•Pastor Adeboye and Pastor Iluyomade
…Will it be another story of rift, faith and forgiveness? By Henry Efosa
People had waited with bated breath, wondering what next for Pastor Idowu Iluyomade, former Pastor at the City of David, COD, Lagos, after serving out a three month suspension imposed by the top hierarchy of the RCCG.
Noone was sure because he maintained a dignified silence and continued to attend special services at the Redeemed Camp on Lagos-Ibadan express way. Yet, there was hushed anticipation, the air thick with suspense.
But all that ended on Sunday, January 19, 2025, as the man fondly called
Pastor ID held the first service of his new church known as Family Fellowship Church, FFC, at the Civic Center, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The service attracted a vibrant and almost ecstatic full hall.
The news of the new church spread with the speed of sound and the social media went both lyrical and hysterical.
Some said, at last, the Iluyomades finally were settling down after a turbulent period that almost undermined their momentous era in Apapa Family and indeed their unquestionable impact on RCCG globally.
Yet, some raised issues on why they started a new church.
As a man named Festus wrote on Facebook, “Is church a business venture? Can’t they start something else? They say they are successful lawyers, why can’t they continue with their legal practice?” Another one, a member of RCCG, on a WhatsApp platform roared, “I was told that over 300 people attended the first service and now the third service had nearly 800 people in attendance. I heard they have even moved to the largest hall there and were about to start two services every Sunday. They have even been given land in Eko Atlantic City. So, very soon, they will be competing with all our parishes in the Island. I heard many COD members are abandoning their Trinity Towers to join them”.
He continued, “And you know they have their fan base already, especially his wife, she has a cult following. Her women are all over the place including governors’ wives, female ministers, all. They are all just waiting for her to come out. These developments don’t look good at all”, he lamented.
Another lady, Bola, reacting on the same WhatsApp forum wondered why RCCG allowed the issue to degenerate to the point that they had to start their own church. “I think the G.O, Daddy Adeboye, should have called them back after all the wahala and punishment because the man was still attending the church services after all that happened. Should anyone blame them for their decision? I don’t know, I don’t know “, she stated. Still another lady, Adebanke added, “Daddy G.O is a good man and always forgives. It was just because there were too many distractions, gossip and media pressure. Some of those publications were even done by some envious members of the parish and Apapa Family. “Otherwise, that matter won’t have degenerated to that point. Look at where we are now. We lost one of our best leaders over an issue that we could still have resolved. Anyway, I wish them the best of luck”, she concluded.
Having had a long relationship with COD and Apapa Family before the coming of Pastor ID and his wife, Pastor (Dr) Siju Iluyomade, some of these comments left me with profound emotional heft. And so I decided to add my little perspective to this yet unfolding story. And the reason is that the history of Apapa Family has shown in palpable terms that all these tales of disagreements, enmity and conflict would inevitably cave in to the weight of forgiveness, reconciliation and restoration. And the Iluyomades case may not be different.
A perfect example is the Pastor Tony Rapu issue. I doubt anyone would have the kind of impact he had on Apapa Family. He was their pioneer pastor, he grew the church, had fanatical followership and was like Pastor Adeboye’s first son.
The G.O showered him with incredible praises. But then, some major crisis set in after he was posted to London to start a parish. The conflict that followed shook Apapa Family. Thank God there was no social media then because there would have been an unbelievable turmoil. Pastor Rapu eventually left RCCG to start his own church called This Present House and the church is doing its own unique things today.
For many sycophantic RCCG members, Pastor Rapu would remain an outcast before Pastor Adeboye and RCCG.
But that was not the case. The G.O couldn’t forget the contributions of Pastor Tony Rapu to his church. And so, during the celebration of Apapa Family @ 25, inside Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, Lagos, Pastor Adeboye, after watching the documentary shown at the event, paid a glowing tribute to Pastor Tony Rapu.
