How President Buhari Can Prevent Civil War - Prophet Jolajesu reveals
Prophet Elijah Adebayo popularly known as 'Jolajesu' is the founder of Christ Apostolic Church, Chariot of Fire. In this exclusive interview with Bloggers led by Abiodun Adeniyi, Wole Adejumo and Olawale Awe at his residence, the Ile-Ife born minister of God narrated his relationship with the newly appointed General Evangelist of CAC worldwide, Prophet Oladeji Hezekiah; why CAC is lacking behind other Pentecostal churches and the man of God also spoke extensively about the state of the nation among other important issues. Enjoy:
How did you come about your appellation 'Jolajesu'?
Thank you very much for the question; my real name given to me at birth is Babatunde Boyayiodomo, but I gave myself the name I now bear today (Jolajesu) the day I met Jesus Christ and I accepted Him as my saviour. There are lots of things people don't know about me, especially, my past. I used to be a notorious guy and a rejected son. I was well-known as Tunde Omo Iya Eleko in my village which is known as Iyanfoworogi in Ile Ife, Osun State. Majority of the people in our village feared me a lot due to my notorious activities; whenever they see me, they always panic. When I completed my primary education, there was no money to go further thus I had to learn vucalnising. When I finished learning vulcanising, there was no much to do, I then became a Bus Conductor under a man popularly called IGBY and Baba Inukan. It was during this period, I received God's calling. After I accepted Christ into my life, I had to reflect on the atrocities I had committed, there and then u realised that have all along been enjoying His grace, so, it was this reflection and the grace of the Lord upon my life that gave 'birth' to what I am popularly called today 'Jolajesu'.
Sir, kindly shed more light on how you received the Calling?
As I said earlier that I was once a notorious guy, one day I was on a mission to disrupt church activity in my village, the name of the Church is Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Igbala, founded by Baba Joseph Alayade popularly known as 'Baba Ijo' , as I was going there, I saw a man which I believe is Jesus Christ because he was shrouded in mysteries; His head was full of white hair, His leg did not touch the ground and He's very tall. He called my name (Elijah) three times but before that encounter, I had already smoked marijuana so I felt like shooting him, immediately I pulled the trigger, I fell down immediately and I was rushed to the same church that I intended to wreak havoc during their service. I was in this church for 21 days. it was during that period and through the Prophet's efforts that I became a born again Christian. The prophet told me that God wants to use me and that I should surrender my life to Him. That was how my journey into the Christendom and prophethood started. I worked briefly with the man of God for a while before I proceeded to Christ Apostolic Church School of Prophets and Evangelists at Imo, Ilesha, Osun State.
So, how has the journey been?
It has been very rough and tough but I give God all the glory. After I finished my programme at the Theology School, I worked briefly at CAC Oke Ife, Ibadan for a while and I rose to the position of District Superintendent but exactly in February 23, 1997, I decided to have my own ministry. Thus, I started my first ministration service at my Aunt's house at Babalola Estate, Orita challenge, Ibadan. My ministry was christened Chariot of Fire Apostolic Chapel; within a short period of time, precisely in the year 2000, we moved to our permanent site at Zionist Estate, along Alao-Akala Expressway. I can say that today we give God all the glory. We have branches in Ibadan and Ile Ife. Our permanent camp is at Moganna village along Liberty Academy road, Odo-Ona Elewe, Orita-Challenge, ibadan.
How did you come about the name 'Chariot of Fire'?
It happened one day when I slept and I saw Chariot full of fire in my dream. You remember that i said earlier that I am only privileged to have primary school education, so, it was difficult for me to translate 'keke ina' to English language. Thus, I had to discuss it with one of my Pastors then (Pastor Kayode) and he translated it to English. Later on, I realised that I needed to upgrade on my primary education; to this end, Pastor Kayode really tried for me because some years back, I used to have anger issue. Pastor kayode told me that if I could upgrade myself education wise, he said I will conquer the spirit of anger. So I informed my aunt, Deaconess Akanni and she told me that I should try to read newspapers, novels and books. It might sound incredible, but that was how I started acquiring more knowledge. But the book that liberated me most was written by Dr. Myles Munroe and the title of the book is 'The burden of Freedom'. Later on, I decided to further my education, I appointed one of my church members, Mrs Ajayi ( Mummy Joshua) as my personal tutor, so, few years later I enrolled for WAEC GCE and I came out in flying colour and after that I enrolled for Online course, that's how I got a little education (general laughter).
Your challenges so far?
Ah! I passed through hell in 2010 because my benefactors stopped attending my ministry suddenly, that year happened to be my toughest year but God started my upliftment that same year.
Sir, Prophet Oladeji Hezekiah was recently appointed as General Evangelist, CAC Worldwide; what's your own view about his appointment?
I give him 100 percent support and he is a round peg in a round hole. He happens to be a friend and also a brother, we worked together at Ikeji-Arakeji then. The truth of the matter is that I don't envy anybody, it is God that chose him and I believe that he will surely take CAC to the promised land.
It has been observed that CAC is lacking behind when it comes to planting of the church branches compared to other Pentecostal churches, as a District Superintendent in CAC, can you tell us the root of the matter?
That's a big question. To be frank, many things have happened to CAC in the past and that was what led the church to the present situation. The problem of CAC started during Baba Olusheye regime because he changed many doctrines of CAC. In the olden days, it was holy spirit that chose the church leaders but some years back they started choosing through protocol and that's what gave CAC a setback but thank God that situation is no more the case now. It is holy spirit that chose Hezekiah and I also believe that he's the best candidate for the position, Baba Abiara has done his best also. Before, our so-called leaders in CAC lack what I can describe as 'feeding the followers' and that was the reason why I quitted CAC in the first instance. But God has instructed me to go back to CAC fold which I did in 2015. Let me tell you the story that made me quit CAC then. The man that sold a land for me wanted to resell it to another person. I was told to bring 250,000 to reclaim the land. Thus, i had to inform my zonal chairman about my predicament and he directed me to the headquarter, but you can't believe that they did not render any help which made me to eventually lose the land. This really pained me a lot. However, in other Pentecostal churches, they would have rescued the situation, they always finance their members whenever the need arises and that is the reason why they are spreading wings across the nation. But I believe that everything will be alright under Prophet Oladeji Hezekiah.
Prophet Elijah Adebayo Jolajesu posing with his elegant wife, Pastor (Mrs) Deborah Olusayo Jolajesu.
You just concluded your church's annual 9 days vigil. what can you say about the programme?
It is God that commanded me to organise the programme and since we started it 7 years ago, God has been manifesting Himself; many people have received healings, barrenness have been able to conceive and people story have changed for good.
As a prophet of God, what can you say about the present situation of the country?
Nigeria needs to be restructured and we need to go back to the Regional system if truly we want the country to move forward. The political parties should put a mechanism that will prevent selfish politicians defecting to another party at any slight challenge. Concerning President Buhari, he should involve Prof. Osinbajo more in the scheme of things, I'm not saying Buhari should resign, not at all, what I'm trying to say is that, buhari should give his vice, Prof Osinbajo opportunity to steer the country and give him advice. What God revealed to me is that the presidency should allow any region that demands autonomy to have it, that's the only option that can prevent us from witnessing another civil war.
