INTERVIEW WITH PASTOR ITUAH IGHODALO

Thank you for accepting our invitation to be featured in the TA magazine. You are a wellknown Pastor, philanthropist, and nation builder. Please tell our readers about your family and educational background and how your upbringing has influenced your interest in ministry, philanthropy, and nation-building.

I come largely from what you call a civil service family. I was born and grew up in Ibadan in the 60s and early 70s. My mother was a civil servant, and my father was also a civil servant, although he worked largely in government parastatals. My primary school was in Ibadan, Secondary education was at King’s College, Lagos. I am the last of a set of three children, having a brother and a sister preceding me. Our upbringing was naturally strict, very disciplined, very committed to service, and also committed to serving Nigeria because that’s what both my parents did and that’s where my love and passion for philanthropy, for being of use to this nation called Nigeria developed from.

You have had a rich professional career in accounting and a fulfilling role in church ministry work, what are the guiding values that have been instrumental to your career? How have you been able to hold on to these values given contemporary times, pressures, and expectations?

My parents were very simple people, they were relatively well-to-do and comfortable for that season and that period. They were largely civil servants, so the first thing they reminded us of was the principle of humility. My mother said she was a farmer's daughter and therefore we should be ready to use our hands to work. From a very early age, everyone in my family had a domestic chore that we did every day. Mine was sweeping the gutter. On Saturdays, we would go with my mum to the farm. We had a farm on the outskirts of Ibadan then and we worked with the farmers, planting and harvesting corn, yam, cocoa yam, and all manner of things. We bring the harvest back home and roast corn by the fire. That was the upbringing that we had. My Father had a similar farm in Benin and we will go with him to the farm in Benin as time permitted.

We were privileged children living very simple lives. We were taught the principles of honesty, discipline, truthfulness, hard work, and anticorruption. We hated corruption with passion. We believed in the principle of fairness. Work hard, get decent pay, and so on. Those principles have not left us even today. My siblings and I believe in fairness, equity, hard work, justice, and the rule of law. Not breaking the rules and not circumventing the right things. People like us were not quite prepared for the Nigeria that we now found ourselves in. Where there is no equity or fairness, and where there is a lot of sycophancy, bribery, and corruption. It is very difficult to compete fairly in that kind of environment.

“Our upbringing was naturally strict, very disciplined, very committed to service, and also committed to serving Nigeria because that’s what both my parents did and that’ s where my love and passion for philanthropy, for being of use to this nation called Nigeria developed from.”

You sit on the board of several nongovernmental organizations; can you share with us what inspires and influences your decision to join these organizations?

I was telling my people in church a couple of Sundays ago that I just naturally like helping people. I think it is part of my DNA. I like to help anybody that needs assistance or support. I like to make things better for others, it gives me a lot of joy. I like to see people's circumstance change, I don't want to see anybody lacking or poor. Indeed, some people are a little bit difficult and lazy and want to keep being dependent, they don't want to help themselves; they keep coming back to you all the time, they can weigh you down, stress you but somehow you just keep going to see how lives change. Sometimes you are challenged, and you don't have enough resources and even the time to attend to everyone but that doesn't mean the instinct is not there.

When I see a problem, I set up a structure to help solve the problem and when I see people setting up structures to help solve problems, I automatically look at it and begin to have ideas on how they can do things better. I can boldly say that there is almost no problem or situation that afflicts man or is common to man that I have not thought of or thought of a solution to. I have not been able to implement all of them or make them happen. I have worked with others on some and it has not quite worked as we thought but I have thought about it all.

Today we have an NGO that responds to deaf people. Deaf people have challenges of not being able to communicate, they get angry easily and they feel disadvantaged. The NGO is called ‘The Silent Initiative’ to raise and support them. We have an NGO called ‘Disability Foundation’, which was founded by a man who is physically challenged. He has passed on but close members of his family and I are still working under the NGO today.

The current Vice-President of Nigeria , Prof Osibajo, was part of the NGO at a certain time. We have two motherless babies home, Prof Osibajo was on the board of trustees before he became the Vice President. That was my initiative, to ensure that no child went without a home and the idea was to make it not just ordinary motherless babies home, but the kind of home that I can live in, that is what was designed for both homes so that the children could be comfortable.

