By Chika Abanobi
These days in Nigeria, virtually every young man or woman wants to ‘japa!’ ‘Japa’ is a Yoruba slang which loosely translates as “to leave a place permanently or temporarily; to relocate.” But when Sam Oluwatoye, Senior Pastor of The Lord’s Crew Global Church, Fagba, Lagos, invited whoever it might concern to a “japa anointing,” service recently the announcement was greeted with some measure of disbelief.
In a religious flyer printed and distributed for that purpose, he added a clincher: “come with your international passport.”
Many critics who expressed disappointment at such a call from someone who calls himself a “man of God,” dismissed the cleric and his mission as fake. Some saw him as an opportunist out to cash in on the sufferings of the people. Gbenga Osinaike, publisher, Church Times, said: “If the catchy phrase means asking people to come for the anointing that would make them get a visa and go abroad, then it is worrisome.” A cleric who did not want his name in print, scoffed: “The programme is a bait to attract poor souls and take advantage of them, one way or the other.”
But amid the programme, characterised by what some would consider as wide drumming, dancing, prayers, ego-massaging testimonies, pep talks, and strange extrapolation of the Bible, the man whose flyer is at the centre of the controversy, explained what he meant by “japa anointing,” how he came about the idea and why he would want people, including his church members to leave the country in droves if it were possible. Like Pilate who said that “what is written is written,” he was unapologetic about the flyer and the anger and criticisms he seemed to have generated with it.
Testimonies and introduction
Time for testimonies and the congregation was made to watch pre-recorded videos from the United Kingdom. Aimed at validating the ‘anointing’ working through the man of God, one of them said to be a former assistant to him talked about how he got a visa, first to South Africa, and later to the United Kingdom after 15 years of trying to do so. He attributed his “breakthrough” and that of his wife and daughter, to a secret decision he took to dip his family visas into Pastor Oluwatoye’s jacket, which he always handed to him to keep at some point in his ministrations. He added: “This is why I tell you, people, to always participate in the church’s programmes. You can tap from his anointing.” Another member who gave her name as Nonye testified how she got a visa to join her husband in the United Kingdom by holding on to the ‘prophetic word’ from the man of God which said: “everything would end in praise.”
After this, came the message of the night, and Oluwatoye, quoting from Genesis 26:1-3, (the New Living Translation of the Bible), justified his call for “japa anointing.” He insisted that his call was not strange as everyone would need to move at one time or the other. He said though he was not sure of what God called other ministers to do in His vineyard, he was sure of his own calling. He explained: “The Lord anointed me to pray for people who want to migrate. Five years ago, on October 17, 2017, I was coming from New York when the Lord told me, ‘I want you to pray for people who want to ‘japa’. All through the flight, I was saying why? And God began to show me stuff.”
He told his audience that his obedience to that ‘divine calling’ has made him the butt of many people’s anger and hatred. His voice took on an American accent as he said: “God wanna deliver some people. He wanna bring some people out of bondage. Some of you have laboured for too long. You have been on the same spot.” He burst into speaking in tongues, before stopping abruptly. Then he paused a little before continuing with the message. “Listen to me. I speak as one sent by God. In tonight’s meeting, you will be liberated.” The congregation responded with a loud Amen.
A cleric’s ‘mandate’ from God
On how he came about the Wednesday, October 19 programme, he explained that he received a clear mandate from God to pray for those who intended to travel abroad. “And this is not the first time we are doing this.”
Osinaike opined that if that were the case then he ought not to have held such a programme for everybody. Oluwatoye disagreed: “People who say that have a Plan B. It is amazing that those who ask you not to go anywhere either have their children or relatives over there. It is painful because people wanna do things but they don’t want other people to do it. Oh, people are unfair. I know people are gonna fight me. It doesn’t matter. We would say the truth.”
