The consensus during the week-long activities to mark the 20th Enthronement Anniversary of Primate Rufus Okikiolaoluwa Ositelu as the Primate and Spiritual Head of The Church of the Lord Prayer Fellowship Worldwide (TCLPFW) was that he is a perfect choice.

There was infectious joy during the programmes, which started on October 15 and ended on October  21 with a special thanksgiving service.

Members of the church, led by the Anniversary planning committee, visited orphanages in Oyo, Lagos, Kwara and Edo States where gifts and prayers were offered for the children and the staff.

Primate Ositelu and a nine-man team paid a courtesy visit to the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osibajo, in Abuja, that same Monday.

The vice-president personally received the Primate and his team. They invited him to the special thanksgiving service, prayed for the progress of Nigeria and presented him with the latest edition of the primate’s books.

An erudite scholar and prolific writer, the primate led members of the church on a visit to the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, on Tuesday. A service was held in the palace chapel.

The traditional ruler was also invited to the thanksgiving service at Ogere-Remo, while a presentation was made.

While growing up, Alake’s home was next to a Church of the Lord. The Make said he had been a member of the church since then and that he read the primate’s books.

A Night of Praise was observed in all branches of the church worldwide on Wednesday, while a football match was kicked open by the primate himself on Thursday. The match was between the Diocese of Epe and the Lagos East Central Missionary Diocese, which clinched the trophy during the finals on Friday.

A Variety Night, which saw different dioceses competing among themselves in music and drama, took place on Friday. The Igbogbo Missionary Diocese came first, while Ondo came second.

A holder of two PhDs, in Computer Science and Religious Studies, the primate would not allow the week slip by without engaging the academia in a discourse. With theme, Transparency, the Accountability and Godliness (TAG): The footprint of a reformer in Christendom, Rev. Professor Samson AdetunjiFatokun, of the Department Of Religious Studies, University of Ibadan, did justice to the theme.

According to him, “Nigeria’s problem is lack of good leadership. If our leaders shun corruption, Nigeria will be better.”

Discussants on the occasion, Prof.Adekunle Dada, urged Nigerians to repent as we are religiously irreligious; Dele Momodu, publisher of Ovation Magazine, represented, said we should hold our leaders accountable, adding that Hezekiah did well in the Bible; Very Rev. Williams Egbetakin, Dean, Immanuel College of Theology, Ibadan, said we are all leaders and as such should be faithful to our callings, that transparency should be taught beginning from the family.

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In his keynote address, Chairman of the occasion, Chief Lai Mohammed, who was represented, gave kudos to the Primate for his role in TCLPFW in the last 20 years. He asked how a Christian could be transparent in a society where snakes and monkeys swallow billions of naira.

He advised everybody to go political, collect PVCs, ask questions and be involved.

The Speaker and discussants were awarded while Primate’s grandchildren presented him with a cake baked by one of them.

The preacher on Sunday, the immediate past Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde, commended Primate Ositelu for making TAG his working principle, adding that anywhere there is no TAG could not survive.

He commended the Church for making a scholar, who is humble, her Primate, claiming that his achievements speak for him.

One of the 20 awardees on Sunday and a member of the Board of Trustees of TCLPFW, Hon. Justice Jacob A. O. Sofolahan (retd.), thanked God for choosing Rufus Ositelu for the Church as Primate and commended him for not letting God and people down.

“I heartily rejoice with my colleagues, who joined me on August 22nd, 1998 night to pronounce Rufus OkikiolaOsitelu the fourth Primate of the Church; what we are witnessing today show clearly that we have not made any mistake in the selection.”

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