By Emma Njoku
Evangelist Ebuka Obi took over the religious firmament in Nigeria and beyond like a thunderstorm.
His entry was heralded with uncountable tales of wonders and miracles. Yet, discordant tunes still dog his path.
His towering reputation and stature are such that believers and non-believers besiege his ministry. Some come out shouting eureka, while others point accusing fingers at him, alleging all sorts of fake things.
His beginning
The life and times of Chukwuebuka Anozie Obi, now referred to as Evangelist Ebuka Obi, are simply like a fairy tale. Born in a village called Ogidi in the 80s with a twin brother called Engineer C.C. Obi, Ebuka had a very different childhood from his siblings. At the age of eight, he started discovering he could see into the realm of the spirit, something very uncommon for someone his age.
Shocking tales
When he was 12 years old, he accompanied The late Rev Father Luke Odinkemere to exorcisms and would often point to different locations where diabolical objects were buried under ground and then Fr. Luke will instruct them to dig, and they will find that what Ebuka Obi said was true. Among the many gifts he had was the ability to tell pregnant women the gender of their unborn babies.
Ebuka Obi’s parents were worried their child was not like other children and wanted to control the trajectory of their child’s life, but the late Father Luke Odinkemere advised them that nothing was wrong with their child; that he was a gifted child who God will use mightily in his generation.
His celibacy vow
Ebuka Obi’s mentor, the late Rev. Fr. Luke Odinkemere, played a huge role in his consecrated lifestyle. He made Ebuka, at the age of 12, to take a vow of chastity (not to have sex) till he got married, not to leave the Catholic Church and not to be money conscious. Those vows shaped the life of the young Ebuka so much that, in a bid to make sure he kept the rules, he avoided women at all costs, including his sisters.
The journey of Evangelist Ebuka Anozie Obi to Zion Ministry was characterised by a lot of encounters and sacrifices.
He had to shut down his successful business as instructed by the Holy Spirit to go into full-time ministry, a decision that was questioned by his family.
Initially, the move tended to affect his ministry as well as as all his projects, including a story building project in his village and his cable business at Idumota, Lagos.
Life of prayers
Ebuka Obi has always remained true to his calling and ministry and is known to massively help the poor. His life is replete with prayers, fasting, abstinence, giving, and often visiting monasteries and deserts to pray. Indigenes of Ebuka Obi’s community, where he grew up, have testified to the incredible anointing upon him.
Persecution
There have been reports of both threats to his life and countless attacks, both from the clergy of the same faith as him and from other denominations. His prophecies with instant solutions have been criticised, and the miracles have been tagged fake, yet, the crowd keeps increasing. These attacks would make one wonder what Ebuka Obi has done to attract the level of hatred and jealousy from men of God, who, one would expect to be happy that God is raising a son since “the harvest is many and the labourers are few”. One would ask, ‘has he taken another’s wife? Is his preaching a different doctrine’? No one has yet come out with a tangible reason as to why Ebuka Obi should not be allowed to serve God and humanity in peace.
Notable testimonies
The grace of God upon the life of Ebuka Obi has touched countless lives globally. He has so many sons who can confidently testify how their lives have transformed positively.
One of his adherents, Chibueze Eugene Ike, popularly known as Akunatakasi confessed that he is among the numerous beneficiaries of the grace upon the life of Ebuka Anozie Obi.
He came to Zion, shattered, battered, and broken from the challenges of life.
He came to Zion wearing the only clothing he possessed at the time. But after his encounter with Evangelist Ebuka Obi, he is now one of the notable billionaires in Zion Ministry. He is now a known philanthropist helping the poor.
Another lady who attends the Zion Ministry, Mrs Favour Joseph, said that she and her siblings were having various challenges and stagnant fortunes until she heard about Evangelist Ebuka Obi’s ministry and went there to seek help.
“When I met Evangelist Ebuka and narrated my travails and those of my siblings, he said we were suffering as a result of ancestral yoke. He asked me to bring my siblings so we could pray and break the ancestral yoke. I told my brother and my two sisters and they came down to Lagos from Kaduna and Port Harcourt. He prayed for us after we fasted for five days. That was how he broke the ancestral yoke and, since then, everyone of us is doing well. One of my sisters got married last December, my brother got a travel visa to Canada last month, while my other sister is getting married next month. My business, which had almost collapsed, is booming again,” Mrs Joseph said.
Mr Philip Nwasuka also testified that Ebuka prayed for him over his business and his goods that were seized by the Customs at the Tin Can Port, Apapa, Lagos, were released.
“I invested millions of naira to import goods from China and my goods were seized by operatives of the Customs for six months. My world crumbled. I went to the man of God, Ebuka, and he prayed for me. Less than two weeks after the prayer, all my goods were released by the Customs. Ebuka Obi is a true man God,” he declared.