Right now in the country – and including outside our shores – Evangelist Chukwuebuka Anozie Obi, popularly known as Ebuka Obi, of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach, is one of the hottest and most sought-after preachers and miracle workers.
A native of Ubulu Ihejiofor, in Oru-West local government area of Imo State, he was born 43 years ago to Vincent and Veronica Obi, both teachers.
Handsome and bearded, YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AZUH ARINZE, spent an hour with him on Monday, December 18, 2023. This was inside his sprawling headquarters in Hosanna Estate, Onyebuchi Avenue, Ago-Palace, Okota, Lagos.
Looking fresh and simple in his black and white ensemble, he responded with smiles to all my questions.
Excerpts…
So, how did it all begin? I mean your ministry and working for the Lord…
Well, I am aware that when I was eight years old, I used to see things that were not even clear to me. For instance, I could tell my mom that this person would die tomorrow and it would happen like that. Sometimes, someone they thought would die, and they bring the person to me, I could say he would recover, and the person would eventually recover. It got to a point that even pregnant mothers lined up to enquire about the sex of their babies.
That time, scan was not very common. So, I became the scanning machine to so many pregnant mothers. People came from so many villages and I told them the sex of their babies correctly.
Even in primary school, my teachers came to me to enquire about whatever issues they had and I spoke to them without mistakes. The whole thing spread such that people from other local government areas were coming to look for a boy of eight years. People were respecting me as a child. That’s why among all my siblings, I’m the only one that my father was so careful with. He didn’t know how to handle me. When I was 12 years old, Late Rev. Fr. Luke Odikaemerem came to our parish, CKC ( a Catholic Church) in Ubulu. He was the one who told my father to stop flogging me, that I have the gift of the Holy Ghost, and that God will use me mightily. He told my father to stop seeing me as a devil, because that time, my father would always flog the hell out of me. Not small flogging; the marks are still on my back. I could understand him because as a teacher, he wanted us to be the best. He didn’t find it comfortable that I spent more time in the chapel praying, instead of studying. So, this priest told my father that I would be great; I would be a prophet of God and that I am not possessed or demonic, but manifesting the gift of God.
How does your father feel about you now, especially with how big you have become?
Now, my father has no option than to be happy.
Tell us more about this Fr. Luke Odikaemerem. We can see his enlarged photos in your office…
I will make a video of the priest someday. He said if I was ready to work for God, I must not have sex before marriage; that God will use me mightily and that he saw me talking to millions of people. That time, I didn’t understand what ministry was all about, but he made it clearer. He told me three things: no sex before marriage, let it not be a church and don’t leave Catholic where you were born and don’t be money-minded. I’ve kept all that till today. That’s why I have not married.
So, how have you been coping with the temptation that comes with being single, especially with your fame and fortune?
It’s not easy, but with determination and the grace of God, there’s success. The consciousness that the vow is attached to my destiny, keeps me determined. I can’t joke with this grace. This is why here, I don’t play the role of the priest, I don’t baptise anybody. That’s why on Sundays, I try to go to Mass as a Catholic.
That’s interesting. What would you attribute the rapid rise and growth of Zion Ministry to, other than God?
I don’t think there’s anything else to attribute the growth of Zion Ministry to, other than God, because it’s more than human comprehension. Even me, I cannot believe it. I know that when I was small, I used to see myself talking to a large crowd, but I didn’t know it’d come this far. There’s no time you will come here and not see thousands of people from all over the world.
It’s just the grace of God. We have no signboard. We are not even powerful in the media. Yet if you come here, you see thousands of people from across the globe every time. The grace of God is here and I still maintain it with sacrifice. I fast a lot, seeing the level of work God has given to me. I usually tell God that I didn’t pray for this kind of ministry so He should not allow me to make a mistake. Also, the things I preach, I try to do them unlike most men of God. I have never asked anybody in Zion ministry to pay money; never asked for tithe, don’t do Bazaar, or ask people to pay money to see me. With the way people gather to see me, I know that if I put my consultation fee at 10 million naira, people will pay. But I will never because, freely I receive, freely I will give. God still works miracles, but some men of God don’t keep the principles.
