Senior Pastor of Christ Living Apostolic Ministry (CLAM) Lagos, Apostle Wole Oladiyun celebrated his 60th birthday and 21 years anniversary of the church last week. He spoke with newsmen on the journey so far, national issues and how the church can contribute to the polity. Olusegun Raphael was there
IT is your 60th birthday and 21years anniversary of your ministry. How do you feel?
I want everybody to know it is by the grace, mercy and favour of God. I want to appreciate the great and men and women of God who been working with me in the ministry for the past 21 years. The executive heads for different portfolios in the ministry, including the Chief medical director, Clam medical arm, Soteria Maternity and hospital, Dr. (Mrs.) Moyosore Makinde.
What would a man say, when God has made success out of his life? Someone who finds himself in a family, where everyone wakes up in the morning by 5am and go to one old Christ Apostolic church in Ile Oluji to pray.
You carry your portmanteau on your head, which is today’s backpack and trekked to school. On your way back, you passed your father’s workshop, you entered prayed and later go and greet your father.
Someone who knew Jesus early in life. You have been trained to talk to God first before your parents. Between ages 7 and 10, you are conscripted into dry fasting on mountaintop of the late Pastor Ayo Babalola with only well water to break your fast. Psalm16: 8, which says lines are fallen in pleasant for me and I have a goodly heritage is my testimony.
The foundation of anything matters a lot. By the grace of God I am an Engineer and I have been privileged to build houses all over this country and my engineering dexterity still stands.
I grew up in the family of seven, the second child but first boy. My late father was an elder in the church and leader of the then prayer band of the late Ayo Babalola while my late mum was just a petty trader, Mama Onigarri.
My father died when I was 11 and we saw the ancestors of suffering. But by providence, my father’s cousin who was a diplomat came home and took me to Ibadan. He has another brother who always saw me with my Lacombe.
He asked me if I wanted to go to school. I responded that I want to be an engineer like him. I was enrolled in school and studied hard, eventually I won a scholarship. I finished secondary school and went to study Civil Engineering at the then University of Ile –ife now Obafemi Awolowo Univerisy. I later did my Masters at Netherland business school. I am highly indebted to the Akintomides and the Adewakuns.
I have always known that I have a calling because God used to appear to me even at 7. My father took me to a pastor who confirmed it but he requested that I should be educated for the betterment of the call.
I served in Ramat Polytechnic, Borno State. After my NYSC I wanted to join the police but I met one man, Mr. Mshelia who asked me why and I told him I wanted to work in the works department to tackle injustice. He said to me that was not a good reason to join police. So, I decided to face my engineering.
I later travelled to Germany briefly for 9 months but the Lord told me I can’t fulfill my destiny there. I returned home and founded a company. I ventured into other businesses like supplying skimmed powder for production companies, spare parts, pharmaceutical products.
I was a member of Full Gospel businessmen fellowship. I was ordered back to CAC. I repented because God said he wants to use me. I later joined Deeper Life. I also served under Pastor Anayo Iloputaife. I was with Pastor Wole Aboderin of Faith Bible Church. Due to my passion for engineering, I was struggling with the call but after God packed the businesses up for three years, I surrendered. I was sent forth by Pastor Aboderin.
I got the name of the ministry after serious prayer through the inspiration of the story of the woman by the well in John 4verse 4-26 where Jesus told her if you had given me water I would have given you ever flowing spring. It is an Apostolic ministry, which started April, 2 1998 with monthly revival and vigil at Dansol School.
In the last 21 years what would say are your challenges?
When things are going smoothly I am afraid but because I am connected to the source he gives me solution at every crossroads. I hear from Him expressly. But I would say initially I was not a good human manager. When I tell you we must get this thing done in seven days, I forget that we have different temperaments but I have been able to understand now and manage people well.
What are your landmarks?
For landmarks, Hebrew 4: 15- 16 emphasised four major acts of God that have been working for us mercy, grace, favour and help. If you are counting ministries that are still doing what is heartbeat of God, soul winning in Africa CLAM will be among the first 10.
I am an addicted soul winner. For the past 20 years our evangelical arm CLAMGO has not taken any kobo from anybody and we have been to villages that others dread for land deliverance and also to give the people succor.
We introduced medical ministration 8 years ago mobilising medical workers to do free surgeries. We started in Ile –oluji. My wife and I built children hospital fully equipped that children should be treated free of charge.
The former governor Olusegun Mimiko dedicated it. In Lagos, we have a 56 -bed CLAM Soteria hospital where we have done four brain operations successfully. An operation that should cost N2m in India was done for N900, 000.
God helped me to do these through the tithes and offering coming to the church. So people should stop emphasising the ills of the church. Where you have counterfeit, there are also originals. We also have Soteria farms where 4000 youths are presently working situated in between Foursquare camp and the border of Ibadan. We have 50 hectares of land for tomatoes and Ogbono plantation. We want to model it after the Songhai farm. The people are living there. There will be school and hospital and all these from tithe and offerings.
We are also working on CLAM soccer club with a full time coach. There is also Wole Oladiyun foundation through which over 60 people have benefitted from our scholarships. We are presently training a female pilot in Philippine. The latest is the prayer parliament.com that God gave me where people can log in and get prayer interventions.
We have a vocational centre where miscreants are trained in skills, free of charge. We give them food, and the word of God.
What lessons has life taught you?
Life has taught me to fear God. That for everything you achieved it is by the sovereign grace of God. To help humanity, be simple, once you have a simple life it is easier to maintain. We brought nothing to this world and we are not going to take anything.
Life has taught me to judge people less because we are created differently. It has taught me that creation is a mirage, an illusion. What you give is what you receive. It has taught me to smile at all times and be myself. Everything in life is seasonal no one rules forever. Have focus and be patience. Have eternity in view.
To be a dutiful husband to my wife who has been patient with me over the years. She is a fantastic, great woman of few words. She gave me free ambience to operate.
Is there anything you want to do differently now?
I have one ambition to go back to university to lecture in engineering and management free. I want to raise more people and for CLAM Prayer centres to be at designated places all over the world.
Are you satisfied with way the country is having seen the independence and post- independence era?
God has spoken prophetically that other countries will come to us. Nigeria is easy to manage if we get some things right. When we profile Nigeria from the time of the late Sarduna of Sokoto to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, we discovered so many states are sick, so many states are moribund.
What they do is just to go to the centre to take. I am trusting God that by the time are through with the national conference, we should focus on the six geo-political zones. There is none of these zones that do not have mineral resources. For example in Ogun, we look at Iwopin, Ilaje coastal areas. Ikale has deepest harbour created by God meaning big ship can berth
There is Olokoola free trade zone should be developed, the bitumen in Agbabu should be developed. We have been importing $ 4.7b worth of bitumen into this country whereas we are seated on bitumen. Underneath the bitumen, we have stock fish after Venezuela ours is the second. We must have the political will to work on the bitumen. It will give us jobs and our crave for dollars will be low.
Ekiti is seated on minerals. These should be brought out. The steel rolling mills in Ajaokuta where people are stealing trillions of dollars over the years should be worked on. We must have the political will to develop Tin at Jos, coal at Enugu.
South Africa is generating energy through coal. The federal character should be removed. For our national team for instance, we need 12 players. If the good 12 are from Borno, let them represent us. Don’t put someone from Ondo, who is less qualified.
The issue of federal character is choking us. Many people representing us are round pegs in square holes. Leadership is a major problem because we lack the political will. We must come to a roundtable look at our grievances and ways to proffer solution into them.