Classic DACB Collection

All articles created or submitted in the first

twenty years of the project, from 1995 to 2015.

Orimolade Tunolase, Moses (A)

1879-1933
United Church of Cherubim and Seraphim
Nigeria

Multiple versions are available: (B) • (A) • (C)

"Saint" Moses Orimolade Tunolase, known in his boyhood days as

Orimolade Okejebu, was born into the royal family of Omo’ba Ode
Sodi [1] of Okorun Quarters, Ikare, Western Nigeria. The year of his
birth has traditionally been given as 1879. At the time of his birth,
there was no birth registry in Ikare. The art of writing and therefore
the keeping of records, had not yet become popular in that locality.
We therefore have no authentic record of his birth date.

His life began with a strange experience his mother had. Madam
Odijoroto,–also of the same royal house [2],–was in the bush where
she had gone to cut firewood while she was heavy with child. She
fetched more firewood than she could lift by herself. She realized she
would have to reduce the bundle in order to be able to carry it. Just
then she heard a voice telling her the easiest way to lift the bundle
even if she did not make it smaller. She looked around in great
astonishment, but saw no one. The voice spoke again: “Do not be
frightened. I am the child in your womb. Follow my advice and be on
your way” [3]. She was directed to raise the bundle up at one end and,
with the help of her hands, knee and head, kick up the other end. The
advice was simple and very obvious and Odijoroto blamed herself for
not having thought of the idea initially.

Mysterious Birth and Childhood

Back at home, she quite naturally related her incredible experience to

Tunolase, her husband, who arranged that the Ifa oracle be consulted
at once. The couple was surprised when the oracle predicted that the
child of the conception would be an important saint. It also said the
child was being sent by the Almighty God to preach the gospel of his
Son, Jesus Christ. This was beyond the comprehension of both
Tunolase and his wife, especially as the Christian gospel had not yet
been preached in that locality. However, the prescribed rites were
performed and offerings were made to ensure a safe delivery for the
mother. Tunolase, himself an Ifa priest, consulted the oracle privately
for more enlightenment about the expected child, and it was further
revealed that it would be a male child pre-ordained of God as his
special apostle to the pagans of Yorubaland. He was therefore to be
treated as a Nazarite.

The ultimate arrival of the new child brought to its parents mixed
feelings. They were happy that a new member had been added to the
family but were filled with embarrassment and apprehension in view
of the circumstances surrounding his birth and the incidents which
occurred on the day he was born. It is said that the new child “stood
up in its birth blood” desiring “to walk out three times.” However, the
midwife who helped during the mother’s labour “pressed down the
baby with force.” Summoned to the scene, the embarrassed father
began to recite incantations which eventually calmed the excited
child. He then went out to report to certain elderly people what had
happened in his house [4].

This story probably is the way the United Church of Cherubim and
Seraphim (C & S) accounts for Moses Orimolade’s prolonged
paralysis. It is generally believed that, as a direct consequence of this
incident, the boy Orimolade could neither stand nor walk until he was
well over five years of age. The incantations pronounced by his father
had the horrible effect of a curse which might have incapacitated
him permanently. Tunolase was so frightened by this strange
incident that he decided to avoid any further embarrassment by
killing himself. At a family meeting, which he convened, he disclosed
his intentions to do so but was condemned for his apparent
cowardice. Egunjobi, one of his own children, thought it would be
reasonable for him to live in order to see what the child would
become. While Tunolase expressed satisfaction with the entreaties
of his family, his visible state of melancholy left no doubt that he had
little time to live.

The final blow came with the message Tunolase received from the
infant boy, a few days after he had dismissed Orimolade and his
mother from his sight for good: that he should go to the top of a
nearby hill (now known by C & S in Ikare as Calvary) and there in
penitence confess his sins to God. This message threw Tunolase
into a state of utter despair and he was taken ill. He requested that
his wife, Orimolade’s mother, be summoned to his bedside. As the
sobbing woman knelt beside him, he blessed her in the manner of an
elderly Yoruba man about to die. He died a few days after this event
and was buried honourably.

