By Chibuzo Ihegboro
On the day he turned 60, people from all walks of life gathered to celebrate Rev Ben Eragbai, the general overseer of the Divine Appointment Ministry International.
The gathering for the celebration was in the church, The New Cathedral Prayer City of Testimonies at No. 6, Avera Estate, by Lagos Business School, Ajah.
The venue was bursting at the seams and the occasion was boisterous.
However, the turn of events took a philanthropic direction in which the celebrant showed his altruistic nature by distributing rice, groundnut oil, salt and some other needful things and some cash gifts to the less privileged and the needy. At a time when the country was in the throes of economic hardship, the man of God’s birthday became a blessing to many people.
Rev. Eragbai, who reached the milestone of 60 years,has lived a life that has become one defined by colourful achievements that have made him outstanding as a colossus among other men, as a multitalented international motivational speaker, bestselling author and Bible expositor extraordinaire.
As an erudite personality, he’s an alumnus of the University of Benin and Gospel Light International Ministry (GLIAM) Bible College, where he earned a degree in Bible theology, and in 2010, he was awarded a doctorate for excellence and outstanding performance.
As the senior pastor of Divine Appointment Ministry International, Lagos, Rev Eragbai is known as an indefatigable soul winner who leads his congregational members periodically to conduct street evangelism in Lagos, taking praises and glorifying God to the people in a fashion he calls ‘Church on the Streets.’
Jesus’ Soldier, as he is popularly known, is the principal host of ‘Divine Power,’ a gospel radio and television programme aired nationally and internationally.
He is the host pastor of War Against Satanic Manipulations, an annual event that holds annually at National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
He is also a prolific writer, and author of several best-selling books, including such titles as ‘Living Above the Law,’ ‘Wisdom Capsule,’ ‘Power to Trouble Your Trouble,’ You Too Can Be Rich and ‘Let’s Talk about Sex,’ among others.
As a philanthropist, he succeeded in rehabilitating some area boys within the church’s community; some of them ended up as officers and associate pastors in the body of Christ.
At 60, therefore, he has a lot to celebrate, and many reasons for an extravagant celebration.
On his birthday, the milk of human kindness in him flowed to others.
Speaking on the motivation for his philanthropic action, he said: “With the situation in Nigeria today, it would be very unfair for me to come in here expecting anything from anybody because of the way the country is at the moment. We are still praying that the country will turn around, especially today where we have lost a lot of our best brains to the Japa Syndrome. You can see the multitude here, many of them can’t afford a square meal a day anymore.”
He said further: “In previous years, Nigerians didn’t commit suicide but now it is rampant. Now you have to ask yourself, How do I help? What do I do? This is my own little way of contributing and I feel it’s right for me to do this. I told my people that I don’t need anything, all we just need is to meet the needs of the people and that is what I tried to do.”
Reflecting on the state of the nations, the man of God did not mince his words when he said: “We believe it’s going to get better. People always say Nigeria is bad but Nigeria has never been good. Let’s face the reality. We heard the likes of Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Ras Kimono singing. They all sang against injustice, hunger and starvation. The situation is worse today. The only thing we can do is for everyone to pray for this nation and also believe God will positively turn things around one day.”
In the same vein, he bared his mind about the Japa Syndrome, which many have taken as an escape route from the challenging situation in Nigeria, leading to a massive brain drain in certain sectors of the economy of the country.
“Most nations our compatriots are running to also had issues in the past. There’s no place like home. I see people selling land to travel abroad; it’s not the best way out, because I believe this nation must surely rise again and it’s just around the corner. I believe it has started already.”
Turning 60, he averred, did not exert any toll on him.
His words: “I feel energetic. I feel like I am 35. I just finished the gym yesterday. Someone told me You don’t look 60, I told him if you serve Juju, you look like Juju, and if you serve God, you look like him because God is the ancient of days, he doesn’t age, he doesn’t die.”
Dance, choreography, comedy and a scintillating performance by a band of disabled members called Voice of Truth were some of the activities that thrilled the guests.
Well-wishers who spoke after the event lauded Rev Eragbai’s acts of benevolence that made the day memorable.
The Commissioner of Police,Lagos -State,Fayoade.M.Adegoke revealed that Eragbai as a friend of over 20 years described him as an unusual Man of God,”I have known Reverend Ben Eragbai since my days as DPO at Ilupeju,he takes Christianity to the streets.He converted a lot of Area boys and today most of them are now Law-abiding citizens and are even ushers in his church.A rare feat by a Minister of God.
The Commissioner also further spoke on the role of the Church in the society as a moral compass for citizens.
“They have a lot of role to play,to encourage people to imbibe the life of Christ,if the church has bigger influence on the society,the society will be much better”.
“My wishes for him are numerous. I wish him a long life, greater exploits in the vineyard of God, tremendous blessings to people and he should continue with his messages to humanity. He is already a blessing, I wish him more blessings to bless others,” one of the recipients of his kindness prayed.
A second respondent said: ” We are in a society where we need to show love and fellowship to the needy. That is what Pastor Ben is doing today on his birthday.”