Prophet Ireti Ajanaku’s Wife, Joy Speaks “Everything About My Husband Is Mystery” *Reasons Burial Was Delayed

The General Overseer of Christ Revival Victory Chapel International, Prophet Elijah Ireti Ajanaku was known by many people for his exceptional ways and as the spiritual father of a popular gospel artiste, Evangelist Tope Alabi whom he eventually parted ways with shortly before his death on August 17, 2013.

Now, the church is set to bury the man almost a year after his death, that is also another unusual thing that made the celebrated prophet a man of unique characters.

The acclaimed man of God is survived by a wife and two children, and the woman is another person that has made Prophet Ireti Ajanaku an unusual personality.

Meeting the beautiful and petite woman, Joy Ajanaku in the headquarters of the Pentecostal church tucked inside Ayobo area of Lagos was as interesting as they come. Joy, who is now in-charge of the ministry, would tell you that ‘My Daddy,’ as she calls Prophet Ajanaku, is not dead and that he is still the General Overseer of the ministry.

Also, Mrs. Ajanaku would not divulge some of the things that would be of public interest, but she says that the body of the man of God would be committed to mother earth on July 17tn, 2014 in his private residence situated close to the church.

She spoke with Oladipupo Awojobi about her life with the man of God she still refers to in the present tense.

Let us know who you are and your growing up years

I am from a monogamy family. I was born in Iju area of Lagos. I went to a primary and secondary schools, and I am still planning to further my education.

How did you meet Pastor Ireti Ajanaku

The way I met him was miraculous. God knows the best for you because He is the creator of everything. He is the owner of the universe and He knows the best for everybody. Anything that is different from God’s plan can never work out. I didn’t have the plan to marry a man of God, but when God says that was he wanted He for me, I had no choice. It happened in such a wonderful way. Then, I was living somewhere in Moshalashi, Alagbado area of Lagos State and he was living on the next street, and I didn’t even know. I had a friend that was staying in front of his house then in the area then, but I had never come across him at all until that time. I didn’t know that Pastor Ajanaku, who I prefer to call my daddy, was living in the house. So, my friend told me that she wanted me to meet a man of God, who was living around the place and I asked her ‘for what?’ But she insisted that I should meet the man, I didn’t know that God had told Pastor Ajanaku that his wife was coming to meet him on that day the previous day before I met him. He was a kind of person that loved people to witness what he said. I didn’t know that the woman that took me to him was taking me there for the manifestation of my destiny. She told me that I should follow her, and when I got there, I said that I used to come to that particular house but that I had not come across daddy there. The house was half flat, merely looking at it, you would think that it was going to collapse, it was so outdated. The person then pointed at him as the person she was talking about.

I was saying in my mind that I was expecting a bishop, a deacon or a reverend, but God he looked so simple. When I entered the house, he greeted me and the woman cordially. That was just how it started.

What attracted you to him or what attracted him to you?

Daddy used to say that if you don’t want a beautiful woman or a handsome man as wife or husband, why couldn’t you go to a railway station and pick a handicap person to marry. He said does not believe that a man of God should not marry a beautiful woman. As I saw him that day, may be if he were to be a handicap I would not answer him. That was the first attraction, he is a handsome man, even if you are a spiritual, you still carry blood, so it is normal. There is what you see in a woman or man before you marry him or her.

How long have you been married now?

It is about 11 years now.

How do you intend to move the church forward as the General Overseer?

I am the second in command; my husband is still the General Overseer of the church. I believe in God’s spirit, it is by the grace of God and the God of Elijah Ireti Ajanaku that is still alive. My husband is in me, I am in him and both of us are in God. He makes me to know who God is, although I was a Christian by birth, I was not born again. I didn’t know who God is; I didn’t know who Jesus Christ is. He made me to know God is, to love God, to love serving God and to love doing things for God. I believe that he is not dead, no matter who you are, or how big you are, if you refer to Pastor Ireti Ajanaku as late, I would correct you immediately that he is not late. What you call man of God is not the body, it is the spirit, God said ‘those that would worship me must worship me in spirit and in truth.’ So God has nothing to do with the body, what matters to Him is the spirit. When He created human being in the Garden of Eden, until he breathed into man, the body did not work. So, I believe that a spirit can work without the help of the body, but the body cannot do anything without the help of the spirit.

How true is it that he was married to another woman before you met him?

There is nothing like that, everybody kept saying that he was married and all that, but it is not true. They should bring the proof; if they can tender the proof then I would agree with them.

What was the response of your family members, when you wanted marry him?

Well, it is normal, they resisted it initially. Actually my plan was to be a pharmacist, if I wanted to fill my JAMB form I would fill pharmacist. I remember, when I wanted to write my WASSCE exams, a woman, who was close to my mother asked me if I actually wanted to be a pharmacist, I said yes and the woman just laughed. So, when I got married, she asked my mother if she remembered what happened that day, she said that this was what she saw then. She said that the plan that God had for me was different. So, my father said that he wanted me to go to the university to study to be a pharmacist as I planned. But, later, I didn’t know how God spoke to him and he agreed that I should marry him.

