Rev. Samuel Abidoye, the spiritual father and Chairman of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Worldwide (Ayo ni o), tells ‘NONYE BEN-NWANKWO about his days as a young man and how he formed the C&S Church in the UK
You spent over 40 years in the UK yet you came back just to be the head of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Nigeria, why did you choose to do so?
Right from the time I was young, I had made up my mind that any work I was given that is related to God’s work, I would not hesitate to do it. After all, I didn’t create myself; it was God that created me. I will do anything He wants me to do.
But were you involved in the C&S in the UK?
Oh yes. In fact, I can say that God sent me overseas mainly to start a church. I did many things in the UK but the first thing on my mind was to do God’s work. When I was going to England in 1961, I asked friends if there was a C&S Church in England. But I was told there was nothing like that.
Weren’t you discouraged?
No. When I was going, I still went with my praying gown and I travelled by sea to England. I left Nigeria on January 5 and I got to England January 20. I got to England the year John. F. Kennedy became the president of the US.
But why did you even travel to England in the first place, was it to start the church?
No. I was in England to do photography or something like that. I had an old mother at home and my intention was just to do whatever I could and rush back home. While at sea, I fasted more than three times.
Weren’t you scared that the ship could sink?
Let me confess to you, the captain of the ship gave a testimony, which he didn’t even know he was doing. He told us that he had been sailing that line for 32 years and each time at a place called Bay of Whisky, there would always be turbulence that always shook the ship. Even before we got there, he had told us a ship sank at that particular place the previous day. But when we got there, it was so calm to the extent that the captain had to testify. But I knew in my heart that God was just doing his wonders.
Tell us about your early days in England.
I got there in 1961 and in 1963, I bought a house on mortgage. I reserved a room for church service which I called the Praying Room. I had it in mind that I would ask any member of the C & S Church coming to England to come and join me in prayer at the Praying Room. Two of my relatives came around 1964 and we started having house fellowship.
But was the idea behind all this to form a church?
No. We just wanted somewhere we could just stay and pray but it became known to everybody that we were running a church. I continued to be there until it became a full church.
Weren’t you working then?
I was working and I asked my employers to give me some time off. But they said I should choose between work and God. So I told them I would choose God. What is their work? I never regretted the action because God has been good to me.
But you weren’t so young when you eventually came back to Nigeria; didn’t you feel the church should have appointed a younger person instead?
When you are committed to what you want to do, nothing will stop you. I made up my mind and I knew that God would provide. Enjoyment is nothing when you have God. Most Christians are no longer looking for God but money. But that doesn’t bother me. I am not looking for money. At my age, what do I need money for?
Before you went to the UK, were you among the top hierarchy in the church?
No, I wasn’t but I had God. I remember in 1945 when I was working with the Railway, I used to help an old man who was in charge of selling tickets. One day, I asked him why he hadn’t gone home. He said he was trying to do the job and balance his accounts. I told him I would help him and I did. I told him to be calling me each time he needed to balance his accounts. He offered me money and I refused. One day, he called me and said he would give me ‘something’ in exchange for my kindness to him. He said he would give me something from ‘ogboni’ fraternity. I told him that where I belonged was stronger than his Ogboni. I told him I was a member of C&S Church. In those days, I must confess, God was always talking to me personally and I was very close to God. I had confidence in what I was doing, nothing got me afraid.
But were you born in a C&S family?
No, I was born in a family of hunters. My forebears worshiped Ogun, the god of iron. But then again, when I was born, there was really no church in my town. We eventually had one around 1927 and I was born in 1922. I couldn’t have been born in a Christian home. My parents were pagans. I was baptised in the Anglican Church in 1936 but I changed to C&S Church in 1938. I had a cousin, Peter; he was a very religious man and I admired him so much. It was my love for him that took me to C&S because he was a member of the church.
So how did you become a Christian?
It happened miraculously. At about 1930, a school was opened in my town in Kwara State. I went to school in 1934. I was converted to a Christian in the school. They didn’t force us to be Christians. Those who wanted to continue being pagans were not disturbed either. But I was converted and I loved it.
How was growing up?
I am from a royal family. My father had a horse and he always carried me in the front whenever he rode on the horse. He had many wives. My father loved me a lot; I look so much like him anyway. He never allowed me to go to the farm. People complained that he would spoil me. My brother was among the first set of pupils in the school established in my place. He used to come home with drawings and I loved those drawings. I would always tell him I wanted to go where they taught him to draw. That was how I started school.
Was your home peaceful since your father had many wives?
My home was very peaceful. In those days, polygamy was the in-thing. Then, if you wanted to be rich, you needed to have so many children. You would marry as many wives as possible to get so many children who would go to the farm and work for you. It is not like now when fathers work for their children. Then, children worked for their fathers. Then, all the wives were the same to us. We were a happy family.
Why did you leave your job at the Railway Corporation?
London would have been the last place I would have wanted to go. I had a cousin who left Nigeria in 1956 and travelled overseas. When he told me to come over, I told him I wasn’t coming to England. But when God decides something for you, nobody can change it. I didn’t think of going to England. In 1957, the railway was sold to a company. Those that wanted to continue working with the government were posted to other departments while those that wanted to leave were retired. I came from the North. Kwara State was seen as part of the North then. I refused to go to another department and I chose to get my pension.
