Prophet Olubode Sobukola is the Shepherd of C&S (Gilgal) Iju, Lagos. Young, vibrant, dynamic and charismatic with sound knowledge of the scriptures, he could easily pass for a Pentecostal preacher but for his white garment that gives him out as an Aladura faithful. In this interview with SEGUN OTOKITI, he speaks on the tragedy of the Aladura denomination falling from Pentecostal origin to a sect of strange doctrine considered by other Christian denominations as evil.
Can you give us the background of your journey into becoming a minister of God?
I had been told from childhood that I am a servant of God. It was one particular babalawo (herbalist) that actually revealed this to my father when he told me along to the babalawo when his business was nose diving. When the babalawo saw me, he asked my father who I was. My father told him I’m his son. The babalawo then told my father that I was not supposed to come to his place because I’m a servant of God. He told my father that I am an oracle of God. However, I was formally ordained as a minister of God 23 years ago at a conference in Ikirun, Osun state.
How exactly did the ministry eventually start?
Actually, when I was a member of Saint Moses Orimolade C&S Ikotun, I shared the vision of the ministry with the church leaders. I told them I would like to start with a vigil programme within the church and they have me the nod. That was how started with a vigil programme called A Night of Believers’ Freedom every third Friday of the month.However, when I left the church, I continued with the programme but now as A Night of Joyful Noise inspired by Nehemiah 8:10. So, the ministry formally started as an independent ministry 20 years ago with a monthly programme in the premises of Alimosho local government, Ikotun, every third Friday of the month before we later started the church at Iju, Lagos.
You’ve been around about 20 years ago as a missionary, how has the experience been?
Actually, we started the church arm of the ministry few years after the ministry was formally inaugurated when people began to impress it on me to start a church for weekly services, that how can the monthly programme be attracting a large congregation without a church to build up the people spiritually on a weekly basis. After much consideration we chose to establish the church arm while the monthly vigil in the premises of the local government in Ikotun continued.
What exactly is the focus of the ministry?
Our focus us to let people know God through His word. The Bible says faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. I am very concerned about the word of God, particularly in our denomination, the Aladura. Even the founder of C&S, the late Saint Moses Orimolade Tunolase, started with the word of God.. He was now for going from places to places preaching the word of God to the people for them to believe in the word of God against their beliefs in idol worship and ritual practices. The Aladura of the days of Apostle Moses Orimolade started as Egbe Aladura abbreviated from Egbe Afi adura jagun. Where they studied the word of God and engaged in powerful prayers without any recourse to do eto (prayer rituals). It was later that some people introduced strange doctrines and practices to the Aladura sect, and which has become a serious problem and set back for the Aladura churches. It was for this purpose of discouraging the people from Idol worship that Baba Moses Orimolade sought the face of the Lord, and the Lord endowed him with spiritual gift, which is today the strongest point of the Aladura. Unfortunately, the spiritual gift has taken the Aladura church away from the word of God today. So, my mission is to shift the focus of Aladura churches from the the spiritual gift back to the word of God. God has been helping us in preaching his word alone to people to believe more in his word than doing eto. By the grace of God in our church we have been working on the word of God, and the word has been working for us.
Is that why your preaching sounds more like a Pentecostal preacher than a typical Aladura priest?
This is one impression I will like to correct. The truth is C&S is the first and foremost indigenous Pentecostal church in Africa. The church was the first African church that believes in the word of God and practices it. It is just unfortunate that some people adulterated the beliefs of the Aladura and infiltrated the church with strange doctrines and practices, which today stigmatizes the Aladura churches as non-Pentecostal churches because the Aladura have lost their first love for the word of God. So, whenever I’m ministering I always have it at the back of my mind that Aladura church originally believes in the word of God like the Pentecostals. That is why some of us, particularly the younger generations are out to return the Aladura church to the old good days of the word of God.
What are the gifts God endowed you to achieve this fear?
God has given us the power and the ability to arrest souls with the word of God.
In summary, tell us the main challenge of the Aladura church today, and how it can be surmounted for the Aladura to regain his front line status
I will say the problem of the Aladura church today is their over dependence on the spiritual gifts of vision and revelation. We can see and tell visions, which is supposed to be an advantage to us, but has become a problem for us. The only way we can tackle this challenge is to return to preaching the word of God undiluted.
