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www.nairaland.com/4072064/joseph-ayo-babalola-biography#60720546


culled from

https://dacb.org/stories/nigeria/babalola2-joseph/

His Background


Joseph Ayodele Babalola was born on
April 25, 1904 to David Rotimi and Madam
Marta Talabi who belonged to the Anglican
Church. The family lived at Odo-Owa in
Ilofa, a small town about ninety kilometres
from Ilorin in Kwara State, Nigeria. His
father was the Baba Ijo (“church father”) of
the C.M.S. Church at Odo-Owa. Pastor
Medayese wrote in his book Itan Igbe dide
Woli Ayo Babalola that mysterious
circumstances surrounded the birth of
Babalola. On that day, it was believed that
a strange and mighty object exploded and
shook the clouds [2].

On January 18, 1914, young Babalola was taken by his brother M. 0. Rotimi, a Sunday school teacher in the C.M.S. Church at Ilofa, to Osogbo. Babalola started school at Ilofa and got as far as standard five at All Saints’ School, Osogbo. However, he quit school when he decided to learn a trade and became a motor mechanic apprentice. Again, he did not continue long in this vocation before joining the Public Works Department (PWD). He was among the road workers who constructed the road from Igbara-Oke to Ilesa, working as a steam roller driver.

Babalola’s Call to the Prophetic Ministry
Just like the Old Testament prophets, Babalola was called by God into the prophetic office to stand before men [3]. His was a specific and personal call.

Babalola’s strange experience started on the night of September 25th, 1928 when he suddenly became restless and could not sleep. This went on for a week and he had no inkling of the causes of such a strange experience. The climax came one day when he was, as usual, working on the Ilesa-Igbara-Oke road. Suddenly the steam roller’s engin stopped to his utter amazement. There was no visible mechanical problem, and Joseph became confused and perplexed. He was in this state of confusion when a great voice “like the sound of many waters” called him three times. The voice was loud and clear and it told him that he would die if he refused to heed the divine call to go into the world and preach. Babalola did not want to listen to this voice and he responded like many of the Biblical prophets, who, when they were called out by Yahweh as prophets, did not normally yield to the first call. Men like Moses and Jeremiah submitted to God only when it became inevitable. So, Babalola gave in only after he had received the assurance of divine guidance.

To go on the mission, he had to resign his appointment with the Public Works Department. Mr. Fergusson, the head of his unit, tried to dissuade him from resigning but the young man was bent on going on the Lord’s mission.

The same voice came to Joseph a second time asking him to fast for seven days. He obeyed and at the end of the period he saw a great figure of a man who, according to Pastor Alokan, resembled Jesus [4]. The man in a dazzling robe spoke at length about the mission he was to embark upon. The man also told him of the persecutions he would face and at the same time assured him of God’s protection and victory. A hand prayer bell was given to Babalola as a symbol. He was told that the sound of the bell would always drive away evil spirits. He was also given a bottle of “life-giving water” [5] to heal all manners of sickness.

Consequently, wherever and whenever he prayed into water for therapeutic purposes, effective healing was procured for those who drank the water. Thus, Babalola became a prophet and a man with extraordinary powers. Enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit he could spend several weeks in prayer. Elder Abraham Owoyemi of Odo-Owa, said that the prophet regularly saw angels who delivered divine messages to him [6]. An angel appeared in one of his prayers and forbade him to wear caps.

The Itinerary of Prophet Babalola


During one of his prayer sessions an angel
appeared to him and gave him a big yam
which he ordered him to eat. The angel
told him that the yam was the tuber with
which God fed the whole world. He further
revealed that God had granted unto him the
power to deliver those who were
possessed of evil spirits in the world. He
was directed to go first to Odo-Owa and
start preaching. He was to arrive in the
town on a market day, cover his body with
palm fronds and disfigure himself with
charcoal paints.


In October 1928, he entered the town in
the manner described and was taken for a
mad man. Babalola immediately started
preaching and prophesying. He told the
inhabitants of Odo-Owa about an
impending danger if they did not repent.
He was arrested and taken to the district
officer at Ilorin for allegedly disturbing the
peace. The district officer later released
him when the allegations could not be
proven. However, it was said that a few
days later, there was an outbreak of
smallpox in the town. The man whose
prophecies and messages were once
rejected was quickly sought for. He went
around praying for the victims and they
were all healed.

