Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu was the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) gubernatorial candidate for the 2016 election in Edo State.
In this interview with Sunday Sun, he spoke on his journey to ‘Damascus’ that brought him closer to God after a ghastly accident.
He is pained that government at all levels in the country is in the hands of cultists and criminals, insisting that “we can’t leave politics in the hands of criminals and people who don’t fear God”, advising decent people to join politics to sanitise it. Excerpts:
How would you describe your way to Damascus that led you to become born again?
My real road to Damascus actually started in 1995 because I got married in 1994, I had my first child in 1995. I was going to Lagos with my friend, as I was about leaving my house in GRA, I had this urge to pray. It wasn’t because I was a serious Christian, I leant very early in life to pray, pray before I eat, pray before I sleep and pray before I travel. I knew that there was a God who protects and we should pray to Him when you do certain things. I was not really a church person and you cannot as at that time address me as a Christian. I was very socially, but when I was set for the journey I told myself why don’t I wait till I get to the tollgate before we pray. So, by the time we got to the tollgate at Oluku, myself and my friend where so engrossed in a discussion. I just paid the toll and forget to pray. We drove off, I think after Ijebu-Ode on the way to Shagamu, that was where I noticed that the car was no longer obeying my commands. It appears as if I have lost control. I was telling my friend look at this car, it’s trying to go to the other side. The steering became something else and before we jumped over to the other side of the road I just heard you did not pray. The next thing was total black out and I woke up later in a dark room, very dark room. I only heard people talking, but was not seeing them. At that time I knew there was a serious problem. I started wondering, is it that I was dead or what; I was hearing voices, but very low. All of a sudden I remembered that word you did not pray. I was really between death and life, but after some time I regained consciousness and I heard them saying he will be okay, what a terrible accident! It was then I realized that I had an accident, but I was not seeing them. I started to say is it that I’m blind, this accident has made me blind. I tried to talk to them who are you people? But they could not say anything to me, but gradually I started seeing shapes. The darkness started giving way, all of a sudden I could see dimly. The people also noticed that my eyes were open and they all started to say he is alive they started to thank God that I’m alive. But I could not move my body. They carried me to Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital. At Igbobi Hospital I was there for six weeks. It was at Igbobi hospital I realized that I couldn’t walk; everything I do was on the bed. So, I became very careful not to eat too much because I didn’t want to go through the humiliation of being hated by those nurses, but I went through hell. I asked them what could be done. They said well, they have to do operation and see if they could bring my hips back to position, but that the chances are 50/50, that I may have to be in a wheel chair, that the most important thing is that I’m alive, and that so many people have had accident that made them totally paralyzed and some died in the process. So, I began to pray to God and say God I never believed too much in you before, I realized that I ought to have prayed before I travel, but I didn’t pray, the last word I had was that you didn’t pray. This period of nine hours I was unconscious, it was a period of me to decide either to live or die. I told God if you allow me to live, I will serve and give you all my life because if you let me die I won’t have the opportunity to serve you. I cried to God please help me to walk God, I’m promising you that if I can leave this place walking, I will change with all my life serving you, I will no longer pay lips service to you. Then I took the Holy Bible and began to read it afresh from Genesis to Revelation.
On the day they were going to do the operation, what was on your mind, live or die?
On the very day of the operation, I prayed and said God these people have said that the chances is not too bright, I’m trusting you, I’m grateful for my life, but I do not want to be in wheel chair, help me to walk. Then they carried me to the theatre. As they were carrying me and as they stepped into the theatre, I felt a sharp pain and I shouted. They were saying that we have to be careful don’t you know that he is in pains? So, they put me there waiting for the chief consultant who will come and do the operation. So, when he came to ask them to bring the X-ray, they brought it and then he said don’t you see, the hips are separated, they needed to be joined together, you are like a house without a foundation. There is no connection between your hips and your body so you cannot stand. We have to try and see if we can make them come together again so you can be able to walk, but it’s not going to be easy, we have to put you to sleep. So, he asked them if this is the X-ray they took when I was brought to the place, they answered yes. He said he needed to know if I have degenerated or not, that they should wheel me back to the X-ray room for another one. They did it and came back he said to them is this his X-ray, they said yes. He said to them again give me his X-ray, they said this is it sir. He looked at me and said young man look, your hips are back, God has put your hips back. There was no going to be any operation again. Then the nurses started praising God. Then I realized that the time I screamed with a sharp pains at the entrance to the theatre that was when God did his miracle for me. It was the biggest miracle of my life. So, I told God that I will serve him all days of my life. That is the journey of my life to Damascus. Even when I came back my friends could not believe me, I became very committed to the things of God. I joined the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). They called for committed people to join workers I did. They called for ushering group I joined, I joined the ministers group until I rose to the position that I am today. This is how I became born again.
