One of Nigeria’s frontline and celebrated gospel preachers, Archbishop John Adebayo Alagbala Osa-Oni, reflects on life and ministry in commemoration of his 70th birthday celebration.

Shortly after he was honoured by Christian Benefits Magazine with the maiden Legend category of the Benefits Awards for Missionary Excellence (BAME Awards) as part of his 70th birthday celebration, the President and Founder of Vineyard Christian Ministries shares with the magazine his eventful journey through life up till 70 years and concludes, among others, that he now sees life as nothing fantastic.

He also shares his views on church leadership and management and posits that there should be a proper hierarchy of succession in church leadership for an enduring work, and strongly plays down the issue of children succeeding their parents as church leaders.

He also addresses other salient issues on life and ministry in the interview below with Christian Benefits on his 70th birthday celebration. Excerpts:

How do you feel clocking 70?

I feel very great. I am forever grateful to Almighty God for His faithfulness in helping me climb the seventh floor and still remain healthy and agile. I am personally surprised at the level of my fitness at 70. I look and feel like I am between 45 and 50 years old. To God be all the glory!

Can you mention just one specific thing for which you are most grateful to God at 70?

The permanent relocation of Vineyard Christian Ministries to its international headquarters here on Osolo Way, Isolo, Lagos, is one major testimony I am most grateful to God for.

The relocation in the 90s posed a very serious challenge to the church and to me personally. It occurred during the political elections across the country at that period. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was Nigeria’s President while Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was Lagos State Governor at that period.

The matter of relocating the church to this site got to Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It was a very tough battle to get the approval of the Lagos State Government to have the church relocated here.

This particular challenge drove me crazy to the point that I almost went insane. All the efforts and activities of the church on the site were suspended. At that period, we had only built a temporary structure of bamboo on the site.

The Lagos State Government threatened to pull down the structure if we did not remove it.

I talked with my friend, Kayode Anibaba, a commissioner in the Lagos State Government, and he said there was not much he could do about the matter. He, however, spoke with a few people, including the governor. When the governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, heard about the matter, he exclaimed, “Haa, Baba Osa-Oni! I saw him declaring prayers for us on May 29, 1999.” That was just how we eventually had the matter finally settled.

He summoned the Lagos State Works Commissioner and told him that the disputed land by the Aswani Market on Osolo Way belongs to Rev. John Osa-Oni and Vineyard Christian Ministries, and ordered that nobody should go to the site any further to trouble me over it. That was how the matter was settled till today.

That miracle of the eventual relocation of Vineyard Christian Ministries to this site permanently is worth billions to me. That is one of the major reasons I stand with, and for, the now President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at any time, in demonstration of our profound gratitude to him for securing the site permanently for the church till now against all odds and opposition.

A Yoruba adage says, “Osika gbagbe ore ana, o gbagbe ikehin.” Many people are ungrateful today for the good done to them yesterday. Ingratitude has filled the world today.

Someone offered me N40 million in 2001 to evacuate the church from the site and return it to Mushin where we already had a building. He said that, as a one-time chairman of a local government in Lagos State, he knew what to do to get the land from us; that I should just take his N40 million offer and walk away. I was upset and rejected his offer.

Today, all eyes can see what the Lord has done for us at this site. So, securing this site permanently for the international headquarters of Vineyard Christian Ministries in the face of a very terrible challenge is one thing that I am most grateful to God for at 70 years old.

Still looking back, what are some of the lessons that life has taught you these 70 years?

It is giving gratitude. The Bible says in Romans 9:16 (KJV), “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” I am a product of the mercy of God. I do not know what I have done better or differently from any other person, but just the mercy and faithfulness of God upon my life, family and ministry. I printed on my 70th birthday invitation card the theme: “Acknowledging the Faithfulness of God.”

How do you see life now at 70?

I now see life at 70 as nothing fantastic, and also as nothing worth craving. Now at 70, I am no longer craving anything other than serving and walking with God better and impacting lives. I have been driving cars since 1982. I have travelled round the world, accomplishing great and wonderful feats, all to the glory of God.

So, looking back now from where I was coming from to where I am today, I am just grateful to God. I will forever be grateful to Him for the rest of my life.

You once shared with Christian Benefits how you were raised from a very humble background, including having to survive sometimes on cold eba with maggot-infested sour soup while growing up. Looking back now, to what extent would you say this background shaped and influenced your life?

In life, one must have a positive mindset. I grew up to discover that the journey of life is a journey of mindset. You are what you think you are. If your mindset is wrong, you see life from the wrong perspective.

You must grow from your humble background to your next phase of life with a positive mindset. In the process of time, God brought the children of justices, army generals and other notable persons around us. You cannot be myopic in your thinking and have great people flocking around you.

You have to upgrade from your low or humble background to become relevant in life regardless of how low or humble your background was. You must upgrade your mind. Many people upgrade their phones but do not upgrade their minds.

So, my humble background shaped and influenced me to upgrade my mindset beyond and above my background.

You also once shared with the magazine how you died in infancy and came back to life. Would you say that incident was an early indication of God’s hand upon your life to be in ministry as a preacher of the gospel?

Absolutely! That was an indication of God calling and preparing me for ministry later in life because I was already condemned to burial in a deep forest when I suddenly came back to life. They had started digging my grave in the forest when I suddenly came back to life.

I came back from the other side, which was full of wealth. It was a very beautiful place. There was no reason for me to come back. I was pursued back to earth with the words, “Go back and serve Me; go back and serve Me.”

I suddenly woke up at the verge of being laid in the grave, muttering a statement “Motiri! Motiri (I’ve seen it! I’ve seen it!). The elders quickly gathered and concluded that it was their ancestors communicating with me. They said the deities had sent me to them to modify the way they worshipped their idols. I did not really settle down with that conclusion till 1972 when I gave my life to Christ.

Please share with us again how you gave your life to Christ and your experiences as a young believer before becoming a student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG)

I had already given my life to Christ in 1972 before I became a student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in 1979.

Nevertheless, as a young believer before I became a student of UNILAG, I experienced tough times. However, Christianity back then was very good because if you were in a good relationship with some brethren, they would show you where they kept their keys. So, you could enter their rooms at any time and prepare eba or whatever food you wanted for yourself. You would eat, drop the keys where you picked them up and leave.

Whenever you met one another, you simply said, “Bro, I came to your room in your absence, prepared meal and ate” and the brother would just reply, “No problem.” He could even ask you why you did not take enough pieces of meat for the meal. That was the life of Christian students on campus then.

While an undergraduate, perhaps you had prospects of becoming a professional in your career upon graduation from the university. But instead of going professional, you came into gospel ministry. Would you say you sacrificed your professional career prospects for gospel ministry?

I do not think that was a sacrifice. Doing the will of God is not a sacrifice; it is a blessing. Through what I am doing as a gospel preacher, I have raised several people by His grace.

Looking back and forward, we have raised over 400 people from primary school through secondary school and university, to the glory of God, among those whom God has used me to impact. So, it is a great joy serving the Lord as a gospel preacher. Living for others is the real living.

Still looking back, how fulfilled would you say you are both in life and ministry at 70?

I believe there is still quite a lot to fulfil both in life and ministry. Presently, I am building a hospital in a community. So, we still have quite a lot to achieve.

What matters most in life is consistency. One must be consistent in what one does.Hebrews 13:8 (NKJV) says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

A few years back, the Nigerian Government proposed a retirement age of 70 years for religious leaders under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). Perhaps you should be retiring now at 70 had the proposal become law. How did you feel about the controversial proposal back then?

There is nothing wrong with setting time limits for retirement. A Yoruba song says, “Bi aguntan ba je lo, a pada wale o. Ile labo isinmi oko.”

Yes, there should be a time one gives oneself rest and focuses on other things. One should simply take a walk after having successfully raised and groomed enough capable hands to continue the work.

I have always been thinking along this line because success without a good, capable and competent successor is failure. I have never thought about myself alone. If I had been thinking about myself alone, I would not be doing most of the things I am doing. Everything I do is all about the Kingdom.

*You have always been consistent in your statement about not raising your children as your successors in your ministry. Do you still maintain that stance? Looking at this massive structure of your ministry and its global spread, do you not think it would be proper if any of your children takes over from you as your successor?

My biological children are not here. I do not believe in father-and-children ministry. There should be a proper hierarchy of succession for an enduring work.

And that is the point we are getting to at Vineyard Christian Ministries by September when we meet for our annual convention. We are going to meet with both the professionals and non-professionals, and we are going to look at it holistically and redefine the constitution of the church to create the kind of succession structure that obtains in the Foursquare Gospel Church.

I love the structure of the Foursquare Gospel Church. For instance, one of my friends, a professor at the University of Lagos, is retiring soon from the university. He is now 70 years old and also 40 years in marriage. We both have similar life experiences.

Though I do not subscribe to a general overseer retiring at a specific age.

Should it be the responsibility of church leadership or the government to set a retirement age for general overseers and other leaders in the church?

The government has nothing to do with church leadership. Church leadership and management are spiritual. In Vineyard, we have the church leadership, the Board of Trustees, the Elders Council, and God has given us qualitative men and women who are also top leaders in public service, occupying positions such as Permanent Secretaries, Directors and CEOs in corporate organisations, such that we can harmonise I on the way forward because continuity is key.