When we were funding children who could not pay their school fees we started a Courage Education Foundation. That was not originally my idea, it was a lawyer, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, the former Vice-President of NFF (Nigeria Football Federation) that came up with the idea. Today we have about 120 children that we are sending through school. The administrator of the foundation once called me, all excited, saying one of our students has been given a scholarship to do some work in Australia and go to school there. This is about the third or fourth of them. One of them is somewhere in Britain now in the Intelligence Service, and one of them graduated with a Masters degree sponsored by a parent who found him very useful. There is a girl called Aisha, a daughter of a security guard but now, she lives in Ikoyi and has an Ikoyi accent. To see these children have their lives so transformed is unquantifiable and it gives a lot of joy.

When we saw that blind people needed help, we started a blind foundation and I watched for the first time in my life, blind people playing football and I became the Patron of the blind football club in Lagos. Former First Lady of Lagos state, Mrs. Fashola and I used to support them at the time.

The founder has since passed but his wife is still running it and till today her house is a home for about nine to ten blind children that she is seeing through school and we are supporting. When we saw that when prisoners come out of prison they did not have where to go, we started working on ‘halfway houses’; where they could stay in before they are integrated back into society.

Our prison ministry is very strong in setting the captives free. Supporting the prison, we repaired their hospital last year for my birthday, bought benches, helped with their fellowship centers, and helped to educate some of them. We run music schools in Ikoyi Prison, Kirikiri prison, and Ladies Prison.

When we saw that old people needed support and help, we started a foundation for the elderly called ‘Wisdom First Foundation’; we go to their homes and support them and right now we are trying to start a club for the elderly where they can go and recreate, and hang out with their friends when their families are busy. We started a rehab foundation for the area boys, most of them are my friends in Isale Eko. We try to rehabilitate them.

My wife started a foundation for helping people who couldn't conceive, she called it the Ibidunni Ighodalo Foundation and we specialize in IVF. Today, we have helped about 25 families have and raise their children and we have supported over 120 families.

We now have about 25 to 30 successes from that effort. It is not inexpensive because it costs about 2.5 million Naira per head to sponsor a couple for artificial insemination. It was her last wish before she died and I am obligated to keep it going.

We have a foundation for my father and my mother that helps people in both their places of birth (Oke - Igbo where my mother came from and Ewohimi where my father came from) where we rehabilitate schools, set up fellowships, sponsor children through their education and so on. I believe very strongly in Jesus Christ's Motto, everywhere he wenthewasdoinggood.

The focus of the Rehoboth Dream Solid Foundation is education for indigent students as a contribution to solving some of the problems facing the educational sector. However, there are still many problems facing the sector with Nigeria being declared to have the highest number of ‘out of school children’. What role do you think individuals and churches can play to tackle this problem and what will be your advice to the next set of leaders on how to deal with this issue?

I hope the incoming government will be serious and focused. It is a shame that Nigeria finds itself in this position. It should not be so at all. There should be free education for all. While some people boast and say the Yorubas are the most sophisticated of Nigerians; It is because Obafemi Awolowo made education available for every Yorubaspeaking child and every child that grew up in the western part of Nigeria. Right from Asaba to Isale Eko people went to school for free at that time. Unfortunately, the North didn't respond fast enough and most of the out-of-school children today are northerners because they didn't value or put enough importance on education. In some instances, they deliberately weaponized illiteracy so that they could control the minds of the people and make them unable to defend themselves. Clearly, where there is ignorance, the people are destroyed and the best thing that leaders can do for Nigeria is to make sure that every Nigerian child is educated.

We love ‘abroad’ because most of them are educated. When you weaponize ignorance and illiteracy you increase crime, you decrease security, and you make sure that everywhere is chaotic. All the thugs, beggars, and children hawking on the streets are the results of a lack of education. The in -coming government must make sure it prioritizes education because there are enough resources; with technology, the cost of educating a child is greatly reduced but they are afraid to do it because when people are knowledgeable, they understand and begin to question government and that is why you are seeing youths uprising, they are questioning and making our leaders accountable but unfortunately, Nigeria has not been blessed with leaders who want to be accountable.