Pa David Rotimi, Babalola’s father, had been instrumental in the establishment of a C.M.S. Church in Odo-Owa. Babalola organized regular prayer meetings in this church [7] which many people attended because of the miracles God performed through him. Among the regulars was Isaiah 01uyemi who later saw the wrath of Bishop Smith of Ilorin diocese [8]. Information had reached the bishop that almost all members of the C.M.S. Church in Ilofa were seeing visions, speaking in tongues and praying vigorously [9]. Babalola and the visionaries were allegedly ordered by Bishop Smith to leave the church [10]. But Babalola did not leave the town until June 1930.

On an invitation from Daniel Ajibola, Babalola went to Lagos. Elder Daniel Ajibola at that time was working in Ibadan where he was a member of the Faith Tabernacle Congregation. He introduced Prophet Babalola to Pastor D. 0. Odubanjo, one of the leaders of the Faith Tabemacle in Lagos. Senior Pastor Esinsinade who was then the president of the Faith Tabernacle was invited to see Babalola. After listening to the details of his call and his ministry, the Faith Tabernacle leaders warmly received the young prophet into their midst.

Babalola had not yet been baptized by
immersion and Senior Pastor Esinsinade
emphasized that he needed to go through
that rite. Pastor Esinsinade then baptized
him in the lagoon at the back of the Faith
Tabernacle Church building at 51, Moloney
Bridge Street, Lagos [l1]. Babalola returned
to Odo-Owa a few days after that and Elder
(later Pastor) J. A. Medayese, paid him a
visit.


The news of the conversion of the new
prophet reached Pastor K. P. Titus at
Araromi in Yagba, present Kwara State.
Pastor Titus was a teacher and preacher at
the Sudan Interior Mission which was then
thriving at Yagba. He invited Prophet
Babalola for a revival service. Joseph
Ayodele Babalola while in Yagba,
performed mighty works of healing. Many
Muslims and Christians from other
denominations and some traditional
religionists were converted to the new faith
during the revival [12].


The fact that Babalola did not use the
opportunity to establish a separate
Christian organization despite his
marvelous evangelical success, must be
puzzling to historians, but his intention was
not to start a new church. He declared to
his followers that he had registered his
membership with the Faith Tabernacle, the
society which had him baptized in Lagos
[13]. He thus persuaded them to become
members of the Faith Tabernacle. To
facilitate this, he went to Lagos to confer
with the leaders, especially as he was not
yet well acquainted with the doctrines,
tenets, and administration of the church.

Oke-Oye Mighty Revival


There was a controversy among the
leaders of the Faith Tabernacle in Nigeria
over some doctrines. In the midst of it
were, in particular, the Ilesa and Oyan
branches of the tabernacle. The Oyan
branch was under the supervision of Pastor
J. A. Babatope, a notable Anglican teacher,
before his conversion and later, one of the
outstanding leaders of the Faith Tabernacle
in Nigeria. Issues like the use of western
and traditional drugs versus divine healing,
polygamy and whether polygamous
husbands should be allowed to partake of
the Lord’s Supper, were among those
doctrines that needed to be agreed on.
These issues had caused dissension at the
IIesa Tabernacle and in order to avoid a
split, a delegation of peacemakers made
up of all leading Faith Tabernacle pastors,
was sent to Ilesa. It was headed by Pastor
J. B. Esinsinade of Ijebu-Ode, president of
the General Headquarters of the movement
and D. O. Odubanjo of the Lagos
Missionary Headquarters. The Ilesa
meeting was scheduled for the 9th and
lOth of July, 1930. The Apostolic Council
of Jerusalem in A.D. 48, and other
important church councils, are precedents
in seeking ecclesiastical direction on
matters affecting the life and peace of the
church [14].


