Explosive memoirs
of Keji, Fela’s bandboy
Life as drug addict, rapist, armed robber, now pastor
By SEGUN AJIBOYE & EMEKA ENYINNAYA
Sunday, June 11, 2006
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•Keji
Photo:Sun News Publishing |
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The story of Pastor Keji Hamilton, the pastor of The Tabernacle
of Prayer Global Network, in several ways, can be likened
to the story of Saul in the Bible. Like the biblical Saul,
Keji was at different times a cocaine addict, an armed robber
and a rapist. He even attacked a man of God who dared to preach
the gospel to him.
The son of a Chief Imam, Keji had the future in his palm when
he gained admission to study Pharmacy at the University of
Ibadan in 1981. But after one session, he was fed up with
education. According to him, all that mattered to him was
to make money and travel. “As a young man, my dream
had always been to make money, travel out of the country and
make a name for myself. Music was what was on my mind.”
With education out of the way, Keji soon found solace in the
famous Kalakuta Republic. ““Fela took me in and
gave me one room upstairs with one Dele Shotimu. In keeping
to my promise, I did not see my father until after my salvation
ten years later.”
Once inside the Kalakuta Republic, Keji soon began a romance
with a life that would see him travel through 43 cities in
the US and almost all the countries in Europe.
However, he equally picked up a lifestyle that saw him at
the brink of death. “I was introduced to hemp smoking
by a lady. When I took it the first time, I lost control for
almost 24 hours.”
Keji soon mastered the art of hemp smoking. He, however, graduated
into a higher level with cocaine and heroine. With each sniff,
he soon became a junk who could not do without the drug, a
lifestyle he later found too expensive to maintain.
“Initially, I got the drugs free. But I later started
buying with my own money. I spent an average of N25, 000 a
day.
To have a steady supply, Keji would resort to armed robbery.
“You know that the salary we earn is not much. So, for
me to have a steady supply of the drug, I became a criminal.
I had my own set of boys who worked for me at the time.”
With a physique and a handsome face that were hard to ignore,
Keji had a steady flow of girls, both inside and outside the
Kalakuta. He exchanged girls with his friends and boss. Sometimes,
he gave orders to his boys to hijack any girl that caught
his fancy. Such girls, he said were raped and let go. “Sometimes,
I told the boys to bring into the house any girl. Of course,
I raped such girls.”
Many times, he was arrested and detained at the Zone II for
breaking into people’s homes. His name, Innocent Warrior,
soon topped the list of criminals at the station, a feat that
earned him a nomination for elimination by the cops.
At the beginning
“I was born into the family of Imam Shuaibu. My mother’s
name is Muriamu Shuaibu . My father owned the only mosque
in my community in Edo-State. I gained admission into the
University of Ibadan to study Pharmacy but had to drop out
in my first year in 1981. As a young man, my dream had always
been to make money, travel out of the country and make a name
for myself musically. When I left the University of Ibadan
and went back home, I told my father about my decision to
go into music. He said: ‘Can’t you see what music
has done to that man called Fela?’ But my mind was already
made up with or without his consent. I took my things and
left the house and headed for the Kalakuta Republic.”
Influence
“A book by Dr. Kwame had a great influence on me. The
book was given to me by a co-student at the University of
Ibadan and the content was ‘white man’s education
is not for the blacks’. After reading the book, my mind
was made up. I was already under some form of influence, so
I had to leave the house in other to actualise my dream because
my father was not willing to let me go.
My brother was another great influence on me. He was so fanatical
about Fela and his music. What he did every Sunday morning
was to dress up in pants like Fela and listen to his music
from around 5am to about 1pm. I see him do this all the time
so I was influenced.”
Meeting Fela
“The first time I met with Fela one on one was through
a friend who took me to the shrine for the Sunday jump. I
was very innocent then, I did not drink or smoke. We only
went there with chocolate, soft drinks and meat pie. While
we were sitting, I began to ask myself what were all the people
doing here? what were they waiting for and I was told that
they were waiting to see Fela. I asked who this Fela was?
I was told to wait that my question would soon be answered.
Eventually, I heard a loud noise and there was Fela and to
my surprise, the people cheered him for every movement he
made. I was amazed and told myself I could also be like this
man.
The first person I met at the shrine was Femi, Fela’s
son. He was washing the images that Fela worshiped the day
we first met. When I approached him, we got talking, and in
the process we became friendly. He asked me what I was doing,
I told him that I was supposed to be in school. But he told
me that there was no reason to go to school. Unknown to me,
I didn’t know that he was a drop out. Femi asked me
again what I would like to do and I told him that I would
love to go to music school to learn how to play music. He
also said there was no need and that if I loved music I should
come to his father’s house that was all. He took me
to meet Fela and introduced me as his friend. Fela took me
in and gave me one room upstairs with one Dele Shotimu and
in keeping to my promise, I never saw my father until after
my salvation ten years later.
