Boss Of The Week
Olugbenga Shoyele: Erudite Justice Committed to Openness, Transparency, Accountability
By Eric Elezuo
With the exploits of the Nigerian-born Kaycee Madu, who is the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General of Alberta, Canada, the Nigerian community has toed the line, and continues to dish out one exploit after another. The latest in the growing list of Nigerians making waves in Canada is Barrister Olugbenga Shoyele, who was appointed a new judge to head the Provincial Court of Alberta. The position was a privilege opened to lawyers with at least 10 years of experience at the bar, alongside several others who met the criteria, and Shoyele beat the benchmark to merit the exalted position after being thoroughly examined and interviewed. The feat speaks volume about his personality, background and impeccable career profile. Madu described Shoyele and the others as representing the “diversity present in Alberta and will help increase access to justice for Albertans”.
Nigerian-born Olugbenga obtained his Bachelor of Law and Masters in Law from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1980 and 1984 respectively. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy of Law also in 1995 in Nigeria. In 2003, he obtained another Masters of Law from the University of Alberta. Though he worked as a Law Professor in Nigeria, he is on an appointment to Edmonton Criminal Division where he currently practices as a major counsel for the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench.
ROAD TO APPOINTMENT AS PROVINCIAL JUSTICE
Sequel to his applications, Shoyele was first considered by the Judicial Council, which recommends applicants to the Provincial Court Nominating Committee. He was selected by the committee, which proceeded to interview him, and made recommendations to the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General.
After seating over the round table, Sholeye’s focus, intelligence and go-getting abilities were recognised, and he was shortlisted among those recommended for appointment. Olugbenga’s appointment took effect from July 12, 2021.
However, during the week, Shoyele was officially sworn in, and a get-together was held in his honour to mark the gigantic achievement, where he went down memory lane to tell the story of his sojourn in the citadel of law and justice systems. The story is contained in his well worded speech, punctuated with gracious appreciations as represented below:
SHOYELE’S APPRECIATIVE SPEECH
I start with an acknowledgement that the land on which we gather today for this ceremony is Treaty 6 territory and a traditional meeting ground and home for many Indigenous Peoples, including Cree, Saulteaux Niisitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, and Nakota Sioux; and I do this in recognition of their presence both in the past and the present.
I personally recognize that it is a great honour to be appointed to the “People’s Court” in Alberta joining a team of erudite, respectable, and accomplished honourable Justices of the Alberta Court of Justice, who interface directly with a significant majority of the community members across our Province.
I am very grateful to God — using human democratic institutions — for providing me with the privilege and opportunity to serve the public in the Province of Alberta on this platform. I believe that the Latin phrase: “vox populi, vox dei” – meaning the voice of the people is the voice of God – essentially underpins the legitimacy of judicial appointments in democratic societies like Canada.
I am absolutely humbled by (and very thankful to every single person in this courtroom for) your presence here today because I have no doubts that you have all made some sacrifices in diverse ways to come and spend your precious time with me during this momentous and by some description – historic – swearing-in ceremony.
A number of my friends have asked whether this is a swearing-in of my appointment that happened about two years ago. The simple answer that I responded with was: Yes! I clarified that I’ve had the official or formal one that substantively conferred the authority to act judicially done with my Assistant Chief Justice; and that the ceremonial one happening today is the one where, universally, each new justice being sworn in has the unique opportunity to present the different paths that they have traveled to get to this particular point in their careers as well as appreciate all those who have participated in that journey and/or contributed to the achievement.
This swearing in ceremony, coming after a host of others that I have had the opportunity to observe and participate in — either unobtrusively as part of the procession or actively as a representative of the APJA — has a ton of benefits coming with it. First, its intentional timing is apparently pressure abating. Secondly, the timing also provided me space to explore having my international-based relatives and friends be present at the event. Their presence, as you can all see, is manifested by the colourful, sartorial elegance on display today. Finally, and more interestingly, the June timing comes with the typically abbreviated tropical, summer weather in Edmonton, Alberta. Accordingly, I humbly submit to this honourable court (and audience) that my timing of this ceremony is obviously the bargain to beat. I will concede that the strength of that proposition has been mildly impacted by the air quality index level announced by Environment and Climate Change Canada for today.
Rather than postulating the philosophy and principles of law, which I believe a majority of this audience is familiar with either profoundly or broadly, my speech today is more of a personal story laden with (immense) gratitude.
