Economic Hardship: Apostle Suleman Steps Up Charity with ‘Free Food Restaurant’
The generosity in Apostle Johnson Suleman’s blood has continued to create a ripple effect, helping to buoy thousands of Nigerians through times of hunger and hardship. The launch of his ministry, Omega Fire Ministries, OFM’s ‘Free Food Restaurant’, thirty months ago was actually the breaking point.
While opening the restaurant as one of the attractions of his 52nd birthday celebration in March, 2022, ‘The Restoration Apostle’, as he is fondly addressed, averred that the initiative was meant to cushion the effect of Nigeria’s poor economic conditions. The idea was prophetic, indeed. Given Nigeria’s present near comatose social and economic systems, it is safe to say the restaurant has continued to serve even beyond imagination.
The restaurant, built in Auchi, Edo State, that started with feeding 1000 people daily at no cost, is now serving more than two thousand young and old, male and female, within two years and six months of its launch. As he has promised from the onset, there are signs the free food initiative would be going on forever because, according to him, it is another form of evangelism.
“We will continue to support families through this free feeding programme; outsiders, destitute, less privileged, and vulnerable members of the society,” the popular cleric notes, adding that the primary aim is for his ministry to bail out the deprived. “I am doing what God wishes me to do,” Apostle Suleman declares as he serves by himself carrying foods in a tray round the tables by which men, women, and children eagerly wait to have their portions.
Nigeria’s worst-ever economic crisis is happening leaving nearly 65% of its over 250 million people hungry, as food inflation continues to soar astronomically. This is the gap Apostle Suleman’s OFM helps out to fill by providing some 2,000 free lunches regularly.
“I have gone for days without food, so I understand how people feel without food. And it does not matter to us what religion they are from, or if they have family, or what they do. If they are hungry, they are welcome to eat at our restaurant,” stated Apostle Suleman who confessed that his gesture was genuine and borne out of pragmatism and compassion, and a desire to model the same challenge and generosity he experienced as a young person.
A larger percent of people being fed at Free Food Restaurant are non-members of OFM, investigation shows, who come there due to financial hardship. For Apostle Suleman, the restaurant’s mission is simple: Feed the hungry.
