Juju maestro, Chief Ebenezer Obey, has reconstructed the Methodist Church in Idogo, in the Ilaro area of Ogun State, where he started his music career.
The church was recently dedicated by the Archbishop of the Methodist Church, Yewa Diocese, Most Reverend Luke Odubanjo, who described the musician’s gesture as worthy of emulation.
Obey noted in a statement that apart from the fact that he took delight in God’s work, his attachment to the church particularly compelled him to reconstruct it.
He said, “What we are witnessing today started sometimes in 2009 as we were preparing for the Idogo and Oja Odan crusades. I remember that my brother, Elder Olufemi Toriola, called me on the phone that he would like to see me for a very urgent and important matter. We agreed and he came to meet me in Abeokuta where he told me about the collapse of the roofing of the church.
“I was deeply touched and I asked myself ‘How could we be holding crusades when our family church where we all grew up was in a bad shape?’ I then told my brother that in a few days I would be in Idogo for the crusade and when I came, we all visited the church to evaluate the extent of the damage. It was after this visit that God started the work on the reconstruction.”
He added that when rainstorm destroyed the church’s primary school he attended, alongside other facilities, he was again compelled to help in rebuilding it.
“I started my elementary school here in the Methodist School, which was then a mission school. Everything about Ebenezer Obey started in this school and in the Methodist Church. The gift of music and drumming, all began here in Idogo. The name ‘Obey’, which has now become part of my surname, was given to me in this school. It was in this church and school that God prepared me for what I am today.”
Obey’s profile indicates that he began to exercise his singing talent right from the moment he could express himself as a little lad in Idogo. He would sing in-between errands to cover distances. He took fun in singing about his little observation about people, places, events and things. He would turn virtually everything into songs – including his feelings.
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