He said, “Let me state here that Pastor Tony Rapu remains my son. He is a young man that if you give him a vision, he would run with it. If I have 5,000 Pastor Tony Rapus, I will convert the whole world in five years”.
Many at the event were stunned. But it simply showed that the G.O understood that forgiveness is unconditional.
But Pastor Tony Rapu was not the only prominent pastor that left RCCG under a cloud of controversy.
Pastor Itua Ighodalo, a cultivated and very popular pastor who was even said to be related to the G.O, was also compelled to leave the Christ Church parish under contentious circumstances, amidst pungent criticism of the church, its policies and in particular the RCCG top hierarchy.
Pastor Itua Ighodalo left the church and almost immediately, founded his own church called Trinity House.
Pastor Itua didn’t leave with a smile. He left with a scowl, pain and disappointment for a church he gave his youth.
But time has healed the wounds and Pastor Itua, the G.O and RCCG members have cast aside the past and relationships restored.
I therefore make bold to say that Pastor ID and his wife’s case will not be different.
The G.O will not forget the young couple, mere ushers that he picked and asked to go start a parish in Victoria Island.
This young couple, the Iluyomades, would confound RCCG members globally as they led their small, very compact family type parish to erect an eight storey edifice called King’s Court Parish. But just before this building could be formally opened, the head of Apapa Family, a pastor held in utmost veneration, Pastor Asuquo Ernest Mfon, best known as Pastor Eskor passed on. This young couple were then transferred to City of David with Pastor Idowu Iluyomade appointed Head of Apapa Family.
Here, Pastor ID led City of David and Apapa Family to unprecedented heights. Having been made the Intercontinental Head of what they call Christian Social Responsibility, CSR, by the G.O, Pastor ID led Apapa Family to raise and expend over N70 billion on CSR projects between 2018 and 2024.
Covering education, health, hunger, correctional centres, social enterprise and rehabilitation, Apapa Family under Pastor ID impacted 166.68 million people across the globe, covering Nigeria’s 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and specifically 650 Local Government Areas, out of Nigeria’s 774 LGAs. Indeed, RCCG through the drive of Apapa Family carried out CSR activities including free feeding in 197 countries across the world.
The global success of Apapa Family’s CSR was so phenomenal that it attracted the curiosity of leading global academic institutions who came to study their concept, methods and strategy with doctoral dissertations written on the RCCG’s CSR.
These schools include the prestigious Havard in USA and Oxford in Britain.
Apapa Family donated cutting-edge medical equipment including Intensive Care Units, ICUs, and Dialysis Machines free of charge to University Teaching Hospitals and Specialist Hospitals in Nigeria, all named after Pastors Eunoch and Folu Adeboye.
And recognising that their G.O was an erudite academic, Apapa Family still led by Pastor ID, endowed five Professorial Chairs in five top Nigerian universities for the G.O. Pastor ID capped all these strides with the building of the architectural masterpiece called Trinity Towers, undoubtedly one of the best, most modern and most distinctive structures ever erected by a church in the whole of Africa.
With this history of over 25 years dedicated to his spiritual father and mentor, the G.O and the RCCG, one can’t help but ask, “Can Pastor Adeboye, the esteemed G.O, because of one misstep, forget Pastor Idowu Iluyomade’s exceptional era in Apapa Family, because they were indeed remarkable years? Can the man he calls Daddy GO with every reverence, discard the timeless highlights of a father and son’s spiritual journey together because of what some have called one error of judgement?
I believe that this present gloom will wane and darkness will give way for a glorious light of a new dawn.
Pastor Adeboye has a solemn responsibility to forgive his son if he feels that he, Pastor ID, offended him during those troubling moments. He has compelling spiritual and biblical reasons to reconcile with his son, Pastor ID.
But whether the Iluyomades would return to RCCG again or go ahead to erect another majestic monument, a megastructure that will evoke a sense of awe and wonder for their new church is a matter that only time can unravel.
*Efosa, a PR Consultant, writes from Abidjan.
