Pastor Joseph Adelakin a.k.a Ayewa, shares the story of his life with Tope OlukoleBackgroundPASTOR Joseph Adebayo Adelakun's birth was historic and said to have been contended with by the hosts of hell to ensure that it wasn't a reality. According to him, the devil tried what he could in order to terminate and destroy him when he was four months in his mother's womb because perhaps the devil had pre-conceived what he would become in future and because of many lives that God would use him for. Amusa Adelakun, now popularly known as Pastor Ayewa, had a Muslim background. He is an indigene of Saki, Oke Ogun in Oyo State, Nigeria. He is the second child and the first and only son of his mother, Rafatu now Sarah Adelakun who is the fourth out of the five wives that his father, Alhaji Salami Adelakun, had.His life's story would shock anyone. His battles began when the pregnancy was about four months and the mother started seeing signs of miscarriage. She was immediately given concoctions so that the pregnancy would not abort and action followed urgently to hide the pregnant mother in a nearby town, Ago Are. After his birth however, it was not until Amusa became four years old that he was taken back to his home town. Despite that, he was still being protected, by the use of charms and concoctions, in order to prevent him from dying, after he was taken back home.Early lifeAdelakun was delayed before he gained admission into primary school. The school authority made sure that his right hand reached the left ear before he was admitted, despite the fact that all his younger ones had been admitted. They believed then, that getting into the school should not be by age but how early the right hand could reach one's left ear. Suffice to say that his stature cheated him then.It took another space of about ten years interval before his mother could give birth to another child, who was named Awulatu Adelakun now Rebecca Wheghenu - a pastor's wife and later followed by the last born who was named Modinatu Adelakun, now Adepeju Adedokun.As a little boy, he had some Christian friends who used to come together and gather various metal objects which they beat as drums. That, he remembered, became his hobby because anytime he came back from school, he fell sick if he did not beat metal objects as drums. His father called him a lazy boy, because of that attitude. Sometimes, he sneaked to Oke Oro Baptist Church, Saki, to play drums with his friends without the knowledge of his father who was a Muslim, Ayewa revealed.The struggle of life started when Ayewa's father died in 1965. That led to hopelessness, frustrations and relocations. His elder brother, who was working then, wished to help him and other family members but being a salary earner, he could not do more than his income would allow him. He, therefore, left his hometown to seek a better life beyond struggling.After his primary school education, he wanted to proceed to Olivet Heights in Oyo, Oyo State, but there was no financial backing available to him. He also had the opportunity to attend and train at Oyo State Trade Centre now known as the Technical College but still there was no means to attend. He, therefore, lost all the priviledges to further his education. Hence, his struggle continued.Ayewa, as a young man, refused to be deterred, but believed that he could still do something else even when it appeared that all the openings to further his education had been blocked. He joined Kareem Electrical Engineering Company, at Ogunpa in Ibadan between 1966 and 1968 as an apprentice in electrical engineering, though in a local setting, through the help of his elder brother, Magistrate Bayo Adelakun.'My mother was not happy about my learning that trade because whenever she hears 'electricity', she is always afraid of the danger involved, not to talk of seeing her only son taking it up as a profession. "But my elder brother, Bayo Adelakun, stood in the gap, by assuring my mother that there would not be any problem with me. That was how I was allowed to start the training in Ibadan', Ayewa recollected.After the completion of his apprenticeship, he still believed that, that was not the purpose of his coming to the world.His journey into the militaryOut of frustration and hopelessness still, he joined the Nigerian Army in 1968, the same year he completed his training at Kareem Electrical Engineering Service, Ogunpa in Ibadan.When asked about his purpose for joining the Army, he said, 'I joined the Nigerian Army, purposely to die. I had lost hope in myself. That was why I sold myself and forgot about my life in the Army', he stressed. 'No knowledge is lost', says an old adage. As fate would have it, he (Ayewa) was posted to Nigerian Army Engineers Barrack, a.k.a Engineering Construction Regiment, based in Ede, then in Oyo State, but now Osun State, due to his electrical engineering knowledge.If it had been pre-destined and concluded that Pastor Joseph Adebayo Adelakun would not see his dream come to pass, God, in a mysterious way had arranged 'awkward ways' to make a way out for him, when he joined the Nigerian Army.Call to serviceOne day, he went with his friends to have their usual 'drinks'. On their way back, they heard the noise of some people, praying and singing, alongside their path, not knowing that God had arranged a good future for him that day. They said amongst themselves; 'let us go and see what they are doing there', purposely to make jest of them, but unknown to Pastor Ayewa, God had a divine arrangement for him!That day, Prophet S.O. Akande, popularly known as Baba Abiye, spoke to them and encouraged them to fellowship with the church, to which they obliged.Getting back home from the Christ Apostolic Church gathering, Pastor Adelakun, as a soldier used to immoral and sinful way of life had a dream which he quickly went back to Prophet Akande to narrate. The dream was interpreted by the Prophet thus: 'God said, if you can follow me, I will change your