Churches must respond; instead of building big auditoriums, instead of organizing unnecessary programmes, why not use some of the money to educate people, take them out of ignorance and empower them. I am appealing to churches, leaders, and philanthropists to spend their money to educate Nigerians instead of partying. This can make going to heaven difficult for some of us. Jesus said if you are going to be perfect, sell all that you have and give it to the poor as there are treasures in Heaven, and come and follow me. There needs to be a new uprising, a new determination to help the poor people, weak people. We need to re-orientate ourselves in Nigeria.

“We love ‘abroad’ because most of them are educated. When you weaponize ignorance and illiteracy you increase crime, you decrease security, and you make sure that everywhere is chaotic. All the thugs, beggars, and children hawking on the streets are the results of a lack of education.”

What inspired you to establish the Trinity House Church and how has your ministry impacted the community in Lagos and beyond?

I know that I have a call of God on my life. I have always wanted to help people but I did what most young men did, I wasn’t interested in church or Christianity even though my parents made us go to Anglican Church. Eventually, I got born again and found myself in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and I am not ashamed to admit publicly that I thought that my purpose and essence in life was to work very hard for the ministry of Pastor E.A. Adeboye and help him to achieve what I thought was God’s purpose for his life.

My desire was to make him number one person in Africa and the world that everybody will come to for counselling and help. I had a project called ‘Project Statesman’ to help promote the gospel and to bring peace all over the world through Pastor E.A. Adeboye and the Redeemed Christian Church of God. We had big dreams of inviting all leaders from all over the world to come to listen to the word of God and help Africa transform.

I thought the church was a powerful tool to help leaders in Nigeria to influence policy and politics and to transform Nigeria and Africa. That dream is inside me; we were running a powerful parish called the Christ Church, and it was extremely influential within the RCCG and outside. We co-operated with the government, we had many NGOs and things that challenged the government in Lagos State. We got people engaged and excited to work for God and make an impact but we had an issue over my first marriage, and I was asked to leave Christ Church and was not given any other assignment within the church. I felt maybe my time was up in RCCG. I stepped aside, waited on God for a year and God said “I called you to myself and not to any church or denomination, rise up and start your work again”

I started, and the name Trinity House dropped on my heart. We started and ran it on a similar template that we had run Christ Church just to make an impact in the world and transform lives, to open our hearts and be non-denominational because part of the problems of Christianity today is that Ministers are not in cooperation and not working with one another.

If the Christian body could truly unite, they could truly transform Nigeria not just by being influential in government circles but by being supportive of the government and doing what churches really should be doing to change society. That is what I believe in. If you think Trinity House has any impact at all, it is because that is the driving force of the man whom God gave that responsibility and we are still going to do more by God’ s grace.

“If the Christian body could truly unite, they could truly transform Nigeria not just by being influential in government circles but by being supportive of the government and doing what churches really should be doing to change society.”

What is your long-term vision for the Church? Where do you see Trinity House in the next 10 years?

Trinity House has a very simple map trackchanging lives, fulfilling destiny, transforming nations, and making it to heaven. The first thing you get in Trinity House is that your life must change. If you are a sinner, you must become a Christian, if you are a Christian, you must become a better Christian, if poor become rich, rich become richer, sick become well, well become healthier. You must find your purpose in life after salvation because there is a reason why God created you.

We also work to transform nations. I have been so vocal about changing Nigeria, it is nothing personal. I have a personal relationship with almost every leader in Nigeria; some have done well and some have not done so well. Some can do better; all I want is the best leadership for Nigeria and every state. If my friends are not doing so well, I will tell them and if they are doing well, I will applaud them and mind my business. I am not going to be a sycophant or a yes-man. I am not going to be a man who cannot tell the truth because I was brought up to tell the truth. At my age and stage, I have nothing more to prove or add than to see life better for the average person but the problem is that people do not want to hear the truth. If I do wrong tell me, I will apologize and mend my ways. We cannot continue life without telling each other the truth.

That is the dream and the vision for Trinity House, to make an impact in Nigeria, to be known for helping people and telling the truth. We hope we can have a branch of our church in every Local Government in Nigeria, hopefully at least every country in Africa, and hopefully in some of the major countries in the world and we will take it from there. That is the long-term vision for Trinity House and I will continue as far as I can, somebody else will take over from where I stop and run with it. It is not my church, it is the church of God presently in my care. Someday, I will need to hand it over to somebody else. I pray God will bring the right person who shares the vision and would do a better job than I have done.