Orimolade Okejebu spent his youth in Ikare. Hardly had the

excitement aroused by the incidents experienced at his birth
subsided than he became the centre of attention again. This time the
scene was in the only church in the town, St. Stephen’s Anglican
Church, which belonged to the C.M.S. Mission. On this particular
night, the minister was drawn to the church by a strange light and the
sound of singing. It was puzzling to him how anybody could be using
the building at that time of night without his knowledge so he
decided to investigate. He knocked at the main entrance and the
door opened by itself. To his great amazement, the whole building
was empty except for a small child of about five sitting on the floor in
a kind of bright phosphorescent illumination. It occurred to the
shocked minister [5] that the child staring calmly at him, unruffled by
his intrusion, was Orimolade the strange boy who had become the
talk of the town, that he was doubtless the one who had been singing
as though he were a whole choir.

As a result of this encounter, the minister persuaded his

congregation to employ Orimolade to teach them some of his
spiritual songs. The boy obliged and taught them a few religious
songs, but soon gave up owing to their poor response.

This midnight episode is probably an illustration of Orimolade’s early

association with the church. According to Peel, Christianity was
introduced into Akoko in the late 1890s [6]. And if Orimolade was an
early convert, then he must have become a Christian when he was
still a boy. The Rev. J. K. Ajayi-Ajagbe, whom J. 0. Coker has
identified with the midnight incident, though a Methodist minister,
once preached publicly in the name of the C & S [7]. Coker might be
right in his assumption that the minister had known Orimolade in his
Ikare home before he began his missionary journey.

Orimolade became disillusioned by the uncooperative attitude of the

Christians in Ikare, especially because they ridiculed him on account
of his disability. He felt depressed and apprehensive about the
success of his mission since it appeared likely that he would forever
be physically handicapped. Overwhelmed by these thoughts, he
prayed passionately one night, asking for a manifestation of God’s
power. In answer to his prayer, an angel appeared to him in a dream
and gave him three objects: a rod, a royal insignia and a crown. The
rod signified a “rod of victory,” the insignia was “the power of prayer
and power of speaking.” The crown stood for “all honour and multi-
respect of every individual to bow before him, to receive blessing” [8].

When he woke up from his sleep, he knew that his prayer had been
heard. He realized that his call to preach the gospel of Christ was
irrevocable. “He ordered his mother to wash him (…) and from then
on the gospel of Jesus Christ started without interruption. (…) He
was given power over everything devilish” [9].

From this point, the activities of Orimolade were directed toward his
missionary campaigns. This dream formally marked his commission
to go out and preach.
The gifts which corresponded, if only remotely, to the wise men’s
gifts to Jesus, became for Orimolade, symbols of authority. His
campaigns began when he successfully petitioned police authorities
for the release of some Christians who were involved in a clash with
devotees of the traditional religion in the town. According to C & S
tradition, Orimolade travelled to Kabba town where the arrested
persons had been detained, and secured their release.

It then occurred to his opponents in Ikare that it would enhance their

prestige if they could win him over so they decided to impress him by
bestowing on him one of the priestly titles of their traditional
institutions. He took advantage of this opportunity not only to reject
the offer, but also to proclaim to them the Christian message. He
preached with such vehemence that:

The earth opened its mouth (…) and they were all afraid and
many of them ran away, but his brother Egunjobi did many
rituals according to ancient customs to put the earth back to
its former closure. (…) There were proclamations about the
earthquake so that people from abroad came to witness the
incident and his (Orimolade’s) name was as fearful as that of
an invisible spirit [10].

This marked virtually the end of hostility towards him from Christians
in Ikare town. The C & S insist that Christianity began to grow by
leaps and bounds after that incident. Orimolade went from street to
street preaching the gospel. About 1916, he made a visit to Owo
where he impressed the C.M.S. Church members with his Scripture
quoting ability.

It is also held that Orimolade once tried to go into the trade, by

buying and selling palm oil and kola nuts as trade was flourishing
between the Ikare people and Hausa traders from northern Nigeria.
He was said to have travelled to a northern village called
Oshokoshoko. On his way he encountered an angel who reminded
him of his mission as a prophet of God, and that he should not
jettison preaching for trading. He was taken ill and his companion
took his report back to his people. Egunjobi, his brother, was
dispatched immediately to bring him back home. But before Egunjobi
reached Oshokoshoko, Orimolade had arrived back in Ikare by a
means none could explain.

