mortals. But for Prophet Pa Samuel Olawale
( a.k.a Kogberegbe) it has no meaning as he
sleeps in the coffin and in the grave preaching
the gospel. The Nation reports.
Conspicuously displayed on this Mountain of
Prayer is a big van with the inscription, 'The Holy
Michael Church of The Lord ( Aladura) Cherubim
and Seraphim , Preacher Prophet S.O Olawale
(a.ka.Kogberegbe)." In the said vehicle is a big
white-creamy painted coffin covered with a
black cloth having the following words 'THIS IS
THE END OF YOUR LIFE AND YOUR POST'
inscribed on it, all in capital letters!
Fear will normally envelope most people seeing
for the first time a coffin draped with black cloth
and a grave dug by the altar . This is, however,
a familiar sight to the congregation of this
church. They have grown used to it.
What is the connection between an empty coffin
and the church? Why should there be a grave by
the altar? These are questions begging for
answer.
Speaking to The Nation on why he keeps both
strange and curious objects, the spiritual leader
and founder, Pa Samuel Olawale, who is in his
80s, declared " Yes, it is true that I have a coffin
covered with a black cloth in the church , it is in
a big van .Not only this, I have a big hole dug by
the altar. You can go and see it, take the
picture .But for the grave or the hole, it is by the
altar. And next time, I will open it for you while I
am there .The two strange objects are pregnant
with meanings .I have reasons why I am keeping
them there."
While preachers , evangelists and men of God go
out preaching with the Holy Bible, asking sinners
to repent , Pa Samuel Olawale ( a.k.a
Kogberegbe) goes out not only with the Holy
Bible but always 'armed' with an empty coffin ,
a bell in his hand, preaching to sinners to repent
and come to God.
He said: " Yes it is true that I am carrying the
coffin about while preaching and what I am
trying to point out is that no matter how
wealthy you are you will not leave this world
with these money , it all ends here .You will not
go into the grave with your wealth or with
money , be you a civil servant who stole
money , be you an armed robber, be you a
landlord or a caretaker, your money and wealth
ends here the moment you are dead."
He continued: "Any time I go out, I would at
times sleep in the coffin, telling everybody that
that is how we will end .Yes, we should
remember this. If you are buried with expensive
coffin, clothes and jewelleries, all will be stolen
from you in the night and your carcass will be
left .To me, life has no meaning until we come to
God .Things are going wrong in this world and
we should mend our ways."
Kogberegbe added: "Yes, I even sleep there (in
the coffin and the grave) at times too, to let us
know that we will all end up in the grave!"
Asked whether people read different meanings
to it , he replied: "Oh no, no, they all know that
we are preaching the word of God .It is just to let
us all know that there is nothing in this life. This
is an ephemeral world, the grave is for prayer
and we open it every year while praying on the
mountain."
On what it is in the grave, the old man said,
"Nothing , it is empty , nothing ."
When this reporter requested to see the coffin
and the grave, the old man did not hesitate as
he called one of his disciples, Joshua Samuel, to
take him there.
Road to the mountain
The road to the church's mountain is about three
kilometres from the residence. It is along Ikotun/
Ejigbo Road. The big church is located in a
compound on the expansive mountain.
On the mountain is also a vehicle, and inside it is
an object covered with a black cloth. The
reporter asked the guide, Samue,l to open it.
The guide first of all screamed, "Holy Jah!," and
prayed. He then removed the cover for this
reporter to see the cream – coloured coffin with
the words: 'THIS IS THE END OF YOUR LIFE AND
YOUR POST' inscribed on it. And after the
reporter had taken some shots of photographs,
the guide again thanked Jah for His mercies and
then covered it again.
According to the guide, Kogberegbe is a bold
man who is a man of God worshipping God
Almighty. He said while evangelising with the
bus, they carry the coffin about and would stop
once in a while to bring out the coffin. In his
words, "We carry the coffin from the vehicle; it is
normal coffin .We are about four people who
carry it while I would be in my church warrior
soutane dress."