life for good. I have chosen you long ago'. We should not forget that at that period, Ayewa was still a Muslim called Amusa by mates and all. On the third day of that encounter, he had another dream thus: 'I saw two people who commanded me to lie down and open my mouth! I did immediately. My understanding later helped me to know them as angels of the Lord. They put something like surgical instrument in my mouth and I saw something like blood and water coming out of my system through my mouth. It was gushing out, so dirty initially but later became pure like a white liquid.' All these he told Prophet Akande who gave the interpretation thus: 'God is taking you into His theatre room to do a spiritual surgical operation in your life so that all those charms and concoctions that you have taken into your system will be flushed out. This shall not be a momentary process; rather it is going to be a gradual and continuous one. Therefore, for you to be used of God mightily, all these impurities must be flushed out of your body.' Pastor Adelakun was happy when he heard that dirty and poisonous materials have been flushed out of his system. Hear him: 'I was happy and more than happy when all these were revealed to me. I had become a nominal Christian at this period. Though, I was still called 'Amusa'. The truth is, I was happy when I heard the good news of that surgical operation in my system.' He shared this testimony with the Nigerian Tribune: 'I remember the day I was travelling from Ede to Oyo to visit my elder brother. On my way, it occurred to me that I had forgotten my charm, 'egbe'. When I got to Iwo town, I discontinued the journey, got down from the vehicle and went back to Ede to take it. This is to tell you how much I trusted in those charms. I could sit down in the front of any vehicle without any fear. I could also face any bullet in the warfront with those trusted charms of mine, unknown to me that it was the Almighty God that had been preserving me from evil.'What about this wonderful testimony' 'Precisely, nine days after I had destroyed those charms, I dreamt that I was going on a long journey and suddenly, I found myself in the wilderness, full of different types of snakes. As I moved forward on that journey, the snakes I saw on the ground became like an ocean. There was no space to put my legs on. I had no choice than to walk on the snakes. Anytime I looked back, I saw the snakes all over and anytime I looked at my sides, I saw the same. I had no choice than to move forward and march on the snakes, so terrifying and fearful.'His musical callWhat was the beginning like for the Ayewa Group' The unique identity of the group Ayewa International Gospel Singers came forth in 1976 at Christ Apostolic Church, Kawo, Kaduna . Brother Amusa, as Pastor Adelakun was then called enrolled in the church choir in 1974. He was then the composer for the church choir. According to him, he composed some of the choir songs even as a soldier in the Army. But there was a day when the Lord spoke to him to gather some talented singers together to form a singing group apart from the church choir. So, he obeyed and called five people to join the vision. At that time, the group had not been named; they only sang and performed in the church as the need arose. The names of the five members who started singing with Pastor Ayewa then were: Brother Mike Olorunponmi, now Pastor, Sister Elizabeth Sola Oludare now Evangelist Mrs. Olorunponmi, Brother Roland, the first Organist, Mrs. Ebajemito and Brother Abbey, now Pastor Abbey. But there came a unique Sunday when the group rendered a piece titled 'A ku ku ye wa' meaning 'It shall be well with us.' After that great and powerful rendition, members of the church met with Pastor Ayewa to thank God for the piece rendered because the church members were blessed and so, they developed interest in the group. Members of the church then went about greeting and prophesying to one another concerning the song, thus, 'it shall be well with us, it shall be well with you.From that point, all the members of the church always wanted the group to sing. They did not even mind listening to a repeat of the unique Sunday rendition.That is, 'It shall be well with us'.The group later met to choose a name for the band so as to avoid calling the group, Brother Amusa and co. Members were given opportunity by the leader to suggest names and the following names were suggested: A ku ku ye wa Singers; Golden voices; Angelic voices; Yi o ye wa Singers and Ayewa Gospel Singers.'Immediately somebody heard the fifth name, he quickly added international and called it Ayewa Gospel Singers International. They all supported the fifth name but they decided to re-arrange the words. That is how we have the name of the group as Ayewa International Gospel Singers till date. 'The mystery of the international then did not come to my mind to mean the mission to the world but I believe it was the Holy Spirit speaking through us then. We did not even know that we will produce any album, not to talk of going to any country abroad', Pastor Adelakun said.His evergreen albums Amona tete maa bo is one of the evergreen albums of Pastor Ayewa. It was the album that brought Pastor Adelakun Ayewa to limelight. Almost every recording store, danfo driver, trader, family, has a copy of this album. It was indeed a breakthrough. 'How many churches and people knew you before this ninth album'' He responded by saying: 'My family, my churches were channels through which we sold our albums then. But when the fullness of time came, the group was brought out to shine by the divine instruction to repeat just a track. People of God, especially gospel musicians should learn from this.'Future ProjectionFor the future, Pastor Adelakun Ayewa is on his way to launch a foundation that would take care of the less privileged in various areas through the impartation of the word of God to them.
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