Another tradition states that Orimolade confined himself to a room

for ten years during which he did not allow anybody to prepare his
meals. Even though he ate throughout this time nobody could
discern the source of his food [12].
He was also said to be in constant communion with invisible
celestial figures since he was frequently heard conversing while
alone when apparently nobody had entered his room. Occasionally,
he would emerge resplendent, in regalia traditionally designed for
kings, to announce that he had been crowned the king of the world
and would soon begin his reign [13].

During this period he was said to ubiquitous. Two instances were

cited. The first was his encounter with a woman against whom he
had nursed a grievance since the day of his birth. This was the same
woman who had acted as the traditional midwife on the day of his
birth and who pushed him back three times as he attempted to walk
a few minutes after he was delivered. He met her one afternoon as
she was returning from Arigidi, a nearby village, and ordered her to
carry him on her back three times to atone for the sin of that fateful
day. “And now that the woman had no sin against God again, he
(Orimolade) asked the woman to go safely” [14].

The curious thing about the incident was that Orimolade never left
his room throughout the day in question. The woman understandably
related her experience to her people, and in a matter of days the
whole town was talking about it.

The second instance was the strange visit he paid to his most loyal
friend, Garuba, who lived in Okela quarters in Ikare. At the very time
Garuba claimed Orimolade was with him in his Okela residence, the
“lame prophet” was believed to be locked up in his room.

At the end of his ten year confinement, Orimolade was said to have
given a large party for all his neighbours and visitors from nearby
villages. This also had its miraculous element because, apart from
asking his mother to make clean all available pots in their home, he
made no serious preparations for the feast. His mother obeyed his
command without protest and to everyone’s amazement, the guests
all brought dishes of food as gifts, which filled all the pots, and they
ate to their satisfaction.

The ten years he spent in confinement have been described by many

as the period he spent in illness. According to Abiodun, Orimolade
was confined for seven years. This was disclosed to her by
Orimolade himself: “He stated that he saw continuous visions for
seven years during which he could not get up from one spot as a
result of which he was lame” [15]. This is corroborated by the United
Church of Cherubim and Seraphim which wrote the following
concerning Moses Orimolade:
 At a certain time of his early age, he took ill and for seven
complete years he suffered from this malady. At the end of his
illness, he became a lame man, but God made him to walk
miraculously. During the period of his illness, he was taught by
the Holy Spirit how to read the Bible and memorize whatever
he read [16].

Confined by Illness

A more independent account was given by the Rev. E. S. Sodeinde of

the African Church in a speech he read at the funeral of Orimolade on
October 19, 1933. According to Sodeinde, Orimolade was stricken by
an undisclosed disease shortly after his conversion to Christianity
and was in bed for seven years. The illness became so serious that
his people abandoned him, expecting him to die. But in a dream he
was assured that he would recover if he would take water drawn
from a nearby stream. This done, he began to gradually recover until
he could walk again [17] but he remained a lame man for the rest of
his life and, according to Phillips, he used an umbrella stick for
support. From all these accounts, we can safely conclude that
Orimolade actually suffered from an illness which paralyzed him and
rendered him immobile for seven years. The popular view is that he
refused the advice of his friends to seek medical aid during his
illness. We can also assume that it was during this period, when
meditation was possible, that he made far-reaching decisions about
his evangelistic life.

The period spent in confinement therefore represented Orimolade’s

training and preparation for his missionary work. At the end of it he
was fully equipped to begin in earnest the task for which he had been
ordained. For the next five years Orimolade travelled from place to
place, like St. Paul in the Bible, preaching with great zeal the gospel
of Christ. Many miracles of healing were credited to him during this
period. He finally arrived and settled in Lagos where the C & S was
later founded.

Evangelistic Journeys

His first campaign was carried out in Irun, a village a few miles from
Ikare [18]. Irun is said to be noted even today for its witchcraft
practices. It was thus appropriate that the one who was to found a
religious society averse to witchcraft should begin his campaign in
this village. Thus “he opened the seal of witchcraft and acrobatic evil
performances. (…) He also pulled down the image of Osijora (one of
the divinities worshipped in the village) and fought with the evil
spirits operating in the area” [19].

From Irun he was transported in a hammock-chair,–because of his

paralysis,–to the neighbouring villages of Akungba and Oka, where
he also preached. From Oka he moved to Akoko-Edo, visiting Ikiran
and Ibillo towns. At Benin, he condemned the practice of human
sacrifice. In a sermon to a large crowd, he said “God created man in
his own image. It is quite unjustifiable to carry out human sacrifice
and furthermore it is sacrilegious” [20]. Moved by his sermon, many
traditional worshippers willingly gave up their emblems, images and
charms for burning.