Before the delegation left Lagos for Ilesa,
Babalola had been invited to meet the
leaders at Pastor I. B. Akinyele’s residence
at Ibadan. From there I. B. Akinyele and
Babalola joined the delegation to Ilesa. At
Ilesa, he was introduced to the whole
conference and was lodged in a separate
room because of his prophetic mission.
The representatives began their meeting
and on the agenda were twenty-four items.
The first was the validity of baptism
administered to a man with many wives.
The second was the issue of divine
healing because some of the members
believed in the use of drugs like quinine to
cure malaria fever. They were only able to
discuss the first item when there was a
sudden interruption which Pastor
Adegboyega described thus: “The
concilatory talks at Ilesa were going on,
when suddenly a mighty sweeping revival
broke out at Faith Tabernacle Congregation
Church at Oke-Oye, Ilesa” [15]. The revival
began with the raising by Babalola of a
dead child. The mother of the dead child
who was restored to life went about
spreading the news around the town of
Ilesa proclaiming that a miracle working
prophet had come to the town of Oke-Oye.
This attracted a large number of people to
Oke-Oye to see the prophet. According to
Pastor Medayese, many of those afflicted
with various diseases who came to Oke-
Oye were healed. Many mighty works were
performed through the use of the prayer
bell and the drinking of consecrated water
from a stream called Omi Ayo (“Stream of
Joy”) [16].

The result was that thousands of people including traditional religionists, Muslims and Christians from various other denominations were converted to the Faith Tabernacle. As there was no space in the church hall, revival meetings were shifted to an open field where men and women from all walks of life, from every part of the country and from neighbouring countries assembled daily for healing, deliverances and blessings. Odubanjo testified that within three weeks Babalola had cured about one hundred lepers, sixty blind people and fifty lame persons [17].

He further claimed that both the Anglican and Wesleyan Churches in Ilesa were left desolate because their members transferred their allegiance to the revivalist and that all the patients in Wesley Hospital, Ilesa, abandoned their beds to seek healing from Babalola. Also: Many of the schools belonging to the Wesleyan and Anglican Churches, as well as to the Baptists and the Roman Catholics, closed down altogether, and there has not been sufficient money again to pay their teachers due to the fact that the majority of their members left to join us” [18].

The assistant district officer in Ilesa in 1930 wrote that he visited the scene of the revival incognito and found a crowd of hundreds of people including a large contingent of the lame and blind and concluded that the whole affair was orderly [19]. Members of the church made fantastic claims such as: “Hopeless barren women were made fruitful; women who had been carrying their pregnancies for long years were wonderfully delivered. The dumb spoke and lunatics were cured. In fact, it was another day of Pentecost.

Witches confessed and some demon possessed people were exorcized [20]. But the general superintendent of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society of Nigeria at the time has described the reports as “grotesquely inaccurate accounts of the operations of Babalola.” This of course could be the biased view of a man whose church was said to be the greatest victim of the Ilesa revival.

A revelation was later given to Ayo Babalola to burn down a big tree in front of the Owa’s Palace. The big tree was traditionally believed to be the rendez-vous of witches and wizards. The juju tree was therefore greatly feared and sacrifices were usually made to the spirits believed to reside in it. There was apprehension that this bold act would result in the instantaneous death of Babalola since it was expected to arouse the anger of the gods. But to the great amazement of the people, the prophet did not die but rather continued to wax stronger in the Lord’s work. That single event was said to have made even the Owa of Ilesa and important people in the town to fear and respect the prophet.

The tidal wave of Babalola’s revival spread from Ilesa to Ibadan, Ijebu, Lagos, Efon- Alaaye, Aramoko Ekiti and Abeokuta. No greater revival preceded that of Babalola. It was popularly held in Christ Apostolic Church (C.A.C.) circles that at one revival meeting, attendance rose to about forty thousand. Among the men of faith who came as disciples to Babalola were Daniel Orekoya, Peter Olatunji who came from Okeho, and Omotunde, popularly known as Aladura Omotunde, from Aramoko Ekiti. These men drew great inspiration from Babalola. Orekoya went on to reside in Ibadan where a great revival also broke out at Oke-Bola through him. It was during his Oke-Bola revival that Orekoya reportedly raised a dead pregnant woman [21].

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