
Initially, the major challenge we had was money. We needed a lot of money to erect a mausoleum. Our plan is to put up a mausoleum in his honour, which is going to be like a Jerusalem of sort at Ilesha. We want it constructed before his burial. And you know we are expecting thousands of people that we have to feed. Money was an issue before now, but God has raised helpers for us, but we still need more from well meaning Nigerians.
Is it true that some Christ Apostolic Church elders are not supporting your leadership as the chairman?
There is no one that will not support a good thing. A good thing advertises itself. If there were issues before the death of Baba, I believe they should be buried now that the man is dead.
I don’t believe that there are issues again.
What about the reports that Osun people are trying to hijack the burial?
There is nothing that can cause a conflict. Baba’s headquaters is at Akure and he did all he did from Akure, but you cannot remove the fact that he was from Osun State. So he will be buried in Ilesha, his home town. By the grace of God, there will be lying-in-state at Akure.
You said that since Obadare is now late, all the factional crises will be forgotten, but as of now, we know there are two factions, which of them is really working with you?
I will say that all the factions are working with us, but I will say that the more committed is the CAC Supreme council. The fact is that both of them are working with us.
Tell us briefly about your relationship with him?
Where do I start? I will say that if you talk about a man that was given a second chance in life, I am a symbolic representation. Before I met Baba Obadare, my life was in shambles. I finished from the University of Nigeria (NSUKKA), but when I got to my final year, I developed a problem, my brain went blunt; I couldn’t not remember anything I read. I actually wanted to commit suicide.
I came out from the university by miracle because I am sure it was not my result. I graduated with a very good grade, but I don’t know how. I began to believe that there are miracles. That should be around 1985/1986. I tried to secure a solution; I was jumping from one mountain to another, seeking for a solution like a bush kangaroo. So, finally, I came in contact with Baba Obadare and he prayed for me and said I should go and observe some prayers.
That was how I was able to recover everything I had lost. Baba was a mentor.
What special attribute about Baba really attracted you?
Baba’s apostolic and prophetic acumen is matchless.
Who will you refer to as those who really influenced you?
There are two major spiritual figures in my life that I can never forget, Baba Obadare and Evangelist Reinhard Bonke. I can’t forget Evangelist Bonke because I was just in my office that year, it was around 5 p.m., when I saw evangelist Bonke walked into my office. I can’t tell if it was a spiritual realm or physical one, but I think it was more of a physical than a spiritual one. The man walked into my office and I became so glued to my seat. He laid his hands upon my head and prayed for me vigorously. In the process of the prayer, i fell on the ground of my office and I heard a voice which says this is your 10th year of gathering handicapped people without any significant miracle happening to them. He said but from this year 2000, your ministry will be similar to that of Bonke in miracles. He said when you are out of this vision, go to this man that prayed for you and ask him to lay his hands on your head to pray for you. By the time I opned my eyes, Bonke had gone and I found myself on the floor. That is the angle I can’t explain. I wrote a book, my breakthrough to power.
In that book, I presented some documents there to back up my claim because I knew people would always want to fault what you are doing. So when God showed me that, I wrote a letter to Bonke that I wanted to come over to Germany for him to lay hand on me. He replied me that he could not invite me to Germany because he didn’t trust Nigerians; they are fraudulent. When I recieved the letter, I attached the it to my book. So, I felt what happened to me in the vision was an hallucination. I concluded that if God had wanted me to meet Bonke, I would not have encountered any problem with it; why would the man rejected my offer. So, in 2001, Bonke was meant to come to Ibadan under the gathering of all churches in Ibadan. A committee was set to handle his visit. While the committee was preparing for Bonke’s arrival, a problem came up. So they wrote a letter to late Lamide Adesina, who was the governor of Oyo State then. They wanted him to grant governmental recognition for the coming of Bonke, but he denied. When it was two weeks to the day, the committee felt it would be an embarrasment for Bonke to come to Nigeria without governmental recognition. They started looking for a man of God who was close to Lam Adesina. By the virtue of the charity project that I do, I was already an adviser to Governor Adesina on disability and welfare matters to him. So one of the members of the committee thought of me. The person said Lesekese was close to Lam Adesina. So they appraoched me and asked me to influence the fovernor to accept their offer. That was how the governor accepted and gave us the go ahead. So, I proceeded to Lagos, recieved Bonke, we spent the night at Sheraton Hotel and he repeated what he did to me in my vision in side the hotel that night. That was how I recived the divine touch.
Culled from Sunday Tribune
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