After visiting several other places in the Midwest, especially in the

Niger Delta, he turned northward. He preached at Idah, Lokoja and at
Okene, the main town of the Igbira tribe. In the last mentioned place
he made many converts and helped them to establish a local C.M.S.
Church. He then moved on to Ogori, another Igbora town, where he
helped to start another C.M.S. Church for his converts. Thus,
Orimolade pursued his evangelistic campaigns with the vigour of the
apostle Paul and the enthusiasm of contemporary prophet William
Wade Harris. In each of the places he visited, he directed his
converts to the existing churches irrespective of denomination, and
where there was no Christian church, he helped to establish one. He
did not commit himself to any denomination, realizing that such a
commitment would seriously limit his sphere of operation.

Several miracles were credited to Orimolade. In Kaba town he was

attacked by a strange lion which he killed. In Ogidi village he purified
a pool which the natives have worshipped from time immemorial to
ensure that they remained in a harmonious relationship with the evil
power it was supposed to possess.

He is credited with founding C.M.S. Churches in Abuja, Egbe, Igan

and Ikasa (all in Yagba division). He then proceeded on to the far
north, visiting Zaria, Bauchi and Adamawa provinces. It is also
believed that he visited Sokoto, Kano and Bomu [21]. In the North he
did not win many converts because of the prevalence of the Muslim
religion there. He is, however, credited with building a prayer house in
Nguru.

On his return journey to the South he stopped at Ilorin and spent

some time there. He seems to have been widely known in the town
as Alhaji-n-Yisa and he built a prayer house there [22]. He has also
been credited with healing a lame young man and raising a young
lady from the dead in this Muslim city [23].

When he left Ilorin, he visited Ikirun where he healed a number of sick

people through prayer. He also preached in the neighbouring towns
of Osogbo, Ede and Ogbomoso. In Ogbomoso he was said to have
been openly condemned as a charlatan by a young woman. This
woman’s uncomplimentary remark, according to the report, was
reprehensible to Orimolade and he quickly left the town. But before
leaving he cursed the city: “Rain shall not fall in this town again,
pregnant women shall not give birth to any new baby again and the
lady (that is the offender) will surely lose her life” [24].
On leaving Ogbomoso, Orimolade went to the big city of Ibadan,
where he stayed with the pastor of the African Church and
astonished the people with “his powerful prayers in his Akoko
dialect” [25]. From Ibadan he went to Abeokuta, according to C & S
tradition, on the invitation of the Alake, the paramount ruler, imploring
him to pray for an end to the Adubi War [26].

Having fulfilled the king’s wish, Orimolade went to Ifako in Agege

district and lived with Chief Jacob Kehinde Coker, the leader of the
African Church.

A delegation from Ogbomoso met him here and pleaded with him to
return with them to remove the spell his curse brought upon the town
because it had thrown the population into a state of pandemonium
and insecurity. Orimolade obliged when he learned that the young
woman whose impertinent behaviour had caused the trouble had
died. Back in Ogbomoso, he passionately prayed that the wrath of
God manifested on it be averted. The prayer was answered and
things immediately returned to normal: “Rain started to fall heavily,
pregnant women gave birth to new babies. (…) Ogbomoso came to
realize that Moses was sent by God and not by his own whims” [27].

Adventure in Lagos

According to the records of the Eternal Sacred Order of C & S Mount

Zion, Ebute-Metta, Orimolade arrived in Lagos on July 12, 1924 and
lodged with the sexton of Holy Trinity (Anglican) Church, Ebute-Ero,
Emmanuel Olumodeji, believed to be from Orimolade’s home town or
district. The Advisory Board of the C & S (with its headquarters at 94,
Railway Line, Odi-Olowo, Mushin) holds that the Rev. D. J. Oguntolu
of the African Church, Ojokoro in Ijaye area was the person who
directed Orimolade to the Ebute-Ero Church. Senior Apostle J. 0.
Coker, then a member of Holy Trinity Church, but later one of the
founding members of C & S, recollected that Olumodeji and
Orimolade lived together in a small building, close to the archway in
the Ebute-Ero Church [28].

