Lagos To Ikere Ekiti:
Primate Ayodele’s Homecoming with Charity and Salvation
-by Folorunsho Hamsat

Encouragement can seem like a good, but small thing to us. But encouragement is massive. Popular prophet, Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, understands in his dealings that encouragement is such an important element of church life that, like the Bible commands, he makes it his regular routine to encourage others, particularly, the downtrodden, to value life. For 30 years, Primate Ayodele has applied his Holy Spirit empowered ability not just to preach and prophesy, but to also encourage by giving.

A typical village boy that he loves to call himself, the famous seer from the agricultural and mine Southwest town, Ikere Ekiti in Ekiti State, had profound spiritual insight to understand the mysteries of God early enough. Thus, when he escaped to Lagos in the mid-80s after suffering the disappointments of not realizing his childhood dream of studying Mass Communication or becoming a soldier, the zeal to excel in whatever he chose to do afterwards stole his attention.

The task to forgive and love whomever he might have already had a strained relationship with back in his town of birth was first. He needed to move on and shine. Ayodele did not have a church when he became known for prophesying. Six years before he established the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, he had been noted as a possible replacement for one of the then globally known prophets, Primate Theophilus Olabayo. His prophecies rang through all corners of the globe. And his journey to attain leadership began in earnest.

Something occupied his thoughts; how to get to the top of the Mission and impact others. He said he then realized that the secret to the pinnacle of God’s assigned task is giving. Ayodele says that sharing does not only affect the receivers in positive ways, it also transforms the life of the giver in great ways. “I give out more than a half of what God has blessed me with, and I don’t expect any reward for this other than to be acknowledged as a man who shares from the little he has,” the servant of God declared while addressing journalists at his last birthday celebration in Lagos.

Ayodele’s passion to encourage and empower the oppressed, help those with lost hope to dream and hope again, blossomed. His prophecy aided by heart for charity, announced him to the world as unique among his contemporaries in God’s vineyard. On Thursday, 25th of April, 2024, Primate Ayodele returned to Ikere Ekiti, in a large entourage, wonderfully overwhelmed by the welcoming warmth by his kit and kin.

What a joy it was for the God’s servant to see a packed venue of Ikere Ekiti young and old folks, including the king and political leaders pouring their hearts out in prayer for him as he laid the foundation of the town’s branch of INRI Ministry the next day, Friday 26th of April, 2024.

Typically, the day witnessed both empowerment and spiritual relief. Essential items were made available at ridiculously affordable prices, scholarships were provided for indigent brilliant students while the servant of God spoke into people’s life for transformative power of faith, healing and breakthrough.

Speaking on the essence of giving, Primate Ayodele averred that the Lord provides us with one incredibly encouraging reason to excel in the grace of generous giving: to prove our love for others. This, he said, he has satisfactorily done establishing his ministry in his place of birth, thus physically empowering his people and bringing them closer to salvation.

-Folorunsho Hamsat is a Lagos based journalist

Primate Ayodele Crashes Price Of Rice To N15,000, Awards Scholarship, Plants New Church In Ekiti

The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele has extended his benevolence to his hometown, Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti state.

In an event held yesterday Friday, 26th Of April 2024, Primate Ayodele commemorated the planting of a new church in his hometown with another edition of his palliative market which has been held twice in his Lagos headquarters.

The unprecedented programme which started with a rally on Thursday, 25th of April 2024 witnessed thousands of Ikere-Ekiti indigenes in attendance including very important personalities like the Ogoga of Ikere-Ekiti,Oba Adejimi Alagbado, His chiefs, Ikere LG chairman, Hon Olu Adamolekun Egbejoda, nd Chairman lkere West LCDA, Hon Rufus Olorunfemi.

As it has always been done in his Lagos church where the man of God sold food items at ridiculous prices, Ikere-Ekiti also experienced the reality of Primate Ayodele’s palliative market as several people got a bag of rice for N15,000, beverages for N1,000, a carton of Indomie for N2,000, Groundnut oil for N3,000, Semovita for N3,000, Wheat for N3,000 and Beans for N3,000.

In addition, scholarships were given to students, grinding machines, sewing machines, dryers, to mention a few were given out to women in Ikere-Ekiti for free.

While speaking about the reason behind the largesse, Primate Ayodele explained that it was a result of divine instructions since the politicians that are supposed to provide succor for the people have failed to carry out their responsibilities.

