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God First Bible College, Ayobo, Lagos has honoured the Olu of Ipaja land, Lagos State, Oba Kolawole Israel Ajani Egundupe Ilufemiloye 1, Arole Onishile Dosumu with a Doctorate degree.
Speaking at the ceremony which held last weekend at the Palace of the monarch, Dean of Spiritual Formation and Practical Ministry at the West Africa Theological Seminary (WATS), Lagos, Pastor Olufemi Emmanuel PhD, commended the God First Bible College, Lagos for honouring the Olu of Ipaja with the deserving award.
Emmanuel who was the guest speaker at the event which held at the Palace in Ipaja at the weekend said, “Traditional rulers are ministers of God because of the leadership assignment God has given them.”
Reading from Romans 13:4-7, the former Dean of Academics at WATS, stated further that, “The Bible recognises the Kabiyesi not just because he is a Christian but because of the privileged position that God has placed him.”
Continuing, Emmanuel said, “The Bible calls him a minister of God. It’s not common at a time we are in to see traditional rulers as ministers of God. Sometimes we see them as idol worshipers, as people we don’t want to relate with. We should see them as servants of God because they are under direct leadership of God.
“God is a respecter of hierarchy, so the people He has put in position are recognised as His ministers.”
He however prayed that, the Oba will use the sword God has given him effectively.
“In your reign, evil will not prevail in Ipaja because God has ordained you as a minister to be a terror to evil. God will cause you to use the sword against evil in your domain in the name of Jesus,” he prayed.
“That is why in verse five, it says for the sake of conscience, people that believe in God must submit to authority.
“If you look at verse seven of Romans 13, it reads that ‘Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.”
Appreciating the Bible College, Emmanuel said, “That you have allowed God to inspire you to honour Kabiyesi, you are obeying God and may He bless you.
“May the Kabiyesi live many more years to receive more honour and in his time, peace and development shall come to Ipaja, it will be an elevated environment among communities in Lagos State,” he prayed.
In his response, the recipient, Oba (Dr.) Kolawole Israel Ajani Egundupe Ilufemiloye 1 Arole Onishile Dosumu Olu of Ipaja land, appreciated the Bible College and all in attendance.
“I appreciate this gesture a lot. I never thought I could get such a honour. God will honour you too,” he prayed.
“How many people that look for this honour get it? So I thank God for it and I appreciate the institution that honoured me. I know it’s God’s doing. I thank them for thinking of giving someone like myself this honour.
“It is the work of God that Ipaja is developing, by the grace of God in the next two or three years, Ipaja will be better than this,”he prayed.
Provost of God First Bible College, Rev. (Dr.) Victor Ayodele Babatunde, said the college decided to honour the Kabiyesi for his philanthropic nature and kindness.
He also gave a brief of the Bible College.
“God First Bible College came into existence on 27 September 2018 and we commenced the first lecture on the 6th of October. Things have been moving, the work belongs to God, we train workers both men and women, young and old. We graduate students at certificate level, bachelor level, diploma, HND, Master and Doctorate degree of different courses including Missions, Theology, Biblical Studies and by the grace of God we had our first convocation last year 5th of November and the second edition is coming on this year by the grace of God,” he explained.
He also talked about the school’s proposed affiliation.
“We are working on our affiliation with the West Africa Theological Seminary and we are also working with Association of Christian Education; an institution that trains theology students in Africa.
“We are also working to have a deep relationship with the
Ondo State University Akungba,” he said.
Story by Dayo Emmanuel
