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| Prophet Cletus Chukwunwuba Ilongwo |
Emeka
Ibemere
He was born with the multiple gifts of
healing, singing, composing, writing and praying and with knowledge of
identifying herbs that could be used in healing sick people and other ailments.
At age six and in Primary three then, he
could pray for the sick and administer herbs that could heal the sick but he
never knew the imports of what was in him, until God called him one afternoon
and like Samuel in the Bible; he went into prophet- hood.
Today, his Ministry has grown. Welcome to Prophet
Cletus Chukwunwuba Ilongwo, popularly known as Obo Oku Jesus, and oje Na muo
Jesus (flame of fire), the seer of the Holy Spirit Evangelical Ministry,
Abulado near International Trade Fair on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Lagos
State.
Beginning of this year, several men of God
and prophets prophesying several frightening things: ‘Nigeria will break’,
‘prominent politician will die’, there will be no election, and other sundry
predictions that could make Nigeria look like Afghanistan and Kosovo! But Prophet Cletus has different prophesy for
the country.
For him, there was going to be light at the
end of the 2014/2015 political tunnel in Nigeria. Prophet Cletus says Nigeria
would remain stronger and united after the predicted disintegration of the
country. According to the prophet of God
whose Ministry is also in aid organization that caters for prisoners in
Nigeria, the crises in the country have nothing to do with the disintegration
of Nigeria.
“No, no! Nigeria cannot break in 2014 or
2015. The election will go smoothly. Jonathan will be there in 2018 and he was
going to win the 2015 Presidential election,” Prophet Cletus said. The prophet
also advised Nigerians that it was only prayers that can solve the problem of
the country and admonishes them, to top up in their prayers.
“My message this year is that there is no
politics in this country. We don’t play politics here because we don’t have
politicians. The only thing I’m telling the Christians is to pray”, advised. “I
tell you the truth; there are no politicians in Nigeria. It’s only God that can
save us. God gave us everything but denied us leaders. The problem is that our
leaders are interested in the oil and forget the necessary things they supposed
to do. They don’t think about the poor people and as servants of God, we don’t
do what we are supposed to do”. He further said.
The prophet who believes in prophesises said
there wasn’t anything wrong for men of God to make prophesies but that it’s
only God who decides that next hour. Prophet Cletus disclosed that you could
make a prophecy and at the last minute; the Almighty God changes it.
According to him, it’s God who has the final
say. He explained that when God changes prophecy, it doesn’t make the man who
made the prophecy a liar or not true man of God.
“We are human begins. We make mistakes and if
you a prophet or pastor, many things; we can prophesy whatever we want to say
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, but God has the final say”, he continued.
“He can change things over night or within a second that is how God works.
Nobody dictates for God, nobody can decide what God can do and as am talking to
you now, I don’t know what will happen in the next 30 minutes but you can come out
on air and said God said or told you, but He has the final say”.
“You may predict and it come to pass it’s not
because you are perfect but God want it to happen. God speaks through
everybody, even you, God can speak through you but if he speaks to you, you can
work towards it but when you fail to work towards it, it won’t work that is
while some of us when we say something and it didn’t work, not that that God
didn’t speak to us”.
According to him, “God really speak but you
can say the thing will happen in so time and when it didn’t take place that
time it doesn’t mean you are false. It is because God has the final say. I
don’t see anything bad in making prophecies whether it materializes or not,
it’s only God that has the final say. Most important thing is for you to be
serious in whatever you are doing”, he stated.
In the last seven years, Holy Spirit
Evangelical Ministry has in its prison welfare scheme paid visits to the 37
prisons in Nigeria and fed over 32,000 inmates across the country.
“We go to prison visitation every year to
feed the prisoners in the 37 states of the federation. I started prison
visitation since 2006 and till last 2013, we were with them. Last year, our Ministry
fed 32,000 prisoners throughout the country. Our Ministry and the prison
authorities are in good relationship. Asked them about our Ministry, they will
tell you how supportive we have been to them”, Prophet Cletus stated.