The significance of my appointment to the Bench in Alberta — and conceivably in Canada — remains, frankly speaking, inescapable in its symbolism as well as effect. It is a positive reflection of the welcoming environment in this beautiful province for people from various continental, national and ethnic origins or backgrounds. It encouragingly demonstrates, with sparkle, the ongoing promotion and actualization of diversity, inclusivity and multiculturalism. It acknowledges possibilities and emphasizes hope for a better future for all in the community that I conspicuously and indisputably belong. The broad reference to “community” is intentional, as I want everyone who sees themselves in me — that is, physically and experientially — to individually draw that conclusion and extract inspiration from this occasion. For increased specificity, that community I have referenced includes the BIPOC demographic (a recently evolved acronym for: Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour); it also encompasses internationally trained lawyers in our Province and across Canada — a country widely perceived as the land of dreams, possibilities, and their realizations.
At the expense of reiteration, I was born in Nigeria, obtained my first set of law degrees – i.e undergraduate and postgraduate degrees – in the same country. Subsequently, I embarked on the professional and academic challenges of re-qualifying in Canada as an internationally trained lawyer; as well as obtaining additional postgraduate degree in law. That re-qualification process was remarkably humbling for me as the table turned for the erstwhile professor of law who suddenly became a student of law all over again. In this regard, I must acknowledge the critical contribution of Professor Lewis Klar, who — during his tenure as the Faculty Dean — materially sparked my interest in coming to Alberta by offering me a visiting opportunity as a sabbatical scholar at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law, while I was a law professor in Nigeria. Thank you, Professor Klar in absentia.
On my arrival in Edmonton, when I started contemplating my future in Canada, it rapidly became clear to me that I had no discernible roadmap on how to integrate into the legal community in Canada, and more specifically in the province of Alberta, as the National Mobility Agreement which enables lawyers to transfer easily between common law provinces in Canada was not in existence when I was undergoing that process. I had no precedent to follow. The situation was daunting. I had no mentor with my similar experience to consult. It was my fortuitous contact with Justice June Ross that illuminated my path to becoming a member of the legal profession in this province and essentially in the country. She was then the Associate Dean of Law (Academic) at the University of Alberta. She patiently counselled me on the process and imbued me with the required courage to braze the challenges around re-qualifying as a legal practitioner in Canada and as a member of the Law Society of Alberta. That narrative briefly captures the origin of my interest in, love of and commitment to this great Province. Thank you, Justice Ross.
This personal story — which has its genesis on the African continent — includes my nuclear family’s exodus to Canada. The story is the quintessential crystallization of the often repeated axiom that says: “It takes a village to raise a child.” That aphorism itself strikes a particularly resounding chord in my case — given its ostensible African provenance —when I consider the numerous individuals who have been part of my journey and contributed in no small measures to my personal and professional evolution since I arrived at the shores of this country up to the announcement of my appointment as a Justice of the Alberta Court of Justice.
From the professional angle – I acknowledge the following law firms, their principals, partners and associates: James H Brown and Associates – especially Jim Brown, the founding Principal – as well as Snyder and Associates LLP (being law firms that combinedly provided me with an enriched articling opportunity and experience in those early times when clerkship opportunity for internationally trained lawyers was rarer than gemstones); Sharek Logan van Leenen LLP (particularly Justice Gord Sharek and David van Leenen — who offered me the opportunity to start practice in Administrative Law as a specialized area of law that is of paramount interest for me); and Brownlee LLP (where my practice interest in administrative law as Research Lawyer fully blossomed.
I move on to salute Justice Steve Hillier of the Alberta Court of King’s Bench, Justices Sheila Greckol and Jane Fagnan of the Alberta Court of Appeal, who were the “door-opening” interviewers that were directly responsible for my recruitment as Legal Counsel at Alberta Court of King’s Bench [ABKB].
In my role as a former KB Legal Counsel, I have worked with and for a considerable number of those sitting on the dais for the ceremony today. And I can confidently assert without fear of contradiction, that they embody, as Alberta’s judiciary, the top-notch brains drawn from the brilliant legal community of our province. I am indeed extremely grateful for your attendance at the ceremony today.
The ABKB operates in a highly collegial environment. And I thoroughly enjoyed working there with its outstanding judicial complement, stellar Legal Counsel Team, energetic judicial assistants and brilliant judicial clerks. The KB Justices and LCs provided a conducive, non-toxic, and accepting atmosphere that made me look forward everyday – and with unbridled enthusiasm – to showing up for another productive workday “in-person” (pre-pandemic).
