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PAGE 14—SUNDAY VANGUARD, NOVEMBER 27, 2022
Dire consequences await
security agents who collect
money to rig 2023 polls
— Evangel Akeredolu
• ‘I know of about four pastors who can influence Buhari’
• Advises on how to stop terrorists from attacking
churches, Nigerians
• Speaks on his achievements, why he won’t leave CAC now
By Demola Akinyemi, Ilorin
Evangelist Emmanuel Toluwase Akeredolu is the Senior Pastor and
Superintendent, Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Ilorin District
Coordinating Council, located at Taiwo-Isale, Ilorin, Kwara State capital.
Akeredolu, in this interview, speaks on the spiritual and physical growth of
the church under his watch. He also bares his mind on the state of the
nation and the 2023 general elections among other issues. Excerpts:
Call you tell us the
highlights of the spiritual
growth between when you
got here and now?
I’m called by God and He has been
supportive for close to 40 years. I was
posted here in January 2019. When
I came, I looked outside of the box
and we were able to make some
fundamental changes.
We renovated this place mainly for
guests. We have some pastors now
on our revival list, they were in their
air conditioned rooms and everything.
As servants of God, instead of going to
a hotel, they prefer staying here because
if you enter a room in any hotel, you
don’t know the person who used it last.
Also, we just finished the dedication
of the new Ultramodern English
Assembly which can sit about 1,
500. It’s a modern church for our
youths, you’ll like worshipping
there. We are also constructing
an event centre along New
Yidi Road with 1, 500 sitting
capacity and we have a plan
to build a guest house. We are
also working on a two-storey
building of six flats. We bought
it and we are re-building it. We
are doing all of these because
the church is supposed to have a source of income
apart from the Sunday offering. Any church that is
still relying on Sunday offering will not survive.
Also, one of the things God asked me to do was
to purchase plots of land for our church members.
Those who think they cannot be landlords in
10 years now are landlords/landladies. We
also have our nursery and primary
school. I spent over N20million on
the project. We also bought some
properties at the back of the
church that we have not
touched. We have a maternity
centre too where we used to
have minimum of 400 babies
annually. Last year the figure was
above 400. We bought resuscitating
machine, oxygen, and other modern
equipment that they can use after the
delivery of the mothers and babies. And we
have doctors who are our members. We have
some that said they were born in our
maternity, those doctors of today.
I know that with God,
all things are possible.
All what you’ve told us
are products of great
ideas. Tell us how and where you
got money because the projects are
huge?
When I arrived Ilorin, I asked them to take me
round to see their properties because there were
many members of the church suffering, they had
resources but didn’t know how to tap into them.
When I was in Lagos, I had a dedicated and
committed church member who attended every
programme in the same dress. And I asked him,
can one be serving God and be wretched, what
was his problem? He said he had HND, he didn’t
have a job, when he went to market, he will hawk
padlocks; at the end of the day, he will return the
proceeds and be given a percentage. I asked if he
didn’t have anything in life that he could sell. And
he said no, but that he had a land but he couldn’t
sell it and that it will be there for his children. Then
I said if he died that day, he will be in the mortuary,
the children will sell the plot of land and buy casket,
hire ambulance, take him to their village, bury him
the same day and they won’t sleep in the village.
He said “never”. I asked about his children, he
said they were in University of Ibadan. So I said
during holidays I wanted to see them. Later, I invited
the children and the wife and I told them I asked
their father to sell one of his plots and he said he
•Akeredolu
didn’t want to sell it, that it was for them. And the
first born said the father should not bother to
sell it because if he died, he will sell it, hire
ambulance. And the father said, “See the
children I want to leave property for”. He
asked what he could do and I said we
should go there. When we got there, I
found that he had constructed an
uncompleted boys’ quarters. I asked
them to sell it. In 2003, we sold it at
N11million. He was given bank draft
and I told him to lodge it in his account.
I said “let us buy Treasury Bill for
N5million, complete the one you
are doing; then let’s go to
Dangote Cement,
asbestos and other
things”. And he became
a major distributor of
cement. After spending
money on his children,
he is in America right
now with those
children. I can call him
and tell him to testify to
what I’m saying. So,
when I got here, I asked
if the church was the
owner of this place, they
said yes. It’s in the
middle of the city. I said
“let us sell half of it to
get what we want”. After many arguments, we sold
part of the land. And that is the money we are
using to do all these things. That’s the secret. It is
about ideas and grace of God.
They should license
guns. If you know I have
gun and you are coming
to attack me, you will
think twice. If you are
coming to attack a
church, you will think
twice
Let’s talk about the spiritual
growth of the church. How
has it been?
We have Bible Study every
Tuesday and we are trying to invest
in our youths, training them,
sending them for spiritual training
because, without the Word of
God, whatever you do will be a
waste in the future. God has
been faithful to us in the spiritual
aspect of the ministry.
What do you consider
as a challenge in this
church?
There is no more cooperation in
the church like the time of the Bible. I
am a pastor here. If God wants to speak
to the church, he will speak through me. It
is my duty. The problem we have is that
whatever you tell the church, some of them won’t
agree and that is not allowing God to move like
before. Another one is civilisation. Our children
don’t create time for prayers again.
Let us talk about government.
How do you think we came to where
we are today in terms of economic
crisis and politics?
I have traveled a little. I’ve been to the UK,
Germany, Paris, US, Canada and I’m not saying
this just to let people know I’ve traveled but the
difference between them and we Nigerians is that
they love their nations. We Nigerians don’t love
our nation, every one of us. The so-called leaders
are not leaders, when you say leaders, it means to
give instructions. Somebody who leads by example
is called a leader. In Nigeria, our leaders are greedy.
I’ve been praying to God to visit Buhari to change
Nigerian currency. The only problem I have with
him is that the period is too long. Also, until we stop
voting for political parties there is no solution in
Nigeria, we should start voting for individuals. The
problem we are facing in Nigeria is mostly political.
We need to start voting for individuals and not
political parties. We are facing two problems in
Nigeria right now: Religion and tribalism.
Continues on www.vanguardngr.com