Amid all that happens here; more so with the number of people struggling to see you, when do you rest? When do you create time for yourself?
I don’t know the last time I closed my eyes to sleep for up to two hours. My personal life is really not organised. I’m too emotional about people’s problems or how people feel. Out of emotion, after programmes, I still attend to people. After that, there are meetings upon meetings. And so many people will be crying that they have lodged in hotels for one or two months, waiting to see me. Hearing all that, I want to do more. Sometimes, by 2 to 3, and even up to 5 am, I will still be receiving many foreigners from Gabon, America, UK, etc. Considering how much they pay in hotels, my heart would always melt. I am the kind of person who cannot withstand somebody’s tears. And most of them have used it against me.
What efforts are you making to reduce the workload?
We are having sons of the prophet programme now. The work is too much for one person. I cannot be in ten places at a time. It’s a big challenge. We need a lot of ministers who can help. So, we are training some people already.
In spite of the hours or days that people spend, waiting to see you, they remain undaunted, probably because they are getting results…
Why won’t they get results? When you keep yourself and you are honest with what you are doing, the power of God is available. But as they are coming, what comes to my mind is, you have to keep maintaining the work you are doing that makes people come to you. I don’t feel proud or arrogant. I just say Lord, who am I? I give you all the glory; give me the grace to always be faithful and not disappoint You. There are so many men of God who started very well, but at a time, they fell. I’m always conscious of this so as not to make the mistakes of other prophets.
You just concluded the 2023 Odieshi programme. Why the name?
For us, Odieshi is divine protection. The Scriptures say in 1 John 4 v 4, “For greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world.” That’s Odieshi. In Psalm 91 v 1, “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” That’s Odieshi. Romans 8 v 31, “If God be for us, who can be against us.” That’s Odieshi. Isaiah 54 v 17, “No weapon fashioned against us shall proper.” That’s Odieshi. Odieshi means with Christ nothing bad happens. There were lots of testimonies from the programme; they are verifiable. These are not something you joke with. A professor from Anambra State University came with a double walking stick. That’s Prof Arinze; this is not something they arranged somewhere. That day, he dropped his walking stick here and walked.
Of all the miracles and testimonies at Zion Ministry, which has been the most memorable for Ebuka Obi?
It has to be young boys surrendering their charms, giving their lives to Christ. Many youths come here and I usually tell them that you cannot be a Christian and have charms on your body. The Yahoo boys answer altar call, submitting the rings that they operate with. Even many native doctors submit their charms. To me, the salvation of souls for Jesus Christ is the highest testimony.
We understand that you have a foundation called Seraphic Home Foundation and also that you engage in a lot of charitable activities. Tell us about that…
Seraphic Home Foundation started in 2009, but it was not called by that name then. I was praying in a monastery (Awhum) in Enugu and the Lord said to me, I will bless you with everything, but you must take care of the poor. So, after that, I established a group called Welfare Ministry. Under that Ministry, we visited different prisons, sent food, etc. But in 2014, I was praying somewhere in and I heard that it is going to be Seraphic; it’s going to be a big foundation and that was how we started.
Right now, we are building a psychiatric hospital in Anambra State. We will also build it in five, six other states. We are doing Anambra before any other state in Nigeria because charity begins at home. It’s a free psychiatric home. I don’t want to see any mad person moving around our place. We will hand over the psychiatric home in Anambra to the governor and tell him it’s for the state. We will have buses which will be moving about picking and delivering persons with mental challenges to the psychiatric home.
Under the foundation, there’s no school term I don’t pay about N40m on school fees for people I don’t know, in Lagos, Anambra, Imo, etc. The Seraphic Hospital is also there, but like a charitable home. The people who pay money there are those we know have money and can afford it. But it is free of charge for hundreds of people. The psychiatric home is also free.
We heard that you are planning to relocate your ministry from Lagos to the east. Why?