While it is simply impractical for me to exhaustively mention the names of all justices, judicial officers and staff, who I have worked with for the duration of my career as Legal Counsel at the Alberta Court of King’s Bench and briefly at the Alberta Court of Appeal, I am compelled to comment that the Edmonton KB Legal Counsel “dream team” consisted of brilliant legal minds. I have had the good fortune of working with exceptionally gifted members of the group such as: Shelagh Lobay (now retired), Peggy Kobly KC, Donald Netolitzky KC, Stella Varvis and Jennifer Taylor (alongside our Resolution Counsel – Brenda Kaminski, KC and Michelle Pidhirney, KC) and in later years Thomas Druyan, Robyn Mitchell and Michelle Roy. The affable working environment in Edmonton was harmoniously coordinated by Diana Lowe KC (now retired former Exec LC), and currently Heather Manweiller).
They have all helped in sharpening my understanding of the law through the regular biweekly and monthly meetings we held as court lawyers, interacting with our highly intelligent articling clerks recruited annually.
As can be gleaned from my previous comments, I also had a transforming stint and experience as Legal Counsel at the Alberta Court of Appeal where I worked directly with Justice Costigan and our other highly respected appeal justices. A typical day as Legal Counsel to Justice Costigan commenced early with penetrating brainstorming on core legal issues. During that time, I was — of course — also privileged to know and work closely with the ABCA Legal Counsel Team in Edmonton, being my base location. These Legal Counsel Team members, both individually and corporately, have never ceased to amaze me with their legendary intellectual brilliance and attention to granular details that are constantly engaged in the appeal matters they regularly deal with. Your sterling contributions to the administration of justice in our Province is highly commendable.
It is trite knowledge that the University of Alberta, over the years, has contributed immeasurably to the legal community in Canada at the local, provincial and national levels. I am indisputably one of the beneficiaries of that great institution’s countless contributions to the society. In that vein, I am particularly obliged to the entire team of tenured professors, adjunct professors, sessional instructors and staff — past and present — in the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta, who have directly and indirectly contributed to making this day possible. I would like to acknowledge Professor David Percy, Professor Phil Bryden, Professor Linda Reif, Dean Barbara Billingsley, Justice Tami Friesen, and Maureen Maguire, KC, to mention a few. Again, if I have not included your name in this short list, I passionately plead for your understanding as the constraints of time wouldn’t permit me to reel out all deserving names individually. I wish to reiterate, nevertheless, that my inability to mention you specifically by name today does not in any way diminish your immense contributions to my story.
To my nuclear family members, I acknowledge and hail your courage in sacrificially rallying around the dream of leaving the relative comfort we had enjoyed at the University community in Jos, Nigeria to explore the then adventurous, unknown and uncertain future in Canada. That departure had an element of oxymoron to it. We were excited at the sweet, delightful opportunity to come to Canada while feeling slightly bitter and scared that we were leaving the familiar — our daily routine, as well as our family and friends. I would like to believe that we have made a modest success of the move we staged back then. Remarkably and sadly, though, what I have just referenced as “relative comfort” in the City of Jos subsequently degenerated after our departure from that community in Nigeria into chaos and insecurity. A more relatively recent update, however, confirms that the government in the country is now striving arduously to restore the peace and serenity for which that university community was renowned. I continue to pray and hope for the realization of that goal. The entire nation of Nigeria deserves it as a member of the global community.
I’m beholden to Mary, my beautiful, lovely and loving spouse, who has been absolutely supportive of me at every step of the journey in this beautiful country and province. I would be remiss not to acknowledge in unequivocal terms that you have always taken wonderful care of us as a family. Mary believes so much in my ability to achieve set goals. She has always been, in a concrete and unmistakable way, a motivator as well as a constant driving force who consistently propels me to higher heights. Obulu!!
My lovely children deserve a prodigious accolade as well — my daughter Grace (and her husband, Jason); my son Ade (and his girlfriend, Georgina), as well as my youngest daughter “the Princess” Yemi (who I fondly call ‘the Math Wizard’ in acknowledgment of her love and passion for all things mathematical). I say “Gracias” to you all for accommodating my sporadic aloofness when duty-calls interface with domestic matters at the home front. I also love to think that we have succeeded in mapping out the strategy to deal with that now in a commonly satisfactory manner.