“The first thing you get in Trinity House is that your life must change. If you are a sinner, you must become a Christian, if you are a Christian, you must become a better Christian, if poor become rich, rich become richer, sick become well, well become healthier.”

SIAO Partners which was co-founded by you is one of the leading audit & tax practice and consultancy firms in Nigeria. How are you able to combine the demanding rigours of accounting practice with life as a practicing pastor?

I can only say it is the grace of God. It has been a very punishing schedule for me and now as a single made us relevant, and given us sustainability and an edge to compete healthily. We are now becoming an international firm also annexing other firms across Africa and eventually across the world. We have big dreams. We are now going through a leadership transition to enable transfer to the next generation that will take over from us.

Are there any cross-over effects/impacts of your role as Founding Pastor of Trinity House to your professional accounting practice? Are the identified impacts facilitators or blockers?

Being a pastor and being an auditor are very similar skills. As an auditor you are preaching, helping, advising, counselling, supporting, criticizing, and sorting out businesses, especially from a financial and management perspective. As a pastor you are doing almost the same thing for people, so I find them to be complimentary roles. I am a pastor to companies and a pastor to human beings. I enjoy my accounting practice, especially the consulting part of it. The Auditing part of it was not too exciting for me because it is repetitive.

Consulting is a new challenge every time - advisory and solving problems. I also enjoy pastoring very much. We are coping, moving on, and doing our best. I have understanding partners in Mr. Odiache, Mr. Smith, and others. They have not for once disturbed me from doing my pastoral work. They have been of tremendous support to me and the church. I also support their other ventures where I can. We have a very tight brotherhood which is quite remarkable and now we are handing it over to the next generation. We are happy God has helped to bring us this far.

“It has been a very punishing schedule for me and now as a single parent looking after two young children, it takes a lot to try and be all things to all men. Pastoring

One of the identified problems of doing business in Nigeria is corruption and this is affecting both young and established entrepreneurs in the country. As an experienced business leader and management consultant, how do you think a society like Nigeria can promote ethical business practices, especially among young entrepreneurs?

The problem with Nigeria is that there are too many people who have not been really enshrined in ethics and morality. To a large extent, that is the fault of the military. Since 1966 when they had that coup, they began to break the system of Nigeria and the country has not quite been the same. A lot of young people are slightly disadvantaged because they do not find good examples to follow. The political leaders followed the lead of the military and in 1999 most of the leaders that emerged simply built on the foundation that the military had laid and became almost worse than the military leaders they replaced, such that in 2023 we are almost going back to the environment we had in 1983 and 1993.

It has become more of hounding of people, not wanting people to tell the truth and turning a lot of them into valiants just because they want to uphold righteousness and the rule of the law. Unfortunately, the wicked minority's voices are louder than the voices of the average Nigerian that wants justice. We must find a way of looking for more Nigerians that are ethical, moral, and upstanding, that will want to bell the cat and show the way forward.

Most Nigerians have lost their values. I have seen people that complain and condemn the government but immediately they get into government they keep quiet. They are worse when given a chance and resume their complaints after leaving office. Very few of us really like the truth, can look corruption in the eyes, and walk away from it. I have friends that have all the luxuries of life, houses, cars, and full wardrobes of clothes that they may never wear - it is unbelievable but the hope, love, and kindness for the simple man, they don’t have time for it. We are too self-centered in Nigeria and we must begin to speak against it and hope that people will hear and change.

The Ibidunni Ighodalo Foundation was formed to create awareness of infertility and provide financial support for families towards assisted reproduction. What advice do you have for married couples challenged with infertility issues and how can they cope with family and societal pressures arising from infertility?

It is a shame that society puts pressure on people simply because for some reason or the other, either biologically or spiritually they are unable to conceive naturally. It is nobody’s fault. It is genetics for some people, diseases, misfortune or not doing the right thing at the right time. The first thing is to let people know that there is absolutely no shame in not being able to give birth naturally. God has a purpose for every life. A great friend of mine said, “I just find my lane and I stay in my lane”. Everyone should find their lane and stay in their lane. Nobody is in full control of their lives.