He also stated that wants to correct the notion that men of God use tithes to flaunt their expensive lifestyle when in reality, He uses tithes and offerings including his personal funds to take care of widows and the less privileged.

‘’I expect some of our politicians to be involved in things that will bring succor to the people but they don’t seem to be concerned with the well-being of those they are supposed to be serving. God has laid it upon my heart to embark on this project to support ordinary people and that’s why we are doing this.’’

‘’We also want to correct the narration that men of God use tithes to buy exotic cars and flaunt their lifestyle. If there are clerics involved in such a shameless act, we are different. We make use of our tithes and offerings to take care of widows and less privileged without regard for their religion.’’

Furthermore, Primate Ayodele hailed the Ogaga of Ikere-Ekiti for gracing the programme with his presence while urging the local government chairmen to speak to the state government to develop Ikere-Ekiti.

‘’I have never seen any king like the Ogaga of Ikere-Ekiti. He is a monarch that exudes class; He is factual, honest, vibrant, and intelligent. We have never seen a king like Oba Adejimi Alagbado, Ikere-Ekiti is indeed blessed to have him.’’

‘’I also want to appeal to our local government chairman to speak to the governor to develop Ikere-Ekiti. We expect the government to love the people; they need to work on our roads and security. While we were young, we used to leave our doors open without any fear of theft but nowadays, it’s impossible. These are basic things the government should provide for the people.’’

In his speech, Oba Adejimi Alagbadon appreciated Primate Ayodele for remembering Ikere-Ekiti despite the fact that his ministry has taken him far and wide globally. He described the prophet as someone who has made his father proud.

The monarch marveled at the amount of money the prophet spent for the programme which was majorly for charity purposes. He further called on the people of Ikere-Ekiti to support the new church in a way to show gratitude to Primate Ayodele for his magnanimity towards them.

‘’We appreciate God for empowering Primate Elijah Ayodele and I want to congratulate the people of Ikere-Ekiti for a day like this. This is the beginning of a good thing in our town and we appreciate the son of the soil, Primate Ayodele who has also made his father proud on this day. We knew his father to be a good man and I congratulate myself on this feat.’’

‘’As I was seated here, I tried to calculate the amount of money this man of God has spent on feeding, scholarship, palliatives, and logistics; I can only pray that God continues to uplift him. He has become a cornerstone in the prophetic, he speaks to nations but he remembered his home town, Ikere-Ekiti, he remembered the widows and the needy, I pray God continues to elevate him.’’

‘’We were in Lagos in February to commission his church building and today, he has brought a church to Ikere-Ekiti too. I want the people of Ikere-Ekiti to support him because this is our church. He has done well for us and we should show gratitude by supporting him too.’’

Ibadan Mogajis pledge allegiance to Olubadan-designate

FAMILY heads in Ibadan, also known as Ibadan Mogajis, on Thursday, visited the  Olubadan-designate, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, and pledged their allegiance to him.

The exercise was in fulfilment of the Ibadan tradition upon the nomination of Olakulehin as the Olubadan-designate.

The Mogajis were led by the Aare Egbe Mogaji, Asimiyu Ariori, to the private residence of Oba Olakulehin in the Alalubosa Government Reserved Area, Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

The PUNCH reports that the Olubadan-In-Council nominated and forwarded the name of Oba Olakulehin to the state government, after an April 16 selection meeting called by the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, High Chief Rashidi Ladoja, at Oja’ba Palace in Ibadan.

The stool became vacant after the demise of Oba Lekan Balogun, who reigned for two years before joining his ancestors at the age of 81 years.

Speaking during their visit to the Olubadan-designate, the Mogajis, speaking through Ariori, pledged their support to the monarch and prayed for sound health and long life during his reign.

The Mogajis also sought the permission of the Olubadan-designate to visit the Otun Balogun, Oba Tajudeen Ajibola, in line with the tradition, noting that the same was done to the Otun Olubadan, High Chief Rashidi Ladoja, after they visited the 42nd Olubadan, the late Oba Lekan Balogun, upon nomination.

Oba Olakulehin, who in his response, granted their request and appreciated the Mogajis for the visit, prayed that each of them would fulfil their desires on the path to the Olubadan throne.

The younger brother of the monarch, Chief Osuolale Owolabi, thanked the Mogajis for their pledge of support and obeisance to the Olubadan-designate.