The Uke in Idemili North local government
Area of Anambra State born prophet said the story of his Ministry was a very
long one.
“One day, I was with one person before now; I
was a businessman before God now called me and said the ‘time has come for you
to work for me’. He said I should do what he asked me to do. I started one day
with one person, going house to house praying for them. I prayed for one person
just like that in Lagos state. It started in 2000 and 2001, before then I was
staying with my in-law at Orile area of Lagos”.
The most striking thing about prophet Cletus
was his religious background. Born and bred Catholic, Cletus started his
Ministry without pulling out of the church where he was baptised. Today, the
prophet still attains Catholic Church and observed every Catholic prayer life.
“I’m a Catholic and am still a Catholic. I
served mass and by then I was staying with a Reverend Father, then I passed
Seminary School but because of poverty I couldn’t make it. Sometimes we cannot
eat three square meals in a day. In school, we were driven out because of
school fees and other things. Because there was no money, my father asked me to
go and learn trade, so that we can raise money. My both parents are still alive”,
Prophet Cletus added.
None of his forefathers or ancestors was into
divination and before becoming a prophet, strange things were taking place in
Cletus’ life as everything he lays his hand fails to flourish. Aside, he
couldn’t understand what he was doing with his life and things were ‘tumbling,
wobbling and fumbling’. Yet he wasn’t considering the prophetic option as means
to ending the strange things happening to him. Instead, he would dismiss it
with a wave of hand.
“Before then some people and family members
have been telling me that I have a call, they will tell me you are just wasting
your time here in the business line that I should go and answer my call but I
would only laugh over it”, he stated. “So Infact, it was a long story. When I
was in business, I was virtually not doing well, it seems strange things were
happening to me and some men of God will tell me go and answer your call leave
business, that am in a wrong place and things like that. I had a voice, ‘go and
do my works or you die’”. Prophet Cletus quipped.
“I can only recognize that during those days,
sometimes in Primary three or four, I used to go to the bush and get leaves or
weeds and administer it to people who are sick and their sickness would go.
Even those looking for the fruit of the wombs, I would go to my father’s farm,
pluck some weeds or leaves and administer it on them and they will conceive.
Till today, I still do it and it’s still effective”. How did he come about his
prophetic calling?
“When I asked my parents, they told me that
they have no native doctor and that they are only devoted Catholics. My father
would tell me that the only way, he would be happy for the work he was doing
for God; was to see that God arrest one of his sons to serve him. We don’t have
any Priest in my family and my father would say I know you will be great man of
God; that he was sure I was destined for something great and so when the call
came, my parents were not surprise that am a prophet of God. I have many gifts
of singing, healing and praying, deliverance so many of them”, Prophet Cletus
explained.
In exploring his gifts, the talented prophet
has released eight albums and still waxing more gospel music that would soon
hit the airwaves. His gospel genre of lyrics has the popular Father Mbaka types
of lyrics. All the albums are praise songs.
Prophet’s music according to him, are on the
promptings of divine power.
“It came as a direction from the Holy Spirit.
Talking to you now, I can write 50 songs at a time. I write songs and am the
owner of these three albums: Saint Mathew Daniel; healing Power and kporo ya isi Na ala and Aka nso and
other ones. The time I wrote the songs I never had the instruction to go to the
studio so I mandated somebody to go to the studio”, he added. “When it was the
time, the Lord asked me to go to the studio and I went. The woman voice in the song
was my wife’s voice”.
Prophet Cletus is happily married and is
blessed with a baby girl. He disclosed that despite having his Ministry, he
wedded in the Catholic Church with a Catholic Priest officiating the wedding. “I
married and wedded in the Catholic Church. I was wedded by a Reverend Father in
my village. I went to Catholic Church last Sunday”.
There is no controversy about how Prophet
Cletus runs his ministry with Catholic stylishness. At the popular Holy Spirit
Evangelical Ministry, ‘Hail Mary’, ‘In The name of the Father, Son and of the
Holy Spirit’ is the beginning of service. “I follow the direction of the Holy
Spirit. It is very easy for me and very easy to God”, he said. Here, what you won’t notice like in other
orthodox and unorthodox churches is the observation of tithe and offerings.
