Growing up, it took my parents a while to make up their mind on what religion to practice. Despite being Muslims, they had both gone to Christian schools and though I was young, I saw them being pulled on the two sides of the religion( Christianity and Islam) as my dad was gonna wake up at 5am to do his Muslim prayers but was also gonna grab his bible at 7am just before leaving home to read a few chapters. My ability to recite Psalm 23 and 121 today is as a result of that. We did the killing of the sallah ram too but we also celebrated Christmas. As a matter of fact, my parents were liberal enough to allow us go to church with friends on Christmas Day and trust me we had a lot of Christian friends. But that is not the crux of this my late night reflection. While we were pulled on the two sides of these religion. One thing my dad did not get confused with is that as a family, we were a die-hard fan of King Sunny Ade and his series of Albums. We were not just a fan, everyone who was close to us as a family knew King Sunny Ade probably had a special place in our home. He was part of our upbringing. My dad loved his songs so well and everyone in the family whether by compulsion or not, loves his songs. Obviously not compulsion because years after dad is gone, we all still remain a fan of this legend. I am not sure King Sunny Ade has a better fan than that of my family. Everyone in my family is still a fan.
On one occasion my eldest brother tricked me to thinking KSA was dead and I was weeping. My dad got back from work and wondered why I was crying and I told him Debo said KSA is dead. Lo and behold, though my older brother was joking, he had to pay for this the way an African father will deal with a son that spreads such rumours about the idol we secretly worshiped in my family. Don’t mind my rantings. Just listening to KSA and reflecting on so many happy moments we had growing up

I grew up as a good dreamer and I don’t think that has changed. Many times, my dreams have been very contradictory to my state. I remember long ago, my parents’ house got burnt and we lost everything however we were fortunate to have very committed family friends who were extremely gracious to give us a 3bedroom flat to live in for as long as we wanted. After staying in a free apartment for about a year or two, my dad moved us into our own uncompleted edifice. Things seemingly went a little bit bad for us. We had to move to the suburb of Lagos where civilisation was just approaching and approaching in a snail speed. You will almost feel furlong and forgotten living in such neighborhood at that time. Away from friends and activities. Somehow I think losing all his properties in a 45mins fire incident changed a lot of my dad’s perspective to life.

Despite I stayed in the suburb, i wanted to be out. I was a teenager and really wanted to keep an active social life however my parents didn’t think all that mattered. Yes! What they considered priority was my academic life. I always looked forward to return back to school (OAU) as it gave me a sense of freedom or independence. School allowed me mingle with a wide spectrum of people. The ones that lived in Okokomaiko and the one that lived in Lekki. However, I was fortunate to have this friend who lived in Lekki who had invited me for her birthday in her house during one of the holidays. It would be my first time in Lekki. My dad had taken us to VI on several occasions but never gone beyond 1004 Estate. So I really wanted to go to this new Lagos. I had requested my mom’s car and gotten my clothes ready to go have a party in Lekki. Though my family was going through topsy-turvy period, no one outside would have had any inclination with the type of charisma i reflected and i wasn’t being fake but was just graced by God. Where my family was after the fire incident was strange to me and this is beyond financial capability. My parents became more suspicious of life, my dad became more regimented. Though we had lived as “religious” family even while we were muslims and after becoming Christians, i think the fire incident made my parents more zealous which i struggled with and i sometimes think their response to the fire incident which resulted in their subsequent approach to their Christian Beliefs propelled me to find God for myself. Yes they were trying to sell their faith to me but they didn’t understand that consciously or unconsciously they had raised a teenager who doesn’t buy anything from anyone except on his terms. So to avoid just following after their theology, i wanted to know God for myslef.
Back to my friend’s birthday, so I decided to go with some friends from the backside of town to Lekki Phase 1. As we drove to Lekki, my mind was flooded with different imagination of the kind of life i wanted to live. It was a work day and we had to drive through VI looking at all the Men in suit entering into their high-rise offices without me even considering if they were experiencing some stagnancy in their career. At least all i saw then were seemingly successful men in suits working in a high-rise building. I drove into lekki and fortunately or unfortunately, I missed my friend’s house which allowed me drive pass some magnificent houses at the lagoon front. I could imagine the residents enjoying the evening breeze been quietly carried by the waves from the Atlantic Ocean as it cascaded into the Lagoon. By the time I finally found my friend’s h After driving around i finaly found my friend’ house. To be honest the psychological trauma of how to bridge the gully between where I was coming from and where I have come to visit had cost me my appetite. I was given food and could not eat though I was hungry. I wondered if these people here had two heads.
Understand that my frustration was not a one-off. It was a weekly if not a daily one. The church I attended did not make it easier. I attended the House on the Rock church (which I still attend) with a lot of upwardly mobile Christians as congregants even though they had their respective challenges. I needed a lot of hope and faith to tell me my life can be better and no other person could give that to me other than Pastor Paul Adefarasin. Though it was hellish having to attend House on the Rock. The distance, the emotional trauma of continuously asking myself if I would ever be able to attain the social class of the people I church with. Was it for the money and wealth? No! it was a desperate need for a message of hope and the ability to be able to sit next to fellow congregants and not feel like a misfit. I remember how I believed God for every N500 to transport me to church. My parents did not see any reason why I had to travel so far to get a word from God when there was a Redeemed church in my compound. Needless to say my dad was magnanimous enough to give a parcel of land to a Redeemed church even in his broken state. On the other side, the best explanation my friend could give to my craziness of going so far to church was to look for the crème de la crème ladies. Far from it. I was uncooked. They were not even going to pay attention to me. I had just one Baggie jeans. I never made it to the Main Auditorium. I sat in the over flow for two reasons, I was always late to church because of the distance and I just did not want the camera to capture me in my uncooked state. Listen to the Word, Buy the Tape, Give an offering if I had one and get back to my shack, trusting God for the transportation to go to church next Sunday. That was my experience.