Why?
There was hardly any good education beyond Middle 4 in the region then. I had my Middle 4 and the North was looking around for people for employment. Then, it was people in the South that were in control of government. The North wanted people from Northern Nigeria to come and work for them. One of my cousins then advised me to go back to the North, that they were looking for people with Middle 4. When I called a friend who was in Kaduna and told him of my plans, he said I should come and assured me that I would get a job as soon as I got there.
Weren’t you married then?
I was but I didn’t take my family to Kaduna. I left my wife with my family in my hometown and I went alone. But when I got there, I met a different situation. The man that told me to come to Kaduna wasn’t of help any longer; I didn’t get a job when I got there. I went to different offices and yet there was no job. But I so much believed in God then and I could talk to God one on one. Then, I was a tithe recorder in my church and was so much involved with the church in Kaduna. But then, I decided to go back home when I remained jobless for a long time. I told the wife of my friend who I was living with that I was going back to Ilorin. I said I was sure to get a job when I got home. Even though I had only one pound left with me, I was determined to return to Ilorin. As I was talking to my friend’s wife, I fell into a trance and I saw the heavens opening up and I heard a voice that told me, ‘don’t go back!’ I had to tell my friend’s wife that I wasn’t going home again since I heard a voice that said I shouldn’t. Just five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. It was Justice Owolabi. He told me that they were employing people in Agriculture (ministry). He said I should go there. When I got there, I found out that the highest level of education they could get was Standard 6. When the man heard that I had Middle 4, he was thrilled. I was given employment immediately. I started working there until trouble started again.
What kind of trouble?
Back home in Ilorin, my brother belonged to an opposition party in the North. Unfortunately, the opposition won and displaced some people. It took over the councillorship in my town. The man who was displaced as a councillor was transferred to Kaduna and was in the Human Resources section of my department. The Briton I was working with recommended me for promotion in a letter to the department. The file eventually got to the displaced councillor’s table and instead of approving my promotion, he recommended that I should be demoted to the position of an ungraded clerk. I was a Station Master then in the Railway Corporation and I was already earning good money. You can imagine it when somebody suggested I should be returned to a lower position as an Ungraded Clerk.
So what did you do?
There was an advertisement by the Ministry of Information. They wanted to send somebody to England to learn photography. But all the applications needed to pass through the table of that same displaced councillor. So I remained as an Ungraded Clerk. I had to start looking for a way to get out of the country. I eventually left with a British passport.
You became a strong Christian at a young age; did you do all the stuffs young boys usually do?
I was very religious at a young age. Going to parties wasn’t part of my life. My elder brother wanted me to study, he never encouraged me to play or hang out with friends. I didn’t even have so many friends when I was growing up. I left school in 1944 and I got married in 1949.
So how did you meet your wife?
My parents were putting pressure on me to get married. They were so worried about me. I came from a royal family and it was unusual for me not to be married at that age. But I couldn’t find any wife. My uncle was so disappointed. People thought I was a eunuch. But I didn’t care; their opinion wasn’t my cup of tea. When I eventually felt I needed a wife, I had to fast. I prayed and I told God to show me my wife. That night, I dreamt I was in a kitchen and a woman was preparing a meal for me. It was an unknown face.
Didn’t you have a girlfriend at all?
I had a friend and we were so sure we would marry. On Sundays, we would dress up and go out and play around. But I didn’t know anything about sex then. The relationship was very clean. I loved her so much and I had made up my mind I was going to marry her. She had the same opinion too. But she wasn’t the person I was shown in the dream. The one in my dream was a light-skinned girl while my friend was completely dark-skinned. I felt the dream was wrong. But then, I got an urgent message from my girl’s aunty that she should come home because her father was very ill. So she had to leave the station and see her father.
Didn’t you hear from her again?
No! That was the end of the relationship. I never got any news from her at all. It was just a waterloo for me. I kept hoping she would come back but I never heard from her. I stayed at that station for one year before I left on transfer to another station at Iju Junction. I was selling tickets there. One day, somebody just said, ‘I want a ticket.’ Just as soon as I heard the voice, I was taken back to the dream I heard about a girl that was cooking for me. I hadn’t even seen the face of the person that wanted to buy a ticket. But I knew she would be the same girl I saw in my dream. I said, ‘Okay, can I see your face?’ When I looked at her, she was the same woman I saw in my dream. So I knew she was going to be my wife.
Was it that easy to make her your wife?
There were so many suitors who wanted her as a wife. She was very beautiful and well trained. She had no mother and she was a teacher then. I didn’t even think she would marry me. But one day, one man called her and told her that if she missed me, she would have missed out on something great. I was loved by many people at our station as well. Eventually, we got married in 1949.
I am sure you know that some people have aversion about white garment churches…?
Except one is thinking otherwise, you would know the reason we wear white. Our name signifies angel’s name. Have you seen an angel wearing black? If our church continues to bear the names of an angel, then we have to dress like them. God talks to us.
What if your children want to be like you?
God calls anybody he wants to call. Some of my children go to different churches while some of them attend this church. It is not compulsory that as He called the father, He would also call the son.
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