…Wants political leaders to put things right
By Enyeribe Ejiogu
Pastor (Dr) Oluwatayo Adeyanju, who has a doctorate in Theology and Convener of Profitable Mothers, a group of Pentecostal women committed to improving the lot of women, is disturbed by the happenings in the country, particularly insecurity and the hardship in the country. As noted in this interview, women are central to the welfare of families, proper upbringing of children and building of good future for youths. Through Profitable Mothers, she has been encouraging women to follow the teachings of the bible and fight on their knees for the good future of Nigerian youths in face of the worsening situation. Moreover, she wants the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and wives of other political leaders to speak to their husbands, and them to put things right in the country.
Your name, Oluwatayo Adeyanju, in Yoruba means, God makes me to be joyful. Looking at Nigeri today, do you still find joy?
Yes, there is joy, but we still need to ask for God’s divine intervention on account on the insecurity in the land and the situation of the economy. We must continue to pray to God to make Nigeria a better country.
If you had opportunity to address political leaders on policies that impact women, what would you tell the legislators or even the Executive Branch?
I would tell every one of them to have the fear of God. Once you have the fear of God, you will not do anything contrary to the will of God. Once you have the fear of God, you will always put things right. There will be no contradiction.
Governance affects women and families. Are you satisfied with the way governance is going? What are the things you wish were done differently by the government?
I will tell them to do the will of God and put things right. You can see so many children and families are suffering. The politicians made promises before coming in. So they should try to fulfill every good promise they made to the nation.
What would you tell Mrs Oluremi Tinubu on behalf of other women who are facing challenges today?
Thank God for that question. I love that one. Thank God she’s a minister of God. She’s a pastor. I would just tell her that women are suffering. I will beg her to tell her husband, President Bola Tinubu, to put things right. The tuition fees in the universities these days are killing and alarming. Only the rich can train their children in school. The president should please bring down the school fees. Make the fees more affordable, so that the students are not driven into fraudulent things to survive. Look at the mess at NELFUND, which was established yesterday to help students get loans to pay for their tuitions. It has already been mismanaged by the people put in charge of it. Students applied for the loans, but the money was not released until two or three years after they had graduated and their families struggled to pay the tuition fees. Corrupt officials want to embezzle the money released and still put the burden of repayment on the students and their families. It is not right. It would warm the hearts of struggling mothers if the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, helps to tell President Tinubu to intervene and resolve the issues at NELFUND.
Prior to going into ministry, what were you doing?
I went into ministry 10 years ago. But before that I was running a full time business, and I was engaged in different successful enterprises. After graduating with a diploma, I worked for a short while in two companies. Then I got married about 31 years ago while I was working. After marriage, I decided to resign and went into full-time business. I ran the business for over 20 years. In the intervening period I got a doctorate in Theology.
What really was the strong thing that made you want to quit business?
I got the call soon after I married, but I never knew that it was a call. I didn’t understand it until much later. In between, I had some challenges of life and storms of life. So there was no full direction. For the past seven years, my husband had been saying to me: “You know that you have to do something for the Lord. You have tasks to do for the Lord. But I didn’t go into it because there was no direction until when the Lord fully spoke to me. The Lord said that I should gather women and begin to minister to them about their homes and raising their children in the knowledge of God, so that they will become good citizens that will be blessings to the nation and humanity in general. That was when I started the Profitable Mother programme seven years ago. The programme has been wonderful. God has been meeting mothers at the points of their needs.
When you say, Profitable Mother, what exactly do you mean?
It is a fellowship session where mothers come together to pray concerning the future of their children. Once you pray for the future of your children, eventually your children will be successful. And that makes you a Profitable Mother. Once they are successful, of course, it will come down to you. When youths succeed, the nation is the ultimate beneficiary. When Kanu Nwankwo scored the winning goal at Atlanta Olympics, the Gold medal won became Nigeria’s glorious moment.
At Nothingham Forest, Taiwo Awoniyi is promoting Nigeria’s name through football. Mitchel Elegbe (Interswitch Group), Mark Essien , Shola Akinlade (Paystack), Tayo Oviosu (Paga), Iyinoluwa Aboyeji (Flutterwave), Juliet Ehimuan (Google) and Bosun Tijani (CcHub) are some of the Nigerians hoisting the flag of Nigeria high in the information technology space. They were once youths raised by committed, diligent and dedicated mothers who prayed them into success, on their knees.
Moreover, we also do empowerment training for women; we give advice on how to manage their homes and marriages for better and sustainable outcomes. l
When we look around, we all can see what is happening in our society now. We see young men and women using hard drugs, young ladies doing other negative things, destroying their bodies, young people engaged in the inordinate pursuit of wealth through foul, evil and illegal means. All these young men and women that have gone astray came from homes. They have mothers who failed to live up to their responsibility of nurturing them when they were still very young. Now these bad young man and ladies have been unleashed on the larger society as miscreants and other crooks. But when mother have a practice of praying for their child and guiding them, they will be successful. In essence, the purpose of Profitable Mothers is to bring the virtues of the Bible into practical reality, which people can experience. That was what Hannah did for Samuel.
Since you’ve been doing this, what has the experience been like?
It has been really, really wonderful. It has been changing the destiny of homes and causing turnarounds, resulting in many broken homes being rebuilt and couples reunited and strengthened. Many women who had sworn not to forgive their husbands for various serious things they did to them are turning a new leaf and have forgiven their husbands. It has brought peace into the lives of betrayed couples.
God has been so faithful in the lives of children. Many have been getting admission. Many women that separated from their husbands, resolved to reconcile and come together again. Hearing such testimonies always makes me give thanks to God.
How have you been able to fund and sustain the outreach program?
The Almighty God has been faithful. The outreach programme is sponsored and supported by Grace Christian Assembly Church led by Pastor (Dr) Joshua Adeyanju, a dental surgeon with more than 30 years’ experience, and convener of the annual God Bless Nigeria Prayer Session, held every October I, to pray for the country. We would welcome support from other people, whether by cash donations or provision of material things we can give out to the women as palliatives.
Through the outreach programme we have been able to help children who didn’t have the privilege of going to school, to get enrolled in school. Some of them are now in tertiary educational institutions.
In homes where there is disagreement between husbands and their wives, who attend your programme, what do you do?
First, you need to understand that our focus is the woman: if she welcomes and submits herself to the ministry and counsel of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Ghost will do the rest of the work on the man. Let me explain: the Bible says in Proverbs 14:1 that a wise woman builds her house while a foolish one tears it down.
If a woman that has been quarrelling with her husband begins to attend the programme, imbibes the teachings and goes back home, once the husband sees changes in her, definitely his attitude to her will change. Assuming she is the type that is intolerant, nagging and not accommodating, if she begins to change, the husband will respond positively. Some men may even follow their wives to experience the ministration of the Holy Ghost that brought peace to their marriage and home. The Almighty God wants women to intercede and stand in the gap for the Nigerian nation in this critical time. The senseless shedding of blood in Nigeria must end. The day a man said to me, “Mommy, thank you, you are doing a great job and my wife is improving at home” my heart leaped with joy.
I can see lots of changes. The word of God we are teaching them is really being applied in their homes. We have so many testimonies.
Beyond what you’ve done so far, what else are you planning to do to get more people to benefit from this? What does tomorrow look like for you?
Well, let me just put it this way: I will leave that in the hands of God. Building destinies is the focus of the programme.