With the church as his base, Moses Orimolade, as he became

popularly known, began his evangelistic campaign in Lagos. One
incident mentioned by Coker concerned the rumour that Lagos was
going to be submerged in a tidal wave. Orimolade helped to avert
this with his prayers at the United Native African Church Cathedral
[29]. His connections with the African Church began back home in
1919 when the Rev. E. D. Sodeinde wanted him to become a full-time
evangelist [30]. It might be true then, as Peel has suggested, that
Oke’s prophecy first prompted Orimolade to settle in Lagos,
especially if we know that until he arrived in Lagos he was an
itinerant preacher. Now in Lagos, he felt very much at home with
African Church leaders, one of whom, identified as Chief J. K. Coker,
always took him in his car, to preach in African Churches in the
district.
He lived in Ebute-Ero for only two months, leaving the parsonage on
September 11, 1924. His close association with the African Church
might have displeased leaders of the Holy Trinity Church. The
minister of the church, Ven. Archdeacon. T. A. J. Ogunbiyi, later
criticized the C & S on the basis of Orimolade’s earlier campaigns. It
has been alleged by the C & S that the minister personally hated
Orimolade and all that he stood for.

According to one tradition, Moses went straight to Ebute-Ero where

Rev. Ogunbiyi lived. When he saw Moses he invited him to preach the
sermon on an appointed Sunday. Moses preached to the gathering.
He was reported to have read from Genesis to Exodus without
opening the Bible and interpreted it verse by verse to the
congregation. Everybody in the church was transfixed. When
Ogunbiyi saw that Orimolade’s sermon was moving and spiritually
uplifting he told the congregation that Moses was a liar [31].
Ogunbiyi challenged Orimolade to tell them the school from which he
had learned all the theories and translations of the Bible.

This tradition further claims that Archdeacon Ogunbiyi tried to harm

Moses with charms but that, as a vindication of Orimolade’s
inviolability, it was the warden of the Church who became the victim.
He collapsed but Orimolade’s prayers resuscitated him. As a
consequence of this incident, Moses Orimolade was nicknamed
Baba Aladura (The Praying Father) in Lagos.

J. 0. Coker reportedly said that Orimolade left Holy Trinity parsonage

because of his refusal to sell the water he always gave out for
healing. The archdeacon, the apostle maintained, felt that
Orimolade’s blessed healing water should be a source of money for
the church. He also felt uneasy about the overwhelming popularity
the lame prophet was acquiring through his efficacious prayer,
thrilling sermons and sound Bible knowledge, his lack of formal
education notwithstanding [32]. The Advisory Board asserts that
Moses was dragged out of the church and sent out of the parsonage.
This humiliation of a harmless and physically disabled preacher
aroused the sympathy of some church members, including J. 0.
Coker and Gabriel Ogunyadi who were among the earliest members
of the C&S Society [33].

Orimolade went back to the Ifako farm of Chief J. K. Coker and lived
there for some time before returning to Lagos Island on December
20 of the same year to live in Chief Balogun Street residence [34]. He
continued his open air preaching in Lagos, stressing the need for
absolute faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, reliance on the power of the
Holy Spirit, the efficacy of prayers for healing purposes and the use
of Psalms. His outstanding ability was reflected in his proficiency in
quoting passages from the Bible.
After five months in Balogun Street, Orimolade moved to the house
of a Muslim leader, Momo Giwa. J. 0. Coker is of the opinion that
Orimolade and Momo Giwa had met in Lokoja during the early days
of Orimolade’s evangelistic campaigns. When Giwa met him in Lagos
years later, he easily recognized him and invited him to live with him
in his house in Kester Lane, otherwise known as Ago Isofin. He
moved into the house on May 7, 1925 and continued to make his
presence in Lagos known through his regular open air sermons, his
public disputation with Muslim teachers, his moving prayers and
through his peculiar songs: Lori Oke Jordani l’anpe mi (On far away
Jordan hill am I being invited) and E jek’afiinu didun… (Let us with a
gladsome mind…).