We must trust and believe in God. Seek every kind of medical help and assistance we can get within our capacity. We must wait on God and find purpose in life, try and fulfil your purpose and make something of your life, keep going, serve God, and find joy in it. There is no benefit to societal pressure. When you die, you die alone and report to your maker, whether you had children or not it is not going to be part of the evaluation yardstick at that time. People need to understand that and move on with their lives.

“The first thing is to let people know that there is absolutely no shame in not being able to give birth naturally. God has a purpose for every life.”

Mrs. Ibidunni Ighodalo stood for certain ideals which she tried to express through the ‘Ibidunni Ighodalo Foundation’ and other charitable works. How are you holding the torch on these initiatives and what are the long-term plans for the foundation?

Well, my wife did not live long. It is a big challenge that such a good person did not live long, so I have decided that she lives long by immortalizing her life and continuing with everything that she would have loved to do. I think of her every day and I also think of what she would like me to do and how she would like me to manage the things that she left behind.

So, I am still managing her business, Elizabeth R, one of the greatest event management companies in the world. I am still managing the children she left behind for me, her Foundation (The Ibidunni Ighodalo Foundation), and even all the relationships that she had. I am still running those things the way she would have run them. I am also making sure we are all still together as a big happy family. I am determined to use what I have and appeal to my friends and brothers to support me to make sure this girl lives long through the dreams that she had and I will continue to do that.

“I think of her every day and I also think of what she would like me to do…”

Kindly share with us some of the challenges you have faced in your philanthropic work and what advice you have for people intending to venture into charitable causes.

The real challenge is people; finding the right people who are rightly inspired to help you do this work. There is no one that is an island and can work alone. You do not quite find the right kind of people with the right kind of heart, motive, and interest to do this work.

If you find the people, then the provision will come and the benefits will come but sometimes you give people an assignment, they have their own agenda and they end up not doing it right.

I had a foundation called the ‘Trinity Empowerment Foundation’ and I hired someone to help run it but he had his own assignment so he could not run it well. Eventually, I had to let him go. If only we could find the right kind of people, with the right motivation, things would be very easy. I focus a lot on ‘people identification’ and finding the right person to work with, if you find that person hopefully, they are more passionate than you, then they will make it work.

The second difficult thing is the resource; raising the money to do what you do. Most times, Nigerians want to hold on to their money, they prefer using their money to buy luxurious things. Getting people to use their money for good things is sometimes a challenge. Sometimes God makes those divine connections that the resources just appear at the right time. My philosophy is simple, “get the idea, cast the idea, run with it, tell as many people as possible, look for support, and do the best that you can within the time and resources that you have.

Religious intolerance and bias are some of the major fault lines impairing the nation. What are your suggestions to resolve these challenges and what would you advocate as the role of the church in facilitating the resolution?

People are religiously intolerant because they are wildly misinformed or a little bit ignorant. The first thing we need to do is inform people and educate them. When we talk about Christianity and Islam, the irony is that a lot of people do not know that both are more closely related than anybody could think. As a matter of fact, their origin is the same. They are all children of a man called Abraham or what the Muslims call Ibrahim. Ibrahim had two sons (Ishmael and Isaac) Ishmael went on to become the father of the Arabs and the Philistines, and Isaac went on to become the father of the Jews, and through Judaism came Christianity. So, the roots are the same, the teachings are similar with minor differences.

The unfortunate thing is that people tend to overemphasize the minor differences. The greatest difference is not the person of Jesus but the role of Jesus; Christians believe that he is the Saviour of the world, the Muslims do not quite accept that, and neither do the Jews. We do not need to fight over that, but the Jews know that Jesus lived and performed a lot of miracles, the Muslims say the same thing. They refer to Jesus in some places as the anointed one or the one who came to save but then is he the one who is the Saviour? People begin to argue, but it is not a big deal. You do your own, I do mine, and let us keep going and loving God, and let us keep accepting each other’s faith and belief. Even if the person is an idol worshipper and you try to convert him and he refuses, leave him. What is there to quarrel about?

We must come to educate ourselves and shake hands with other people. It is not by force to evangelize or force people into your way of life. It is ungodly to force people, even God Himself doesn’t force you to become God-like, He talks to you, and He says, behold I stand at the door of your heart and I knock if any man opens the door willingly I will come in and if you don’t open the door, no problem and God said I still love you anyways, because for God so loved the world that He gave for both sinners and saints His only begotten son. We have a group called “The Inter-Faith Group” that I have used to reach out to my Muslim brothers and friends and we have meeting regularly to see how we can all operate to make society a better place.

I go to the mosque, I have no problem with it. I go to the Onifa’s place. A lot of my cousins and friends are traditional rulers and they have their own way of worshiping God. I do not agree with it but I don’t quarrel. We keep it simple, we find brotherly love, tolerance, and acceptance, we allow people to be, and we try to tell them this is what we think is the truth but we leave God to do the convincing and we go our way. There is more than enough space for everyone to live a wonderful life.

“I go to the mosque, I have no problem with it. I go to the Onifa’s place. A lot of my cousins and friends are traditional rulers and they have their own way of worshiping God. I do not agree with it but I don’t quarrel.”

You promote good governance in Africa through the African Leadership Group. What inspired the birth of that platform? Kindly share with us your vision for the future of leadership and governance in Africa.

It is the same principle, the same love for man and the improvement of mankind. I find it intolerable that Africans and people of black skin have been so badly treated by the rest of the world. We have been enslaved, vilified, victimized, our resources have been taken, we have been colonized, and made to do things we really are not and therefore, I have a fight to liberate Africa through the emancipation of Africans and the opening of their eyes, uniting of Africans and the stopping of corruption.

Most of the corruption that we find in Africa is deliberate. It is the colonial masters that made sure they tried to hand over to the most corrupt of our people and when they found a few good people they killed them, they destroyed them and didn’t let them see the light of day. They kept on putting bad leadership in power because they knew that once leadership was bad, they would corrupt society and it will be to their advantage. Even now they are looking at Nigeria, all they are concerned about is ‘let there be peace’. Peace in a decaying society? How is that going to happen? They make more out of Nigeria and Africa in confusion and chaos than they would make from an organized and progressive Africa but the African Leadership Group aims to promote good, strong, ethical, virile, committed, passionate, disciplined, and progressive leadership not just in Nigeria but all over Africa and we keep speaking to that and educating people. We are soon going to start a leadership development school/ institute; the Africa Leadership Group in South, Central, East, and North Africa and have them speak truth to power in their various regions. I am committing the rest of my life to do the ministry and looking for credible leadership in Africa and everywhere we seem to find credible leadership, we go after them, encourage and support them to be leaders in their country.

Some people may not like it but we will keep looking for the right kind of leaders in Africa that will change and transform Africa, help to use our resources appropriately, help to set free the African continent, and tell these colonialists to sit in their places and stop suppressing us. I think Africans should wake up and smell the coffee and know that they are intellectually more capable than their former masters and then we can change the world.

How do you choose the guests you bring on board the African Leadership Group conversations and how do you measure the impact of your platform?

Sometimes by pure inspiration. So we have people like yourself (Mrs. Abimbola Joy Komolafe), different kinds of people who know the thrust and the tone of what we want to do. We do research also; we have a research engine that researches to see the appropriate people for each subject and each topic and we invite them. Thankfully, 95% of them have accepted and come.

Your married life with Pastor Ibidunni was well celebrated and renowned for the companionship and synergy you both shared. What would you say were the key ingredients for the success of your marriage?

I think to some extent, my maturity, and my understanding of the requirements for marriage. The basic requirement for marriage is love without expectation of return. Fortunately for both of us, we loved each other very much. I knew it by experience and she knew it by pure instinct and desire. She found in me a man that she could love and trust and I found in her a woman that I desire to love and look after. There was no issue at all.

Many young and vibrant leaders are emerging in Africa. With your interest and participation in leadership development in Africa in recent times, are you satisfied with the pace of leadership growth among the youth and the quality of leaders emerging? What should Africa do better in this regard?

I am not satisfied with the pace of leadership amongst the youth and the quality of leadership in Africa. The painful thing is that it is almost a helpless situation because the leaders are so powerful that they silence the majority and the few people who know better are too scared to talk and if they talk, they do so from two sides of the mouth and all they are looking for is to find the person that they think will be in power next and to become his friend. There is no truth in Nigeria or Africa and that is one of the problems and it has become an uphill task. I am beginning to think we need serious divine intervention to help us in Africa.

“There is no truth in Nigeria or Africa and that is one of the problems and it has become an uphill task. I am beginning to think we need serious divine intervention to help us in Africa.”

I would not say we agreed on every single point and there were days when there were one or two disagreements but because we both had the same vision, we loved each other, we were good friends, we were extremely tolerant, we liked each other’ s company, we made room for one another, we accepted each other’s weaknesses and faults and we said we would make it work.

It made it a very pleasurable and good journey indeed. She was an extremely generous person, very compassionate, hardworking, extremely creative, very kind, and a fighter, she could fight when she needed to defend her own, she ticks the boxes and she loved God. She made a few mistakes, she tolerated my mistakes, and absences from home and she supported me. I looked forward to seeing her every day, it was indeed a very lovely marriage and I miss her very much daily.

“I would not say we agreed on every single point and there were days when there were one or two disagreements but because we both had the same vision, we loved each other, we were good friends, we were extremely tolerant, we liked each other’ s company, we made room for one another…” accept that. People think that marriage is the solution to situations but that is not quite what it is. Marriage is another journey that you must take appropriately.

Number two, know who you are, know yourself very well, and what you want out of life. If you are not whole, you cannot give of yourself to somebody else. A lot of people are damaged goods, therefore, they are inappropriate materials to marry. You must be whole, well, and healed; you must not be looking for marriage to solve a problem but be looking for marriage to add to it and not to take out of it.

Number three, you must know your spouse, your intended partner very well. A lot of people jump into marriage with people they do not know and they began to discover the person in marriage when it is too late. You must know the person before you the same religious pedestal. If you don same values of the fear of God it may not work or one person will pay a bigger price in trying to keep that marriage together. If you are Muslim, ensure you share the same beliefs and make sure you agree as to who your judge or advisor should be in times of challenges and troubles; I am talking about spiritual advisors here. What is your reference point in times of trouble? The Bible/Quran, and whatever the holy book says concerning that situation is what both of you should do. When you are on the same platform in terms of who your umpire, mentor, guide, controller, and problem solver should be, that would help your marriage.

“A lot of people jump into marriage with people they do not know and they began to discover the person in marriage when it is too late.”

When Pastor Ituah is not preaching, mentoring, or building Nigeria, what does he do to relax?

I play with my children. People ask me this question a lot, but my work is relaxing, it is not stressful for me at all, I enjoy my work. I just need to rest, sleep and get energy and I am back doing my work but I spend a lot of time with my children, they give me a lot of comfort, fun, and enjoyment.

I love watching them grow, develop and watching them with their vocabularies, and watching them change and improve in character. I have a rich array of friends from different aspects of life. One of my best friends is HRH Emir Sanusi, we were childhood friends from Kings College. Some of my best friends are pirates, and buccaneers and they don’t stop being my friends; my brother and sister are my friends.

I have old friends also and I have very young friends even in the universities. Houseboys are my friends, my friends’ drivers, area boys, photographers, drug addicts, and even prostitutes. I have a rich array of friends that I hang out with and that I learn from. One of the things I enjoy doing is learning and absorbing in the atmosphere of people and knowing things that can help me in the future. I learn from every situation, I listen, I learn and I enjoy learning from the young, the old, the rich, and the poor and it makes my life richer.

“Houseboys are my friends, my friends’ drivers, area boys, photographers, drug addicts, and even prostitutes. I have a rich array of friends that I hang out with and that I learn from.”

What do you want to be remembered for as a pastor and what legacy do you want to leave behind as a professional Chartered Accountant?

Very simple, a man who came, who loved people, and who tried his best to help everyone that came his way especially Africans. I hope a lot of the institutions that I am working at and founding would live much more beyond me. I am hoping that whatever I have started professionally, especially SIAO will live to be a multinational firm that would provide training and value to many people and I am hoping that Nigeria would transform for the kinds of effort we have put into this nation to try and improve the lot of the average Nigerian and by God’s grace, I will Rest in Peace.