‘I Did A Lot Of Wrongs’ – RCCG Board Of Trustee Member, Pastor Adeyeye ‘Confesses’

A Senior Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and member of the church’s Board of Trustees, Pastor Olusola Adeyeye, has said he has several regrets over things he did wrongly before he became born again and surrendered fully to God.

Naija News reports that Adeyeye, who will clock 80 in a few days, said his greatest turning point in life was the day he gave his life to Christ, describing it as the moment the burden of sin over his life was lifted.

Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, the cleric said life outside Christ exposed people to crisis and the influence of the devil.

“I have several regrets as there are a lot of things that I did wrongly, particularly when I did not know God,” Adeyeye said.

“When I did not realise the need to get born again and be led by the Holy Spirit, because when you are led by the Holy Spirit, then all will be well; it will be a most perfect life kind of.

“But if you do not have Christ, because life without Christ is full of crisis, when you do not know the Lord and begin to live your own way, the devil will be in charge.

“But when you are born again and give your life to Christ, the devil will not have the upper hand over your life, because the Lord will take the lead and guard you and all will be well with you.”

‘My best memory was giving my life to Christ’

Reflecting on his 80-year journey, Adeyeye said the most important memory of his life remained the day he was born again.

According to him, no achievement or milestone compares with the joy of having his sins forgiven.

“The most important memory for me was the day I gave my life to Christ,” he said.

“The day my sins were forgiven, that moment when the load of sins over my life were terminated and I became free and a child of God, that is the greatest memory, which gladdens my heart.

“Each time I remember the day I got born again and decided for Christ, joy unspeakable floods my heart.”

‘Nigeria’s Troubles Caused By Sin’

Speaking on Nigeria’s leadership challenges despite the country being widely regarded as religious, Adeyeye said the nation’s problems were spiritual and rooted in sin.

He said many leaders lacked genuine knowledge of God, adding that the country’s troubles would disappear if Nigerians repented and returned to God.

“It is unfortunate that most of them do not have God and do not know God and are led by the devil. This is because the Bible says whoever commits sin is of the devil,” he said.

“Any leader, man or woman that has not given his or her life to Christ is of the devil and you can be sure that there is no good thing in the kingdom of the devil.

“What we are lacking and the troubles in Nigeria are orchestrated by the devil and this is allowed because of our sins. If we repent from the sins and turn to God, in a short while all the troubles will disappear. That is the truth.”

Adeyeye maintained that prayers had prevented Nigeria from descending into deeper crisis.

“Thank God for the people who are praying; if not for the prayers, it would have been worse than you could have ever seen,” he said.

“It is the power of prayers that is holding this nation; if not, this nation would have been on fire by now.”

Asked how he felt about clocking 80 in a country where life expectancy is much lower, Adeyeye said he was grateful to God for preserving his life.

“I feel elated and very grateful to the Most High God because it has been by the grace of God,” he said.

“It is not by power, by might or by my wisdom; it is simply the grace of God. And this is why I am eternally grateful to God to have preserved my life this far. It must be God and it can only be God and I return all the glory to him.”

The cleric said he could not attribute his longevity to any human effort, insisting that it was purely God’s grace.

“I will be lying if I say I did some things that gave me the privilege to enjoy longevity. I must repeat that it is just the grace of God and I consider it an unmerited favour and grace of God,” he added.

Adeyeye also recalled that he almost died shortly after birth, saying his parents did not expect him to survive.

He said, “This is a man at birth that my parents never knew I could survive one month. History even told me that I was sick to the point of death and my parents were only expecting me to breathe my last breath before burial.

“But suddenly a man of God came to town and I was prayed for and miraculously, life came back and I survived. And since then, I have been enjoying the grace of God, health and abundant life.”

He said life had taught him that God was needed in every situation.

“Life has taught me in the past 80 years that you need God in every facet of your life,” he said.

“It has taught me that the only way out of any trouble is the way of the Lord.”

Adeyeye said his journey into full-time ministry began in 1996 during a trip to the United Kingdom.

He explained that he had gone to the UK for his annual holiday and to seek partners for a proposed car assembly plant in Nigeria, after years of being involved in business as a bookseller and motor dealer.

According to him, severe winter weather prevented him from travelling around as planned, forcing him to remain indoors, rest, pray and study the scriptures.

He said his love for God increased during the period, leading to a divine call into full-time ministry.

“One of the days around 4a.m., I got ministered to that the Lord is calling me to full time ministerial life, that I have been busy counting money but now it is time to win souls for the Lord,” he said.

“That was how I received the call and when I came back to Nigeria, I went to meet my leader, who encouraged and prayed with me. That was how the journey into full ministry started with The Redeemed Christian Church of God.”

Adeyeye described his years in ministry as beautiful, saying God had been faithful to him.

He said he had served in different capacities in RCCG, including as parish pastor, area pastor, state pastor, state overseer and regional evangelist.

He added that he currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the church and coordinator of the RCCG Royal Fathers Fellowship.

“It has been beautiful and God has been so faithful to me,” he said.

“I have been a parish pastor, area pastor, state pastor, state overseer for years, regional evangelist and at present a member of the Board of Trustees of the church.

“I am also the coordinator of the Royal Fathers Fellowship of the RCCG. It is a fellowship that we have never had that way before in any church in Nigeria. And to the glory of God, it is growing in leaps and bounds.”

On his family life, Adeyeye said his first marriage took place in 1974, adding that his first wife died in 2017.

He said he remarried two years later and thanked God for both marriages.

“My first marriage came up in 1974 but sometimes in 2017, she went to be with the Lord and two years after I decided to remarry,” he said.

“I thank God for my first marriage because through it I have the best of choice of children.

“And I thank God that my first wife, just like my second wife, was a loving and a caring woman who passionately and intentionally stood by me to ensure that we overcome the difficulties of life and through the grace of God we were able to overcome the challenges that stared us at the face.”

Why Criminality Persist Despite Many Churches

Adeyeye also blamed the rise in criminality in Nigeria on the activities of the devil, saying evil would continue as long as Satan remained active in the world.

“The devil is the root cause of the issue and he is busy going all around every day,” he said.

“The Bible says the devil cometh not but to steal, kill and destroy. He does that on a daily basis and he has no holiday and resting day.”

He, however, said God had raised spiritual leaders across the world to counter the works of evil.

According to him, leaders such as Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Bishop David Oyedepo and Pastor Williams Kumuyi had contributed to the relative peace being experienced.

“As Satan goes about causing havoc here and there, God is also using his people to counter all his activities all over,” he said.

Adeyeye urged younger ministers of God to put Christ first and surrender completely to God.

“The younger ones should put Christ first and totally yield their lives to God and let Him be glorified in their lives so that all shall be well,” he said.