Miraculous feats were credited to him during this period. A

masquerader who tried to harm him with juju collapsed and died just
as he (Orimolade) was reciting Psalm 91 in front of him and a baby
boy who had swallowed a needle vomited it after he had prayed for
him. He also began to have a definite group of admirers. They were
always present at his campaign meetings and called on him from
time to time for prayers and spiritual guidance. Notable among these
“disciples” were Sarah Phillips,–the mother of H. A. Phillips,–Sabinah
Roberts (now mother cherub of E.S.O. C & S and Mt. Zion) the late
Isaac Adebulewo and H. A. Phillips, who said that he knew Moses
Orimolade personally as he called regularly to invite his mother to his
open air meetings. Such was his fame in Lagos before the June 1925
incident culminated in the founding of the C & S Movement.

Founding of the C & S Movement

We have seen Moses Orimolade as the man of faith, the charismatic

leader, the spiritual man, the mysterious, the genius. But Orimolade
also had all the attributes that makes one truly human. He was a very
humble man who hardly ever used the word “I” to describe himself.
He maintained that God is the great and the only “I AM.” He therefore
preferred the nominative plural “we” implying the whole group,–male,
female, old and young [35].

He was an ascetic man and lived in celibacy all his life, although he
sometimes kept female attendants [36]. Orimolade was not only
frugal, he was actually poor. It is true that early dissident members of
the C & S charged that he was imposing fees for healing, yet
members of the Advisory Board have strongly refuted this
accusation, adding that the spiritual father refused even to accept
free gifts for any kind of healing. H. A. Phillips cited several instances
when Moses rejected gifts offered by those he healed. His poverty
never tempted him to take advantage of his spiritual position to
improve his lot economically. If he needed money he would without
hesitation, ask for modest donations from his affluent followers. He
never received money with his own hand. His “safe” was a space
under his sleeping mat and his benefactors knew that was where to
deposit money meant for him. If a member required financial
assistance. Moses would happily direct such a member to the same
place for whatever amount he needed.

All his life Orimolade slept on the floor on ordinary mats. At home, he
was always clad in a white, handwoven loincloth and had an ordinary
cane basket to store his few pieces of clothing. He wore his hair long
and never had it shaved. When it became untidy his lieutenants
advised him to cover it up with a cap, especially in public places and
whenever there were visitors. This was to avoid embarrassment both
to the public and to members of the society. Through William
Onanuga (Orimolade’s immediate successor), who specialized in
making embroidery on caps, a few caps were provided for Moses.
This had been cited as the origin of the practice of wearing caps,
now one of the distinguishing marks of the C & S. It was also
probably in imitation of him that the practice of wearing long hair
began among C & S prophets.

Moses Orimolade addressed most of his followers as sons. He

would say to every newcomer: “My son, what do you desire we do for
you?” [37] He was impartial, always more interested in pacifying than
in judging. He would call an offender and make peace at once
between him and his accuser. Orimolade loved peace and feared
contravening orders of the government and the norms of society
[38].

He invited the police to maintain the peace when he was

apprehensive of public reaction on the return to Lagos of Abiodun
and others from a very successful evangelistic tour in 1927. He also,
in the crucial letter he wrote to Abiodun in 1928, at the outbreak of
the quarrel which produced the first major split within the C & S,
noted:

… in order to prevent a breach of peace, which you are daily

contributing to create, I can no longer allow that we continue
together as before. (…) I am therefore asking you through this
letter to form your own society taking with you all the
members as are willing to follow and cooperate with you. (…) I
have reported the matter to the Commissioner of Police as I
have come to Lagos not to (cause) or create trouble nor do I
wish to be drawn into conflict with the government, for a
breach of peace [39].

In this connection we can recall his visit to the administrator of

Lagos Colony on May 17, 1929. Pleading his cause before this high
government official, Orimolade explained that “in consequence of his
good work, damaging articles in relation to himself appeared in
certain Lagos papers. The Hon. Administrator, he advised, should
take no notice of such articles without hearing his own side” [40].
Orimolade rarely prayed audibly except during general intercessions.
He was given to meditation, such as is peculiar to yoga mystics. At
the end of each of his usually long periods of meditation, the only
visible evidence of which was an apparent look of absent-
mindedness, he would heave a very deep sigh and to this all present
would respond together: Iye (LIFE) [41]. He was called Baba Aladura,
not as a title originally, but as a nickname before the C & S was
organized. The Advisory Board therefore takes a very serious
objection to anybody parading as Baba Aladura [42].