My frustration increased when a friend in all the euphoria of the church moving to lekki the Rock cathedral (Millennium Temple then) broke the news to me. Rather than get excited, I was depressed because by my mental calculations, if going to Muson Centre (where we had Sunday service then) was herculean, I wonder what churching in Lekki would be. For me, it would be a time to reconsider. But even at that, I sat back and mustered a few words to God. Whether the prayer was godly, selfish or devilish, I do not know. But I told God House on The Rock church ain’t moving nowhere to Lekki until I finished school (OAU) get a job on the Island so that it will be convenient for me to go to church. Yes the church didn’t move until I did all of those things.

It has taken my Pastor about 15years to build the Rock Cathedral and it is magnificent. Yes it is. I have heard him saying he drove pass the Lekki-Epe stretch many times without any inclination he was driving pass something he was going to own. (Visionary). And right now,  I also wonder what I am driving pass that is already mine in futuristic terms but I do not have at the present. I have a lot of dreams that some will term as greed but I think I am only living up to my creed. I remember driving with my dad in his Peugeot 504 into the Cement Factory Staff Quarters back in the 80s. I witnessed the protocol as they called the family we were going to visit at the gate, I saw the golf course, I saw a lot of greenery and I jumped up in the car and told my dad, this is the kind of place I want to live. My parents chuckled but I have not forgotten that dream. Needless to say that dream has kept me uncomfortable living in place people will ordinarily celebrate. My present neighborhood is far from where I want to live but I am happy I am aware of it. I am happy I have the discomfort. I recently move to the Lekki-Ajah axis of Lagos and I feel terribly small. Not because my immediate neighborhood is Porsche but because I drive pass the very Porsche neighborhood and my experience on my first visit to lekki comes upon me.  However, I should state that I work in Victoria Island now. In an high rise building, one of the big four Accounting Firms in the world, I have the privilege of driving the Honda Baby Boy I dreamt about, I live along the axis I dreamt about but I still feel very far which reminds me of that line in that song- feels close but still so far.

However there is a lot of comfort in knowing that I am moving. Some move in leaps and bounds and I am happy for them. But I thank God for every millimeter I take towards my destiny because I know and I am persuaded I will live out my creed. Did I mention I often wish I never had dreams and I try to run but I have learnt that I do not own my dreams, they own me because even when I try to hide from them, they keep finding me out. Reminding me of Genesis 28:15b “I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken of thee of”

Richard Olatunji