He added that he could not help but be obedient to his calling.“My part is to do what God asked me to do. You need to know that I love Nigeria. But the fact that I love Nigeria does not mean that I should watch you go down. We have a lot of people in TLC (The Lord Crew church) that have left. And if they had not left, they probably would have no hope today. How do I know the truth and keep it from you? What will I answer before God? Will I say it is because of my ego? Or I wanted too many members in the church? I made a promise to my God when this ministry started (in 2007) that I would never say anything that He didn’t send me to say. And I would never keep quiet to whatever He said. We will get into prayers. I will pray for you and all of a sudden doors will begin to open from every angle. Do you know that your helpers are somewhere? People that God has sent to help you are somewhere right now. But many of you don’t know. You are struggling. But you ought not to. You ought to receive what God has given to you. But somewhere along the line there is a delay. So, tonight, I declare every delay removed!” Again, his pronouncement was followed by a loud Amen and some clapping from an excited crowd.
At some point in the course of the 54-minute message, he mentioned six reasons he would want people to relocate. They are, namely: exposure, knowledge, survival, security, assignment and rest. On exposure, he explained that the reason God allowed the Israelites to become slaves in Egypt was to learn the art of farming and frugality in times of famine.
The shape and shades of ‘japa’ anointing
Talking about anointing, he noted that “if you are okay, you can move to Ibadan.” The congregation laughed. This was followed by widespread murmurings. He waited for the side talks to subside before adding: “It’s a mini-japa.” More laughter followed. “Permit me to say this. If you are absolutely fine, I am happy for you. But listen to me. I am a pastor and I have been a pastor for over 20 years. I have seen people suffer in this life. Nothing around them could help them. But just in one year of being in an environment that understands the gifts and talents they have, everything changed for them. Are you hearing me?”
“Ride on, sir,” the crowd chorused.
“There is no law restraining us from moving. And God is not against it. Some people would say, ‘you ought not to move until God asked you to do so.’ I agree. But the question is, when will God ask you to move? The truth is, He speaks to you through the things you see around you. But if you are waiting for an angel to appear to you, then you will have to wait forever. If you have been trained with ‘Oh, Lord, show me where I would go,’ wait, he said tongue-in-cheek, “He is coming.” This was followed by another round of laughter.
He fired on: “Jacob got to Egypt. Pharaoh sent for him But Jacob blessed Pharaoh. I don’t understand. You went to a foreign country and the king asked you to see him. He gives you a place to stay, to make your life better. But you are the one blessing him? Can I tell you something? Anywhere you go in this world, you are the one going to bless them?”
“Amen!”
“This is why you need the anointing. If you go without any anointing on you, you will suffer. You need to carry great power on your head. I’ve heard about people who travelled abroad call their people and say, ‘things are not easy here.’ I don’t know what they mean because all the people who left from TLC, keep calling me, to say that things were just happening at a rate they don’t understand. It is as if they had been waiting for then. You know what? They went with that anointing.”
Towards the end of the special programme, Oluwatoye asked everybody, first-timers and regular members alike, to raise their international passports so that he could pray on them. They did. He then said: “Someone wanted to know why I asked you people to bring your international passports?” With his right pointed to his chest, he explained: “Listen! I am a pastor. I want to bring you into contact with God’s power. Sometimes you need a point of contact. Isaac said, ‘my son, bring me something.’ Are you hearing me?”
“Yes, sir!”
“We don’t ask for it. Sometimes, God asks for it! He said there is a need for this! And for some of you, only God knows where you took your passports to, and anywhere you go, nothing happens. And you are wondering. Maybe they blew on it. Tonight, if there’s anything blocking your way, we will remove it!”
A loud “amen”greeted his remarks. Then he launched into prayers. He followed up by asking his audience to have hope, declaring that he was sure his prayers must surely come to pass between that week and the second week of November.
Critics point out faults in the message
Many critics find fault with the rosy pictures painted by some clerics about life outside the country. One of them who commented on what he sees as false hopes raised by such programmes, remarked humorously: “Go for anointing to Japa or Japanese, if you don’t meet the requirements of the country you are going to, if you don’t have flight tickets, you won’t travel. And if you travel through illegal means, I pray they catch you and disgrace you thoroughly and even put you in prison.”
Olusegun Adeniyi, former Special Adviser to the late President, Umar Yar’Adua, and chairman, the Editorial Board of This Day, observed: “Given the level of desperation, especially by young people for whom dwindling opportunities make them look abroad, it is also no surprise that charlatans are using every means to dupe the unwary. That’s the only way to explain why a Pastor would advertise a ‘Japa Anointing’ church programme, asking people to come with their international passports, so that he could pray for them to secure visas to whichever country they seek to emigrate.” He admitted that while it is the right of Nigerians to emigrate abroad should they choose to, “we cannot stand for any ‘Japa anointing’ charade. And since these countries that our young ones run to were also built by people, we must begin to envision and work for the Nigeria of our dream.”
A pastor in a video that trended on social media recently said: “there are only two ways to break through financially. Unfortunately, prayer is not one of them. Fasting is not one of them. Anointing oil is not one of them. The two ways are: You must have a product or service. Please, the church should graduate from prophecies. ‘You will drive cars you did not buy.’ Amen. ‘God is going to bless you’. Amen. ‘The doors of nations are open.’ Amen. These are powerful prophecies. I like them. But these prophecies will never be converted if we don’t leave: ‘Amen, I claim it in Jesus’ name’ For five, ten years, you have been claiming, what came out? Nothing! The truth is, you can’t abbreviate the process; you can’t break the rules. You must have a product or service. I saw one flyer that said: ‘100 days all night: Operation Take It By Force.’ Can I tell you something? After every spiritual exercise, do a review of what came out. It is only a fool who does not ask questions. If you do not think, you will stink; if you stink, you will sink. Somebody cannot give you the same prophecy for ten years and you don’t ask question: Is it adding value to my life?”
Not even obtaining a study visa makes life any less tough out there, another critic argued. He explained: “Studying abroad without deep pockets means spending a huge amount of money on tuition, accommodation and welfare, as an average university in the United Kingdom (UK) costs at least 23 million naira.”
Reservations on the ‘japa’ syndrome
Long before the announcement of the “japa anointing” programme spread like wildfire on social media platforms, many critics had cause to express their reservations concerning the raging phenomenon. Faulting the syndrome, the Ilorin-based Oyewole Sakirat warned travel-eager Nigerians that “life abroad is extremely expensive, especially with the global economic and energy crises. Several apartments are not offered to blacks. They are expensive and at least 30 to 40 per cent of your monthly income goes to taxes. In addition, ‘japa’ advocates believe that there is a better standard of living abroad. While true, immigrants are not offered good jobs and mostly do menial jobs that they would reject in Nigeria while others resort to prostitution or other vices just to sustain their status quo of living abroad.”
His strongest warning was directed at unskilled workers who want to relocate to work and earn a living in developed countries. He wrote: “While most of them will end up in detention, refugee camps, or die either in the deserts or drown in lifeboats in the sea, a few will make it to their destinations and will regret the day they were born as they will be treated worse than animals.” He backed up his assertion by recalling the recent reports where some Nigerians were asked to eat the faeces of their landlords, locked up like animals, stripped of their passports and denied basic human rights all because of their agent who was hell-bent on making a return on his investment of taking them abroad.
Prof. Olukayode Amund, Vice Chancellor, Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State, sees Nigerians who abandon lucrative jobs here to be engaged in menial jobs abroad as misguided. Ibikunle Amosun, former governor of Ogun State lamented, in an interview, the rate at which young Nigerians are emigrating to other countries. Criticising the benefactor countries for granting them visas, he accused them of depleting the country’s workforce in order to increase theirs.
He said: “If you ask our people leaving the nation for greener pastures, they will tell you that they are not planning to return to Nigeria. If you look closely at the situation, you would see that all our lawyers, accountants and most especially medical practitioners make up the largest chunk of the people leaving the country. You will agree with me that our people are not lazy and are always willing and ready to work diligently…..I am sure Nigeria will be great again.”