What happened to your friend that drove in the same car with you?
He survived. In fact if he had not been in the car with me I would have died by now. During that fatal accident when people in the neighbourhood discovered that my car was stocked, they went and brought axe to cut off my legs so that they can bring me out of the car. I remember my friend telling them please do not cut off his leg. He begged them not to cut off my legs. So, you can imagine using axe on me, it means I would have bled to death. In the first private hospital they took me to, I remembered him asking me Osagie, what is the combination of your brief case or portfolio, because he didn’t have money. He knew I had some money inside it. In my unconscious situation, I managed to say something, they tried it, it opened and they took money and paid. My friend is still very much alive. His name is Osaretin Osunde. He was also Chief of Staff to Governor Lucky Igbinedion. He is in Benin today. That was a turning point of my life. And since 1995 till date I have not looked back on the things of God. So, this is my story on how I became born again. I’m more than happy that God saved our lives.
How often do you hear from God as a man of God?
Yes, God has spoken to me in some quite moment of my life. When I told God if you save me I will serve you all the days of my life, I didn’t hear anything from Him, I kept on praying, but God answered me by a miracle and when that miracle happened I didn’t need to be told that God is the one that did it. Since that time, my relationship with God has deepened. A lot of time God has ministered to me, He drops a word in my spirit and He has also used me to minister to thousands of people. Serving God has taught me not to be hasty in taking decisions. God is not talkative, to be able to talk to God you must develop a silent relationship with him. In everything I do I wait for God’s direction.
How do you combine politics with religion because of the way people perceive politics in Nigeria?
If you are a good Christian and you study your Bible very well, you will see men of God who are politicians. In fact, if you read Proverbs 29: 2, it said: “When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice, when the wicked man rules, the people groan.” If you translate it, God is telling you when my servant is in government people will rejoice or enjoy total freedom, but when the unbelievers are in government, people will suffer and mourn. Simple. When the righteous, who are the righteous? Those who work closely with God and do his commandments. What is authority? Government. But because of the way politics is played, we have left it for cultists. These people understand what government is all about, they tend to be stronger when they are in government and they become untouchable. They are able to get jobs, contracts, they go to court, but because they have people who are members of the same cults, they give them signs and the judge or whoever is presiding over will say oh, this is my person before you say jack justices is perverted. So, you find out that we don’t actually have a sound judicial system. It will take the special grace of God for Nigeria to operate a system that will favour the common man. If people who know God are involved in our political system, things will change. I kept telling Christians to get actively involved in politics and see it as a mission. As a pastor there is nothing that I have not seen in politics. They have made several attempts on my life, they blackmailed me, threatened me, told all kinds of lies against me, betrayed me, in fact, so many bad side of politics. People take an oath just to get power. So, a lot of Christians are afraid to go into it because of the dirty nature. But a mission field is a place that is dirty so we must go in there and sanitize it. In Isaiah 6, Jesus said the government shall be upon his shoulder. So, it is our duty to carry government on our shoulders. Too many things have gone wrong in this country. Today, we are in a serious mess. You and I know that our electoral system is far from being transparent, anybody who emerges in a system that was not free and fair does not own the people any obligation. In a situation where his coming to power is engineered by INEC and other federal factors, such a person cannot do anything for his people. He will tell the people to go to hell. Yes, politics in Nigeria is very rough, but we cannot leave it in the hands of criminals and people who don’t fear God.
If you were not called by God at a critical moment of your life, where would you have been?
That is a tough one. I suspect I would have been dead by now because I lived a very bad and rough life, drinking anyhow. I remember many a time after drinking to stupor, we go into doing so many bad things. I also remembered escaping numerous accidents, but thank God for saving us. I did so many things that I do not want to talk about. But I believe that God rescued me at the right time for his work. The truth is that if I were to die today I have no regrets, but my children will only say oh, dad went so early. To tell you how bad we were, we leave drinking spots to church to say Happy New Year, but after that we return again to the same drinking spot because there was no regard for God. But after that I will tell God in the night please God, do not kill me this night then in the morning if I remember I will say God I thank you that I did not die last night. In all of these, within me, I knew I wasn’t happy with the situation. But all glory to God today that I’m serving him.
What is your political direction for Edo 2020? Are you dumping PDP for another party if the chance comes?
If you ask me my political direction I leave it in the hands of God because I’m not in any way desperate for power. Everything I do I try to let God direct me. In my political life also I have made it a point of duty to put the people first. Presently, I’m fully with PDP; I’m praying and hoping that things will get better.