With the founding of the C & S in June 1925, Orimolade seemed to

have realized the consummation of his evangelistic aspirations.
From then on till his death on October 19, 1933 at only fifty-four, he
remained in the background, allowing his youthful and socially more
presentable followers to popularize the society. He stayed at home to
attend to visitors who called for prayers and healing. He continued,
however to appear in public on anniversaries and during processions,
when he rode in a wheelchair behind the procession.

The years 1925 to 1927 were for Moses Orimolade years of glory.
They were years of expansion for the C & S, a new radically and
spiritually dynamic movement. During this time evangelists of the
movement visited almost all parts of Yorubaland to preach and to
establish branches. The north was also widely evangelized and
effective inroads were made by his preachers.

With the internal dissensions which culminated in the separation of

Christianah Abiodun Akinsowon and her supporters in 1929 and of
the Praying Band of the Society under Ezekiel A. Davies in 1930,
Orimolade began to experience trying times. The first secession
robbed him of Abiodun, a charming and motivating leader of the
society, and the second of the enlightened and affluent members of
the young organization. During this period he changed his residence
four times, living in Mr. Holloway’s Martin Street house, W. A. Daodu’s
Egerton Street residence, Ezekiel Akindele Davies’ Balogun Street
house and finally in Ofin Canal from April to September 1929 when
the trouble with the Praying Band was developing. From there he
moved into 42, Daddy Alaja Street, where he lived as if in retirement.
He spent the last four years of his life in that building leaving once,
just a month before he died.

On September 14, 1933 he was taken to Osolake Street, Ebute-Metta

from where he asked to be taken to Rev. D. J. Oguntolu’s farm in
Ojokoro. On October 19, 1933, exactly two weeks after his arrival
there, Moses Tunolase died. Since his death, Ojokoro has become a
sacred place to the C & S–as Mecca and Medina are to every true
Moslem–a Holy Land, where one of the greatest prophets of the
twentieth century was buried. He was not killed, he was not stoned,
he was not sick. It was God’s call in due season. [43].
A week before he died, Orimolade had blessed Abraham William
Onanuga, an elderly but late convert, put one of his own garments on
him and had presented him as his successor. Before he breathed his
last, he was quoted as giving the following instructions:

Onanuga, take care of the flock. You will be the leader of my

people. (…) Peter Omojola (his elder brother) it is time you go
home. You elders (particularly pointing at J. 0. Coker, then
leader, but now Senior Apostle General) teach Onanuga the
constitution and working of the Holy Order because he does
not know them sufficiently yet [44].

Three hours after he died, a visionary, Jeol Ifemade (now Jacob

Ifemade and leader of the C & S on Hotonu Street), revealed at a
prayer meeting at Ebute-Metta that he saw in a vision that the Baba
Aladura had passed away, This was confirmed later that day when
the news of his death was brought from Ojokoro to the society’s
headquarters. He was buried on October 20 and it was said that
flocks of white birds hovered continuously over the grave until the
burial ceremony was completed [45].

A memorial stone was erected on the site of his tomb, and memorial
services have been held there annually since 1934 by both the 10,
Hotonu Street section and Mt. Zion, Ebute-Metta section of the C & S.
On October 18 of every year a vigil is observed, and on the following
day a memorial service is held.

In his last days, Orimolade, in spite of the rebellion of his close

followers, remained a cool-headed father of the society. He made an
effort to re-unite the dissident groups into one strong, dynamic
society, but his unwilling associates thwarted all his moves for
peace.

All sections of the C & S made him a saint and prayers are said to the
“God of Moses Orimolade” in the same manner as the Hebrews pray
to the “God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob.” The Advisory Board
has justified this canonization in these words:
 He was the first person to introduce faith-healing into
Christianity in this land. He also introduced other spiritual
phenomena: clairvoyance, clairaudience [46], etc. Since his
death, people go to worship at his graveyard. Even Muslims
call there to offer prayers and suppliants go there to make
their petitions. He placed the society in the hands of God
pledging that if it was man-made, it would fail but if it was
established by God Himself it would grow from strength to
strength. The society had received visitors from everywhere,
even from European countries, demonstrating the universal
nature of the society. Orimolade had been found to be
preaching in foreign countries [47].

Orimolade has been acclaimed as the sole and indisputable founder

of the C & S. Stories and myths woven round his person are accepted
by all members as literally true. To them these things are visible
proofs of his divine authority.

Joseph Akinyele Omoyajowo

Notes: