On the pulpit, he is fire. He speaks the word of God with the fearlessness of the prophets of old. He does not deal in half measures. He gives his best at all times to the gospel of Jesus Christ, which he embraced shortly after he staggered out of the valley of the shadow of death. Now, few days to his 60th birthday, and several years in the ministry, Rev. Dr. Wilson Adebogun Badejo, the charismatic General Overseer of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, recalls the incident that was to take his life as veterinary medicine student at the University of Ibadan, in the early 1970s. It was the first major students crisis on any Nigerian university campus. And students had marched out in their numbers to press for |
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improved welfare. But as usual, things went awry somewhere, and the police bayed for blood. The trigger-happy cops fired into the crowd of protesters and killed Adekunle Adepeju, a union leader, instantly. And the bullet that killed him whistled past Badejo, who was in Adepeju's front, making his heart to almost jump out of his mouth. That was the genesis of his conversion from student radicalism to evangelism. Today, he leads millions of parishioners at the Foursquare Gospel Church. The man many gleefully referred to as God's Own Field Marshal, the Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State-born cleric goes down memory lane. |
Excerpts:
How does it feel to be 60?
I want to thank God for the privilege to be well and alive. I count it as God's gracious blessings upon my life that I have seen three score years, hale, hearty and living meaningfully to his honour and glory.
Is there any substantial different feeling now within your body physiology compared to your younger years?
Well, naturally, you will not be able to do things that you are used to. I grew up with athletic tendencies. I am an athlete and I play a lot of table tennis, lawn tennis and running. I still try to do them but not as fast as I used to. There are certain things that I would have loved to do but I have not been able to do them because of congestion of duties, work overload. For instance, I loved pencil drawing as a young man, as well as reading, but now, I don't have much time.
Generally speaking, men of God enjoy good health. Is there a correlation between the ministry and good health?
It is a blessing from God. It's not something you lay claims upon. It is the Lord's blessing. God promised he would heal our water and bless our bread. That is why men of God enjoy good health. I have enjoyed it for many years. In 1970, I came across somewhere in the scripture, where it said, "by His stripes you are healed." That element sank deeply that the Lord could heal all my diseases. I love this verse so much and for the last 30 years, I have never taken a single tablet except once when I had a small domestic accident, resulting in a bad backache. The Lord restored me through some medical advice because the pain was much. Apart from that, I can't remember any other time.
In fact, whenever I pass by a pharmaceutical store, the smell of drugs nauseates me.
As a vet doctor, if you had faced your profession perhaps you might have been richer. But then, you dropped it for the pulpit. What are your regrets?
I count it as a great privilege to be where I am today because I never worked for it. It is God's grace. And I will be eternally grateful to Him. With all sense of integrity and humility, I tell you that at the age of eleven, I heard the voice of the Lord saying I would be a doctor, a pastor and one other thing which I withhold until I see its manifestation.
As the first child in a family of 13 children, how did your parents take your drifting from medicine?
It was a drastic event. During my days as a student union leader, the bullet that killed Adekunle Adepeju (a student union leader); the first student to die on campus, whistled few inches past my ear. When the bullet hit him, he fell and I ran to help him, thinking he must have stumbled on something. Suddenly, my eyes darkened up, as a result of tear-gas and I fainted, almost dead. I was later told he died. I wept bitterly. I shook with fear. I felt it could have been me.
That incident touched and changed my life. It reacted a chain of thoughts in my mind. It could have been me. Shortly afterwards, I heard the word of God and I gave my life to Jesus Christ on the campus. That was the turning point in my life. I was a second year clinical student when my turning point came. By the grace of God, that incident set me on motion for Christ. It was a big noise on campus when I got converted because I was very popular as a student unionist.
When my dad, who was my close friend, heard that I had given my life to God, he came to school to confirm. He asked if I was still okay upstairs. He said he learnt I dressed in a funny way and went my way quietly, no more wahala. I said, yes. He still couldn't believe me. Then, suddenly, he got serious, dead serious. And warned me seriously that I must not fail my exams, and that I should not get rusticated from school.
As time went on, some of the fun he derived from me started vanishing. They were no longer there, and he became a bit hard on me. I had to stay back in school during holidays to study. I spent my long vacations on campus, reading.
As time passed, he soft-pedaled when he discovered that I wasn't faking it. He saw the genuineness and by the time I graduated, to the glory of God, he was totally on my side.
Each time I preached, he listened attentively. And after preaching, he would tell people proudly, ‘that's my son'. We got on very well. When he died, I referred to him as my father and friend. And he truly was. I am happy being the first convert in the family. God has used me to lead many of them to Christ, except three who have not totally given their lives.
How did you manage the transition from being a radical student leader to becoming a priest?
It's not something I know about. It was an evolution, something I couldn't control.
When I became a Christian, we didn't read on Sundays. We took Sunday as Sabbath day, a day for evangelism. We visited hospitals and took time to pray with patients. It was quite an exciting period. During long vacations, we held crusades at villages. We later formed a group called World Action Team for Christ. It was an evolving process, and I am not surprised about where I finally found myself.
During your pre-conversion period as a radical union leader, what were the indulgencies you were into? Did you smoke, drink or womanise?
When I came into the campus, I came in from Government College , Ibadan , where discipline was tough and, for the first time, I saw liberty, ab initio. Liberty unlimited. I took steps in the wrong direction but God arrested me very early. And I thank God for that. I also came out from a very strong disciplined home. My mum was an excellent disciplinarian. There were two societies (cults) on campus: the Sigmite or Ahoy. To be a Sigmite, you needed to have two suits but I had only one. I went for their interview but was rejected. So, I decided to be an Ahoy, that is the sea dogs; the pirates. They were very tough. They went to the graveside, but the sigmites were the gentle ones on campus. I decided to join those who wear T-shirt since I didn't have two suits. They had shortlisted my name for interview before I got converted. That saved me as to degree of my radicalism. I didn't drink that much. The best I did was to dilute Guinness stout with Fanta. That was how far I went.
As for the girls, we liked them being around us. But we never got raw with girls. I was focused on my studies. The deterioration on campus drew me to student unionism. When I came in, it was all rosy and beautiful. On Sunday, we ate roasted chicken and cake. Then, suddenly, we saw it being withdrawn. As for character, I was well molded back home.
Should the real lesson here be that whatever a child eventually becomes in life is rooted in the type of home he comes from?
Proverbs 22, verse 6, says, "teach a child the way he should go, when he is old, he will not depart from it." Now, I profited from that scripture. I was well-knocked and well panel beaten by my parents. I was almost going off the trail before God arrested me. If not, I would have joined the other students.
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