I enjoyed fasting and prayer better in Britain
By LUKMON BUSARI
Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Chief Olusola Williams recently marked his 70th birthday anniversary. Ironically, he looks much more younger than his age, a situation he ascribed to his simple approach to issues. He believes holding no grudges against anyone would keep one youthful.

An engineer, Chief Olusola, who had travelled across England in search of knowledge, decried the spate of cultism among today’s youths.

In his own days, he said, youths got involved in meaningful engagements such, as Boy Scouts. He further spoke on the relationship between him and God.

Background
I am Ademoyegun of Oge, Oke-Agbe in Ondo State in my mother’s hometown. I was born and bred in Lagos. I had my primary school education at Lokoja. I came back to Celestial High School, Lagos. I attended the technical institute where I studied building construction before going to England in 1962 to study Sanitary Engineering. It was Public Health Engineering in Britain. I worked at the Ministry of Works and Housing in England. Later on I moved to other constructing plants. I got back to Nigeria in 1975.

Secret of young look
It is fervent prayers and regular fasting. God said do unto others as it would be done unto you. Hold no grudge because once you start holding grudges, you will start developing hypertension. Take everything as it comes because once you believe in Mr. X or My Y offending you, that is when you would be troubling your mind. And this would bring about rapid gray hair and one would be looking older than his age. Overlook everything and keep going.

Relationship with God
I pray every time to Him, even when I’m on the road. If I see a disabled person or a blind man, I pray to God to forgive them. I believe that by praying for others God would reward me. If you render spiritual help, God’s help would come into your life and then you’ll have a good relationship with Him.

Typical Sunday
I best spent my Sundays when I was a student in Britain because it was there that I was attending the Church of Lord. We go to Church on Fridays and on Sundays, we fast and pray. I enjoyed doing that. Fasting in Nigeria is limited by the kind of environmental situation we are exposed to. I enjoyed fasting and praying in Britain than here. But I still fast and pray now.

Sin
There’s no one that has never sinned before. Jesus Christ told us to pray every time because no one knows when he or she commits sins. If I say I’ve not sinned, I’m a liar. Everyone is a sinner. That is why I say to people that I’m a sinner; and ask them to remember me in their prayers.

Lie
As a Christian, it is not good. The other day, my daughter phoned me I didn’t want to see her and I told her I was out. Immediately, I phoned her younger sister and told her I’ve just told a lie. I told almost everybody, to confessed to them.

Youthful years
I used to be a member of the Boy Scout. I later became a scout master, I realised that what we had then was that scouting developed the mind physically and spiritually. These days, you hardly find anyone in scouting. You find the boys either in cultism or thuggery. This is bad. The leaders today are not as sincere as those of the past. During the days of Zik, Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello, there was discipline and the society was not as bad as this.

Ever thought of living this old?
I was reading the Bible and I read about Moses living for about 120 years, whereas some lived 300 years. I said to myself, if David said because his hand was full of bloods, he lived for 70 years, that’s David not James Olusola Williams. I told God to let me live longer so that I could help others. I prayed God to grant me longevity and prosperity.

Want to be remembered for
I want to be remembered for humanitarian service. I should by now, if I’ve not started, begin to show some love and kindness to everyone around me to make them happy.

Speaking with God
I do that everyday by praying. That’s the only way God reveals Himself. You can’t seat at home and be expecting God to show Himself just like that.

Proliferation of churches
A friend of mine once said that if there are jobs everywhere, we’ll have less churches. It is because there are not enough jobs; people just want to get occupied with something. I believe it too.

Disappointed by God?
I’ve never been disappointed by God. If one says he has been disappointed, it’s because of lack of understanding. I may not know why a request has not been fulfilled. For a man to say God has disappointed him, it’s a sin. At a time one’s request may not be granted by God because it may be dangerous for him.

Life after death
I’ve not been there, so, I don’t know what it’ll be like, not until God tells me.

To the youth
They should shun cultism and should not allow themselves to be dragged into anything that can mar their image.