By SAM EYOBOKA

Sapele is a city in Delta State, Nigeria, on the Benin River just below the confluence of the Ethiope River and Jamieson River. By the mid-19th century, Sapele was established as a trading village, occasionally visited by Europeans.

Call it emotion or nostalgia you will not be far from the truth. It’s difficult to find appropriate words to describe the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s sentimental feeling of attachment to the grounds of the Sapele Stadium penultimate weekend. All over the world, a stadium is regarded as place for recreation but the grounds of the Sapele Stadium harbours a sentimental feeling that marks a monumental turnaround for the life of the CAN helmsman, Pastor Oritsejafor.

For five days, the man regarded as the Number One Christian in Niger-ia pointed to a particular spot in the new stadium where the story of his transformation began 40 years ago and to him, extraordinary things happen to ordinary people in very strange circumstances.

According to him, there was nothing to suggest to anybody that he had promise of a rosy future; not necessarily beca-use he was born into a wretch-ed home but because of other extraneous circumstances that propelled him to the streets where hopelessness remained the watchword.

Marking the 40th anniversary of his conversion at the old decrepit Sapele Stadium during a crusade organised by the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, the CAN president took advantage of a similar 5-day crusade to relive his salvation experience with so much gusto and nostalgic attachment.

On a daily basis, he kept pointing to the very spot of the stadium where he sat with some of his friends initially wondering what a young man hooked on drugs would be doing in the midst of some vociferous group of Pentecostal Christians whose stock in trade was a campaign against racy and vision-less living.

To him, his true life story did not begin from the day he was born in the Moloney area of Lagos but that February evening in 1972 in Sapele when the fallen man of God guided him from a fruitless voyage to take up the yoke of Christ against opposition from old acquaintances and rookie drug addicts who felt left in the lurch and immediately made a 180 degrees turn-around.

Pastor Oritsejafor at the crusade

Quite unbelievably, the blood-red eyed Ayo Oritsejafor made a decision for Christ and since then the story is uniquely different, suggesting that the most wonderful ointment for the human heart is the healing balm of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How did it all begin?
Right from the first day on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 while the rest of the world was celebrating Valentine—Lovers Day—Pastor Oritsejafor flagg-ed off a crusade with a detail-ed account of how he jettison-ed his old crooked way of doing things which earned him, nothing but awe-inspir-ing public odium.

Reading from Acts 3:2, he liken himself to Saul, saying; “Like the story we have just read, 40 years ago, I was moving along the Marina in Lagos and sudden-ly I began to talk to myself with tears running down my cheeks and I said if there is a God, do something now to change my life. I was hooked on drugs. Shortly after I came to Sapele and I went somewhere to buy Indian Hemp when somebody gave me a leaflet announcing an impending crusade in town.”

He went further to narrate that he actually attended the cru-sade against all odds, with blood-red eyes and the first day of the spiritual revival packaged by late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, he came out to answer the altar call and gave his life to God that February evening.  He continued to draw attent-ion to his ugly past until that episode which totally trans-formed his life for good and today he had steadily grown to become the president of CAN.

There were morning sessions where different speakers including several American ministers preached at the end of which every participant was given physical food to eat in accordance with the CAN president’s interpretation of biblical account of how Jesus, after preaching at a crusade ordered his disciples to feed the multitude.

During the evening sessions, the CAN president and Rev. Peter Doseck ministered with signs and wonders following in terms of decisions for Christ and testimonies of diverse healings. Note worthy is that on a daily basis, Pastor Oritsejafor made spicific re-ference to his salvation experience in the stadium, pointing out that he had actually decided to mark the 40th anniversary to relive the experience with the hope of raising more fishers of men from among the participants.

By the third day, word had gone round the surrou-nding towns and villages and the crowd had grown bigger with the stadium stands completely taken. The highpoint of the third day was an announcement by the CAN president that he got a note the previous day from a fellow who equally gave his life to God the same he did 40 years ago but along the line he derailed.

The man, Charles Okiokpa came out and the twosome embraced one another beginging another round of  reminiscences and was invited to come over to Warri for a possible economic revival. The rains came down heavy on Saturday afternoon, the last day of the crusade, but the stadium witnessed the largest crowd of participants despite the downpour.

It must be said that music form the fulcrum of every crusade and the Sapele crusade was not lacking as Chioma Jesus and a host of traditional and conven-tional choirs daily ministered while the crowd resp-onded in ecstacy gyrating to different musical beats.

When asked if the crusade was worth all the trouble, the wife of the CAN president, Pastor Helen Oritsejafor said: “It was the greatest event that has happened. Flashing back, I tried to imagine a man with Indian Hemp, all manner of drugs in his pocket; he must have looked a bit wretched; and God picked that man up and dusted him and created a new chaspter for him and 40 years later, he has become the Number One Christian in Nigeria.

“What other sermon does one need? It was amazing seeing people turning up daily to give their lives to Christ. Who knows, God works in mysterious way; He may decide to raise another giant evangeklist from among those people. So, it was worth every kobo soent on it,” she stated, adding “that also tells you that God sees the end from the beginning. If Papa didn’t give his life 40 years ago, only God knows what would have happened.”