Asked to comment on the motive behind it, he
said: "Baba is trying to show the world that at
the end of everybody in this world, irrespective
of his status, whether you are rich or poor ,
whether you are a witch or wizard, whether you
have children or childless, whether you are a
tenant or landlord, this is how and where we will
all end .Baba would with a bell in his hand sleep
in the coffin in the public and be shouting on top
of his voice to everybody to come and see how
everybody would end. It is a big lesson for us all,
and it is very interesting. It is time we should all
change from our bad behaviours and turn to
Christ"
Encounters with the evil spirit
Kogberegbe also spoke to this reporter about his
encounters with the evil spirit. He said "I
remember that we used to trek from Somolu to
this mountain several years ago. We faced many
challenges. I can remember when on a midnight
as myself and two kids were going to the
mountain, we got to the base of an Araba tree
( mighty tree), we saw a strange light that
beckoned at us from the tree top and we heard
the voice that said 'This stupid boy
( Kogberegbe ) has come to disturb us again.'
But trust my God, nothing happened to me. I
prayed and the tree got dried up .It is God's
work .The evil spirit attempted to stop me from
worshipping God , but no evil spirit had the
power. Again, at Ojuwoye, they (evil spirits)
fought us, and again I commanded the tree to
dry up and it happened. It is the work of God.
Only God knows what havoc the tree could have
caused. You know a man with swollen scrotum
cannot be a goalkeeper. And it is God's work, not
of mine."
Who is Kogberegbe?
Call him a stubborn agitator. Label him a non
conformist; he is a different person entirely from
many other preachers. No wonder he is
nicknamed Kogberegbe (A no nonsense man).
He said "My name is Samuel Olawale. When God
called me, people started calling me Kogberegbe,
meaning a man who does not tolerate
nonsense."
He speaks with authority, and his congregants
listen with rapt attention. In his living room, he
conducts services and counsels those who come
for counselling and prays for them too. There are
portraits of Jesus Christ and of some Saints hung
on the walls. In his living room are big rubber
drums of water which he prays on to become
'holy water' and this he gives to people to heal
them of their ailments.
He prays for people who come to him for prayer.
His voice is heard as he prays. People of all status
mill around him for prayer. Whenever he is
praised that his prayer works, he would tell you
that it is not his handwork but God's.
Immediately he was told that he had a visitor
from the press, he humbly left the congregation
to attend to this reporter. He is loved for his
humility, passion for mankind. One thing he is
noted for is that he does not tolerate nonsense in
his church. In fact, he is treated as a king as his
followers and other people kneel down to talk to
him.
A disciplinarian to the core, in the presence of
this reporter, Kogberegbe acted out his name as
he scolded one of his followers for removing his
soutane and going to another place when the
service was still on. He admonished him for not
respecting God.
Genesis of his life
He told The Nation that: "I have been in
evangelisation since 1957 when I was called and
started it .It is God that called me. I was once a
police officer but that was a long time ago .If God
wanted to call you , he will do so immediately
and you will not steal, will not take another
man's wife, will not be dubious. You must not tell
lies because you want to be rich. Many become
prophets because of money. Most of you who are
practicing journalism are fraudsters. People are
afraid to walk in the night. Many of you reporters
are fake and go about taking pictures,
interviewing people about and collecting
money."
He spoke about the Boko Haram: "Now there is
the problem of Boko Haram, and you don't know
those praying for the country. Many of the
prophets are doing that silently. Those pastors
and prophets using human blood for many
things are devilish and will go to hell fire. But God
knows the truthful ones. Well, only God knows
who is worshiping Him. Today, the prophets and
pastors are doing what they like. But I love the
Catholic, who suffer a lot and they are doing
well. The Pentecostal Church is trying their best
too."
But he added, "He (God) said it is not those who
called me God, God that will come to His
Kingdom. It is not all of us prophets, pastors,
men of God that would go to heaven'
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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