Did you have a boyfriend before then?

My husband had girlfriends, he had many male and female friends, so I had male and female friends too before I met him.

So, in which church were you married?

That is also a mystery, everything about my husband is a mystery, till now, I cannot figure out some things about him. I didn’t know that someone could enjoy the grace of God to such an extent. The grace of God is so magnificent in his life. There was a time I used to call him mystery; he has some attributes that could not be seen in some men of God. You don’t need to tell him what you are thinking about, he would tell you what was on your mind. How many men of God can do that? Atimes, I would be looking at him as if he would disappear. We planned for the wedding, but before he does anything, He would ask God and if he forgot to ask God, he would go back to ask Him. I went for a test and they said I had no ovary, and God told him that it was because we planned to do an elaborate wedding, which He did not want us to do. God said that if we do elaborate wedding, we would not have a child for more than 16 years after the marriage. He told him ‘you want to do what you want to do because of what people would say.’ There are some men of God that are barren today, not because God does not love them, but because they have done something contrary to the plan of God for their lives. A lot of people consider what people would say before they do what they want to do. I have now realized that you can never please people because my husband tried it, but it didn’t work. There was a time people betrayed him, he couldn’t do without putting laughter in people’s faces. He couldn’t bear to see people suffering. So, God told him to go ahead with the wedding plan or allow Him to do what He wanted to do. So, that was how it happened.

It was reported that you were not legally married all the same?

Just forget about that.

How do you want to keep his legacies alive?

Like I said, he is in me and I am in him and I tell God that He should do what He would do. He is not alive physically, but spiritually he is alive. If he had died, no miracle would have happened in the church again, and the people would have left the church, several people would have died and bad things would have happened to the people. God of Elijah Ajanaku is able and capable.

What memories do you have of him?

If you are talking about his spiritual person, I still enjoy the grace of God in his life, but if you are talking about the physical strength I would miss him a lot, is it the way he used to call me, but I won’t tell you more than that. No one can use that voice, is it the way he used to do everything, if I wanted to cry, I would say I have one reason to mourn and several reasons to be grateful to God Almighty over his life. I am not mourning because there is no agony in the kingdom of God, there is no sadness in the kingdom of God. That is why we are not mourning in this place, some people felt that after his death I shouldn’t go to the church and still preach on the altar.

How has your family been taking the issue, I mean your parents?

They have been so supportive, I didn’t expect that from them, they have been calling me and they are with me.

What of your husband’s family, have they been there for you?

I don’t have any cause to hate them that is what I can say.

What is your message to the people considering all that have been written about your husband since he died?

I used to believe a lot of things in the newspaper and internet, but since he died, I don’t want to believe some of the things they write. People that say they are men of God should have gone on their knees and ask God to tell them who Pastor Ireti Ajanaku is and ask Him if he is really a man of God. If they did this, God would have answered them. I once said that people should be careful about what they say about him because what happened is between him and God. The most funning thing is that men of God that did not enjoy the grace of God in his life are the ones I see now. There are still some men of God who go on their knees to ask God who he is. There was a man of God that people said my husband initiated to Ogboni and this man has never met him before, but he said people should stop saying rubbish about Pastor Ajanaku. I thank God for that man. But, those that are close to him are not there for us again.

What are the things we should look out for when his body would be committed to mother earth?

Well, God of Elijah Ireti Ajanaku is alive and He would be there for us.

Why did you pick July 17 for the burial?

It is part of what we discovered in him, I said he is different from other men of God. Everything about him has to do with 7 the perfect number or 17. His date of birth was 17, where he was number 17, where we live now, the land was given to him and it was the only land left there, it is number 17, the church address is number 17, so it s a mystery.

What of the elders that left the church, any message for them, we heard they left because Pastor Ajanaku is no longer alive?

My message for them is that they should go back to God, my husband has never begged anybody to come and worship in his ministry, he believes you should follow your heart. He had several spiritual children that are not coming to the church. He is a selfless man; if you come to him, he would even give you attention more than those that are his members. My advice is that they should go back to their God, God is everywhere.

What of Evangelist Tope Alabi, has she contacted you since then?

No, I have not seen her.

You look so beautiful and younger than before, how many children do you have and has there been pressure from your family that you should remarry?

I told you my husband is not dead, he is alive, I have two children; a boy and a girl. My family understands everything; they see me as a perfect gift. I am so different amongst my parents’ children; they knew from my childhood that I am an unusual person. Whatever I do is what they want, my mother used to seek advice from me and she respects me a lot, she sees me as her spiritual mother.

Your husband had sophisticated cars, but he used to go in small cars, can you tell us about the cars and do you still stay in the family house?

It is part of what I learned from him, he is so simple. I thank God for his life, with all the grace of God he has and the anointing of God on him, he is still humble; he still has an uncommon grace. There are some men of God that are not so anointed, yet they behave so big. I used to tell him to let us go in his big cars, but he would prefer the smaller ones. He would have given out the cars, but because of the people that gave the cars to him, he would leave them in the house since those people believe they are blessed as long as the cars are in his compound. I won’t talk about the whereabouts of the cars.

July 07, 2014