I don’t think that we can do any big programme here anymore. There’s usually a crowd here on a daily basis. So, what we can manage here for now are weekly programmes. When we have a bigger programme, we go to a place that can contain us. Do you know that last time, people were fainting here; over hundred people fainted because of lack of space. The whole street was blocked. And getting a bigger land here in Lagos, I don’t think it’s possible. Going there (East) also will help the people to develop that side. When I came here in 2012, this place was like a desert, but the presence of God brought development. So, I also want people who come from my area to benefit from the grace, though they also come here. But the main thing is to have a bigger space. We are looking at about 20,000 plots.
What is your reaction to doubters of the authenticity of the miracles that take place at Zion ministry, especially those who make negative comments on social media?
There’s no day you open social media that you don’t read Ebuka Obi did this or that. In fact, I left social media because of this. If you just type my name, you will see hundreds of fan pages; so many controversies, people coming out without evidence. Initially, it was not easy because you know I have siblings and parents who see these things. People are talking about one person, and you have not come close. Well, they can’t really understand what we are doing here because the Bible says that a carnal mind cannot understand the things of the Holy Spirit. You must be a spiritual person to understand Ebuka Obi. You cannot go to the club and from there make videos of people falling and you cannot understand why people fall on the ground.
They did the same to our Lord Jesus Christ. People said He was using the power of Beelzebub to do miracles. People also criticised all the prophets of old. But it’s like my own is getting too much. There was a time when some members arrested some of them here in Lagos and when I got to know about it, I instructed that they be released. One thing that gives me joy though is that upon all the things they are saying about me, multitudes still come here and people who love what is happening here are more than those against me. We even have more people coming from outside the country. My response is, God bless them. One day, the Holy Spirit will open their eyes to know who I am and what I represent.
So, how should the frequency of miracles here be explained?
I don’t know. It’s unexplainable. A lawyer from Canada brought a Tesla of over one hundred million. I was praying during Open Heavens and I prophesied that he was going to have a breakthrough. I mentioned his name, I didn’t know him before and it happened. So, I don’t know how God does His miracles, I just prophesy. Sometimes I hear the voice clearly and sometimes it’s like me watching television. If you come to me one-on-one, I can just ask you to open your hands and I will start telling you things about you. Ask some governors, past and present senators, etc, who have come to see me here, they will tell you. There’s another one, he brought a jeep of about thirty-something million. During Open Heavens, his name was mentioned and the prophecy came about a contract in Abuja which will be in billions, and it happened. He showed us where they were signing the contract in Abuja. I don’t ask them, I don’t even know them.
Are there things you ask God for and He says no?
Yes! But when I cry while interceding for people, the answers come easily. Personally, my parents have been disturbing me to marry. I don’t want to see the tears of my parents. It’s always, ‘so you don’t want us to see your son till we die’. Those things break my heart and I have prayed to God, asking what He is saying about the issue of marriage. Somebody like me, I don’t want to dabble into marriage without a direct message from God. Remember I made a vow of virginity until I marry. I have never dated before. Remember, I started doing this work when I was 8 years old, so I grew up with so much fear of God. So, I’m so careful about it. But some day, surely, I will marry. I’m praying about it and the fact that God has not answered me today does not mean He won’t answer me tomorrow.
You claim to be a Catholic and yet run your own ministry. How have you managed to practice your Catholic faith and still oversee the ministry?
I try to do my obligations as a Catholic. I attend Mass, believe in the sacrament of reconciliation, attend confession and receive Holy Communion. I don’t joke with my Catholic faith. In fact, so many brethren who left Catholic are returning because of me. They believe that Catholics don’t see vision, do miracles. So, seeing what’s happening here, many of them are coming back.
Zion ministry seems to be in the business of reconciling couples. Why so much emphasis on that?
The Lord has revealed to me several times that the marriage institution is about to be destroyed completely. Just watch the rate at which people divorce now; it’s alarming. Some marry for just one year. In fact, in Africa here, it’s becoming our culture. Some ladies will say they just want to have children. Go to Abuja, you have baby mamas; so many ladies become single after marriage with two kids. They will say they want to be on their own. This is not our culture. It’s what you see in America or Europe. If you read the Bible, you will see places where the Lord condemned divorce. So, that is why I’m preaching that we should go back to read the Bible in Ephesians 5 v 20-22, and what it says about marriage. It says women should be submissive to their husbands and men should love their wives as Christ loves the Church. Today, civilisation and human rights are affecting the institution of marriage. That’s not the will of God for us. I don’t want children to be raised by single parents. The first time I preached about divorce, about 50 women from America contacted us and said they had withdrawn their divorce cases.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, according to a popular saying. How does Ebuka Obi unwind or enjoy life?
My big problem now is that I can’t go out alone. I can’t walk the streets alone. I went to the UK embassy the other day and had to cover my face. They blocked me and they had to call the police to rescue me. There is nothing like enjoyment, except praying to God and people testifying about what God is doing for them through me. I don’t know when last I ate good food because I fast every day. There’s no enjoyment. If you come to my house, you will see the vehicles that people brought. Where do I go? What gives me joy is seeing the miracles that God is doing and people giving their lives to Christ.
What are your dislikes about the Christendom?
What I dislike is the way Christianity is being done now. Today, it’s a few men of God that you’d go to who won’t ask you to bring money. Now, because of some sad experiences some people of the world have had with some men of God, they think it’s the same with others. There’s so much noise on social media against Christianity because they’ve had some negative experiences. Someone is asking a man of God for prayer and he will be told to bring money; one million, two million, so that they will go to their village to pray. This is bad. When people criticise men of God because of things like that, I feel very bad. That’s one thing I dislike.
How about the ones you like?
What I like is that God has chosen me out of nothing. I enjoy His anointing and presence in my life. I enjoy people, youths, giving their lives to Christ. I don’t compromise the word of God. It is meant for provocation. You must not like it when we preach it. A young man in prison for Yahoo Yahoo was released after a prophecy came. And he has given his life to Christ. I hugged him on the altar yesterday. That gives me joy.
What would be your advice to any young man who wants to succeed in the ministry?
He must first be sure he has the calling; because so many people today are pastors without the call. They would have been better in business or other areas. So far you are not called to be a pastor or minister, you would not do well, no matter how you pray. Also, you have to have financial discipline. You must be disciplined with women also. Anointing is attractive. So far you have the grace, women will be coming even more. You know women like men with authority. If you are not disciplined with women, you will end up shamefully. But if you are careful with women and money, you will go far in ministry. Pride is another factor. These are the three things that destroy men of God; you will see married women who will ask you to have children for them and their husbands will not know. If you are careful with women, money and you take pride away, you will go far if you have the call.
How do you see our country Nigeria and our politicians?
Of course, everybody knows that Nigeria is blessed with human and natural resources. Everybody knows that Nigeria is one of the most blessed countries in the world. Even a child knows that our problem in this country is politicians. Past and present politicians in Nigeria are our problem. The wealth of Nigeria is in the bank account of our politicians. Nigeria is one of the oil-rich countries, so if the politicians use the wealth of this country for the wellbeing of the people, the whites will come here and serve us. Go to embassies every day and see Nigerians trying to travel abroad; including countries that we are better than. When I was celebrating my birthday, one of them brought big money. Some of them that couldn’t come sent their representatives. One of them brought 300,000 dollars. That’s worth more than 500 million naira. But I said no. I was not moved at all.
So, what is the way out for our country, Nigeria?
This country is blessed. If politicians can use our money for the wellbeing of Nigerians, we are the best. Nigerians are the most intelligent people you can see anywhere; very smart and hardworking people. But the leaders are not encouraging us. Insecurity is everywhere. Investors cannot come; citizens are afraid much less investors. We need to take away tribalism and nepotism. Sadly, the people who are dividing us are these leaders. If they make things better in every region, and give people equal rights, things will be better.
There are still bad roads everywhere. Go to southeastern Nigeria especially, you will see federal roads in shambles; no electricity. In a country that has no electricity, no good roads, and no water, what will the citizens do? That’s the problem here. If we have these little things that the government should provide, then you will see that Nigeria is richly blessed.