Romance with Fela
For you to live in the Kalakuta, you had to change your name
to an African name. I picked the name Keji Hamilton to reflect
this. My original name was Sulaimon. I took the name Morounkeji
because I wanted to be like Fela. You know, the second Fela.
After that, I started living in the Kalakuta. A lady introduced
me to smoking hemp. She now lives in Baltimore, Maryland,
USA”.
Adventure with Indian hemp
The first time I smoked hemp, I lost control for more than
24 hours. I did not know where I was or what I was doing.
I went into a deep sleep and later woke up with a heavy hunger.
At the time, Kalakuta was situated at Atinuke Street. While
Fela lived on one side, he allowed boys to sell hemp on the
other side. I started with a puff, later increased to a wrap
and then a parcel”.
Fela’s library
“Fela had a library that was fully stocked with different
kinds of books. It was there that I read a book on how to
become a wizard. I also read about astral travelling. That
was one of the reasons why Fela loved me. He knew I read a
lot. As a matter of fact, I learnt how to play music during
one of such spiritual astral travelling.”
Egypt 80 band
“It was after my seventh month inside the Kalakuta that
I went to Fela. I told him that I could play the guitar. He
tested me and found out that I was good. He just called the
man in-charge of the finances and told him to include my name
on the list. He later procured an international passport for
me so that I could travel with the band to the US that year.”
My first trip
“It was in 1984. Unfortunately, Fela was arrested at
the airport by the Buhari-Idiagbon regime. After his arrest,
Femi quit smoking because he was really scared. But because
he did not travel with us, our first show in the US was a
big flop. It was him everybody wanted to see, so few people
turned up to watch us.”
Drug addiction
“One day, while we were performing inside the shrine,
a certain man approached me. He said he loved the way I handled
the guitar during our tour of the US. He said I needed something
to turn me into a star. He said people like me abroad have
something they use to make them real star. After I asked him
what it was, he replied that it was cocaine. At the beginning,
I refused his offer, but he kept on asking me to take it.
He started giving them to me free. But with time, I became
a junk and I needed a steady supply. I spent about N25, 000
daily on drugs.”
Life of crime
All this was around the time Babangida was in power. Fela
was out of prison, so, we were being paid salary. However,
the money was not enough and I had to go into crime to sustain
my drug life. I was into robbery. I had my own group of boys.
We robbed and raped. The Area F Police Station now became
my second home. I was giving the police in Ikeja a tough time
until information got to me that an order had been given to
eliminate me. This was because my name had appeared on their
case file too many times. I had to relocate to Surulere.
Encounter with Bash Ali
I was at the shrine one day when Bash Ali came into the shrine.
He sprayed some dollars on Fela. At the time, we had this
guy who picked such things. I accosted him and collected the
money from him and ran back to Surulere. Fela then put a death
order on me. He gave orders that I should killed.”
Me and Beko
“Left for Beko, he would have sacked me a long time.
He said I was a bad boy. But Fela would not have it. He loved
me like his son. I was the only one who could share a woman
with Fela. I don’t mean his wives. But I could have
sex with his girlfriends. I could take hemp from him to have
a puff.”
Living with three girls
“I was at the time living with three girls in one room.
Though only one was my girlfriend (the girls were prostitutes),
I was sleeping with all of them.”
Turning point
“It happened one Sunday. I just returned from the comprehensive
show early Sunday morning. Just as I was about relaxing, I
heard a knock on the door. It was a guy standing there. He
said he had come to invite me to the church. I slapped him
and drove him away.
He would sometime come around and drop some tracts for me.
I collected them and dumped them. After sometime, he stopped
coming and I started having this strange feeling to see him.
One night, I went to Ojuelegba to buy cocaine. I came home
with the stuff and prepared to take. I started to vomit and
cough out blood after I took the cocaine. I first thought
I had been poisoned. But I also took the heroine to step down,
but the same thing happened. Then I just asked God to save
me. For the first time, I went to sleep without any difficulty.
I heard a voice telling me that he would help me if I quit
my drug habit. For the first time in a long while, I lived
without drugs for days.”
My wife
“I met my wife in the church. She knew the entire story
concerning me. She was not just any woman, she was sent to
me by God and she knew the responsibility on her shoulders.
I told her not to be surprised if later in life somebody comes
up with a story about my past.” |