Nobody taxed anybody to pay tithe and offerings. It wasn’t that it’s an
aberration in the house of God; the Prophet says God hasn’t directed him to
start collecting offerings and tithe in his Ministry.
“Yes! We don’t collect offering here and we
don’t collect money from people. Offering is in the Bible but for now; God has
not asked me to collect offerings for now but in future, if God asked me to do
it I will do it. I don’t collect kobo from anybody. On service day, you come
and collect blessing and go”, he stated.
“Those who collect offering are not doing the
wrong thing; you know their callings and my own are not the same. Everybody has
different callings. The way your own came you face it. I didn’t say offering is
wrong but I said for now, we won’t collect offering. Besides, I go to Catholic
Church and I give offerings. I support the work of God; I have donated in the
building of the church in Ikeja. These days, because of money, people leave
God’s order and started doing their own”, continuing the Prophet said.
“Let me give you example, if you come and god
bless you; is left for you to thank God and it’s not by force. It must come
from your mind and whatever you decide to give God; we don’t say you must give
this and that, no. I drive myself, I move freely because I have not offended
anybody. It’s only when you have skeleton in your cupboard that you will be
afraid not to go out freely. Am alone, but when you touch me you touch the God
in me. I believe in what God said and if God cannot raise anybody up who can
raise you up”?
“If you believe in what God has deposited in
you, you don’t have to start looking elsewhere. So you don’t have to rob to own
a car. If you believe in your God and you came here we pray together and things
changed for you and you become a millionaire, you can buy 100 cars. So you
don’t need to cheat people to buy car. I believe in the gift the Lord has
deposited in me. I didn’t go to pastoral school; I was called to be a prophet”.
At the beginning of the Ministry, the Prophet
of God said it wasn’t easy running the Ministry because of its Catholic
background. He faced challenges from the Catholic Church who felt uncomfortable
with his brand of Ministry. So many petitions were written against his and as
if that wasn’t enough, it was followed with aspersions and false reports
against the Ministry but like a church founded on good foundation; it’s still
flourishing after the attacks.
“I had challenges from the church more than
father Ede when I started. You know, we are worshipping one God and I’m not
going to Catholic Church because of the Reverend Fathers or any other person,
but because of God. I go there to serve my God”
.According to the prophet of God, the issue
with the Catholic Church was solved by God.
“God resolved everything. Majority of our
members are Catholics. I use to announce it with microphone that they must
first go to church before coming to the ministry because, I will first go to
the Catholic Church on Sunday before coming for the ministry service. Why
people don’t know how God works is because of money”, he disclosed.
“If you really serve God, whatsoever you will
be; that you will be. Whether you keep service everyday or not what god said
about you must surely come to pass. Okwu Chukwu’, (the word of God), about you
must come to pass. When Catholic members started writing about my ministry I
started laughing because, my Ministry was designed by God but those who don’t
know about it would be saying what they don’t know. What people say doesn’t
matter. The most important thing is to keep your hands clean”, he said adding, and
“When people talk about you it’s a pleasure because it’s only the dead that
can’t talk about you. Even you there are people who don’t like you and they
would say so many things about you. People will always fight your star, Herod
fought Jesus Christ’s star and tried to stop him and in the process, he killed
so many children but Herod cannot hold the star of Jesus, if you have star,
people will fight you even from your family but the only thing is to keep calm and
be focused because at the end of the day, God has the final say”.
Services are only on Tuesdays starting
from the morning, afternoon and nights. No Sunday service is observed
“Most of my services have Catholic
background. First of all, I will declare the service open with the word of God,
and then ministration will come up, healing and deliverance. I combine them
together at the same time. No holy communion is shared. This is not Catholic
Church, it’s a ministry where everybody will come and receive blessing and go
back to his or her church”, he said.
“I don’t keep service on Sunday because, I go
to Catholic Church on Sunday not because of Catholic Church but because God
told me not to keep service on Sunday. Am a full fledged member of the Catholic
Church. I cannot administer Holy Communion here”.
The ministry doesn’t bother about canvassing
for membership. It is interested on souls that would really serve God.
“We have no signboard and we don’t go to the
radio, TV, or go to look for membership. Our membership cut across other
denominations. When God bless you, you don’t need to make noise about it. We
can’t go about canvassing for membership”, he said.
“Once you come here and pray, and God blesses
you and people go about telling others the next day people come. We don’t
advertise our miracles. Come here and see for yourself the crowd that comes
here ever Tuesdays”.
Prophet Cletus drives himself and has no
personal security details attached to him or his Ministry like many churches
are known today with. According to him, it’s the Lord that protects. “I have
what it takes to produce many police and army here, but the Bible said, the
house God doesn’t watch, the watchmen are watching in vain. I don’t need to
build security everywhere when my hands are clean”.
“I drove myself here today and always I drive
myself. Unless your hands are not clean, then you can begin to go with convoy
and crowd of security operatives or you have been offending people that is when
you begin to express fears. This is a house of God, it’s a ministry and so God
protects his house and his servants and members. The Bible said my people know
me and I know my people. If God cannot protect me, his prophet; who will God protect”?
He queried.
Prophet Cletus said razor touched his head last
when he heard the voice of God to work for him. According to him, his dreadlock
hairstyle was God’s design, “that is how God designed it. I think when I heard
the voice that I should no longer cut my hair since then I haven’t cut it. I
used to go to saloon, but when I hear the voice saying, don’t try it again, you
don’t know who you are, if you try it, I deal with you till today; no razor has
touched my head”.
The prophet stated that some men of God don’t
care for the poor in their community and churches. He frowned at the attitude
of some men of God who have abandoned the missionary duty of what the Church
stands for.
“You know, it is about individuals and you
can’t change person and his character. Am not here to criticise anybody,
because the bible said, don’t judge and I don’t judge and don’t judge me. It’s
only God that can judge everybody”.
“No matter what you do, no matter your
prayers what God has created nobody can change it. If you like give somebody
N100milion, if he doesn’t have the mind to give; he won’t give. But there are
those who can give even if they have N100. They will give it and remain pocket
less. That is life for you”.
At the Holy Spirit Evangelical Ministry,
wearing of trouser is forbidden. Nollywood make-up and open hair shows are not
allowed.
“You cannot wear trousers here or mini skirt.
I advice them to dress properly, especially when they are inside this place. If
you leave the church premises and decide to go naked outside, the person is
free because I cannot follow you to your house and know what you wear because
it is not my business.
The name of the church came by the Holy
Spirit and I was in a trance, when the name was revealed to me in a bold
written form”.
On challenges, the prophet stated that it
serves as springboard to him no matter the kind of challenges he faces.
“I love challenges because it makes you
perfect, it makes you grow and it brings the best out of you. It puts you right
and without it you can’t go anywhere but people sees it as a curse. Some
Christians see challenges as uncalled for; that you are a Christian doesn’t
mean that you won’t face tribulations and challenges”, he counselled. “I always
tell my members that if you are truly servant of God, you must face challenges
as a servant of God. Moses, Gideon, Joshua and David once faced challenges and
it brought the best in them, so my challenges bring out my best. Even here, am
facing challenges both spiritual and physical, even from the least person you
can think of. I overcome it through prayers”.
How would he handle negative reports like
some other men of God have been on the negative side of media attacks, Prophet
Cletus said it doesn’t disturb him.
“It has come. The first time I saw my name in
one newspaper that I’m a ritualistic; that I use olive oil to do all these
things and that am juju man. Am happy and it doesn’t border me because, I know
the God I worship. It doesn’t remove anything from me. I always tell men of
God, if people write bad things about you just laugh over it and don’t see it as
anything. If they can say that Jesus slept with a prostitute, who am I. That
somebody will say something about me I will go and start crying, no! So when
they wrote against me, I said let them continue but the most important thing;
let your hands be clean”.
