Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, the Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), is Nigeria’s richest pastor in the United Kingdom – and this is authoritative. YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine investigations revealed that since berthing in London in 1984 – first as a member of the Foursquare Gospel Church, before later setting up on his own – Ashimolowo has not looked back. Taking off on his own in 1992, his departure from Foursquare, of course, raised some dust. But upon wading through that, he started running immediately – and today, he is a millionaire in not just Naira, but Pounds Sterling. Ashimolowo’s first service at KICC was at Holloway Boys School, Hilldrop Crescent, in North London. And nearly 500 people, comprising children and adults, witnessed it.
The church started maturing from there. It also grew in leaps and in bounds. So much so that in its first year of existence, it was able to acquire a multi-purpose 4-storey building, on 1, Darnley Road, Hackney, London. And with constant money rolling in from the members, their conferences and seminars (some of them featuring renowned preachers like Bishop T.D Jakes, Bishop David Oyedepo, Pastor E.A Adeboye, Dr. Mike Murdock, to mention but few), tapes, CDs and books written by Ashimolowo, the ministry soared higher and higher.
Sometime in August 1998, KICC, again, acquired another massive property on 57, Waterden Road, London. It named this new place Miracle Centre; a 4000-seater auditorium with a car park that can comfortably shelter about a thousand cars. From there, KICC went on to acquire yet another property; this time bigger – on Hancock Road, Bromley, which it named Land of Wonders. Undone, KICC still upped the ante one more time – by paying for and taking possession of a 24-acre land with 12 buildings, inside Buckmore Park, in Kent, London.
Currently operating in about eight nations of the world with nearly 50 branches scattered here and there, Ashimolowo’s KICC does five jam-packed services every Sunday in London. With a vision ‘To Grow Up, To Grow Big and To Grow Together’, the ministry, no doubt, is the biggest and the richest administered by any Nigerian in that country. Interestingly, Pastor Ashimolowo, like he’s widely known today, was born a Muslim! Yes. Christened Ahmed Abiodun Ashimolowo by his parents after his birth on March 17, 1952, a Christian tract he had picked along the road after one of his drinking expeditions arrested him for the Lord, after digesting its content.
Indoctrinated years later on the teachings of the Almighty God by one Pastor Oyebanji, another minister of the gospel, Matthew Adediran, foresaw the calling of God upon him. Which became enhanced after he had attended a Bible School in Ikorodu, Lagos. Upon graduation, he joined Foursquare, an international denomination, in Somolu, Lagos; and then pastored by Rev. Olu Osibanjo. Another interesting thing happened here – as Ashimolowo ended up marrying the man’s daughter, Yemisi. The union, consummated on August 29, 1981, is today blessed with two children – Tomi and Tobi. Both boys.
Endowed with the gift of the garb as well as a unique way of preaching and distinct hairstyle, Ashimolowo, whose TV ministry is savoured in over a million homes in over a hundred countries round the world, has also encountered some hiccups. With the nastiest being when the British authorities accused him of not handling the ministry’s finances well. Born in Zaria, Kaduna State, but a native of Odo Ewu, near Ile-Ife, in Osun State, the preacher of repute and distinction could be rightly summed up as a complete Nigerian by virtue of the fact that he speaks the three major Nigerian languages – Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. Having lived and grown up in the Chindti barracks in Zaria.
A winner on many fronts, the host of the popular TV programme, Winning Ways, indeed epitomizes all that he teaches – enlightening, encouraging and educating millions on how to take charge of their families, finances and the future, with God at the centre of them all.
NB: First published February 2014