To my siblings in England and Nigeria, thanks for being there always in providing emotional and filial support since the loss of our mother, a brother and a sister. How lovely it would have been to have you all here in-person to celebrate this occasion with me. Nonetheless, I’m appreciatively content with your virtual and spiritual presence necessitated by inevitable practical limitations.
My father, a centenarian – who turned 100 years in January 2023 – was more than thrilled at the announcement of my appointment being celebrated today. I had the opportunity to visit him in Nigeria recently — in 2021, immediately after COVID-19 restrictions were partially lifted and it was safe to make international travels. He reminded me of the role I played in a drama commemorating my set’s graduation at the local elementary school, where a story book titled, The Incorruptible Judge was adapted for the stage. From that reminiscence, it’s clear to me now, more than ever, that my love and passion for the law dated back to my childhood days.
To our extended family members — nieces, nephews, cousins — and family friends from across Canada and overseas, I appreciate your presence — both virtually by WebEx and in person — on this occasion.
My immense gratitude to Arlene, John, Cynthia, Terry, and Amy Stiksma (our in-laws). Mary and I are most obliged for all your kindness and support as our new family members.
I thank my church family at Strathcona Baptist Church, Edmonton for the spiritual support you have unfailingly and continually provided to me and my family dating back to Year 2000, when my nuclear family members and I stepped into the hallowed hall of the sanctuary at 83rd Avenue, Edmonton. I deeply appreciate you all for coming to celebrate this day with me.
To all our family friends in Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Grand Prairie (and other parts of our lovely province of Alberta), a big thank you for your friendship and presence here today. I got a huge surprise few weeks ago from some of my friends, based abroad – in Nigeria, the United States and the United Kingdom – informing me of their intentions to, in their words, “storm” this event. Not in the nature of a war strategy, but in a friendly celebration of this historic moment. I sincerely appreciate the pleasant surprise, Wole, Damola, Dele and Dejo! And many, many thanks for showing up and taking the long trips when it mattered.
The Brownlee’s Toastmasters Club had been an integral part of my journey since Justice Jane Fagnan introduced me to the organization. To all my friends at BBTM (that being the acronym we use for the club), who are present here today, I say thank you for gracing this significant ceremony.
Since my appointment as a Justice of the Alberta Court of Justice, I have been very fortunate to enjoy the benefit of an exceedingly supportive culture existing in all Divisions of the Court.
I am especially indebted to all my colleagues at the Edmonton Criminal Division — particularly ACJ Ray Bodnarek. I won’t dare inadvertently step on toes by going further to start mentioning individual names here because you have all been so wonderfully generous to me with your time, knowledge and experience – and I really, really mean that. That is unsurprising to me, though, because by every standard you are all achievers who have nothing to lose at the pinnacle– as it were – of your legal careers.
That said, I believe I’m on safe terrain in acknowledging the special roles played by Justice Randy Brandt, Justice Joyce Lester (my assigned mentors), and Justice Francine Roy, who incidentally were my immediate neighbours when I initially arrived at the East side on the 5th Floor. Justices Jim Wheatley, Larry Anderson, Janet Dixon, and Carole Godfrey must not be left out of that list of “incipient stage” visitors. They all came to check on me virtually every day — during my first few weeks and months — to ensure I was comfortable. Justice Danny Zalmanowitz of Edmonton Family and Youth Division also noticeably made efforts to come in regularly from the 6th Floor and reassure me that things would fall in place — professionally — sooner that I thought. That network has since (of course) ballooned as I approach my second year on the 5th Floor and now operating from the west side. I cherish you all!
I have also received assistance from all the wonderful staff at the Alberta Court of Justice — the judicial assistants, the judicial clerks, Executive Legal Counsel, LCs, Librarians, Court of Justice [COJ] staff members and clerkship or articling students. They have all helped to transition me to this new career and role — right from the time I stepped onto the 5th Floor back in July 2021 — doing seemingly banal things like showing me my office/chambers, the lunchroom, the library and resources available to me, designing my judicial education plan, etc. Sincere gratitude “Team COJ”!
As we all march into the future, I am optimistic that the challenges ahead call for the ability to deploy a sense of calm and grace under pressure.
The judiciary remains always at the confluence of our past, present and future. Take a glance around this grand courtroom, and you will quickly realize that it is populated, in the main, by erudite jurists who have demonstrated incredible leadership in the legal community we have all come to know over several years. They have all contributed in an inestimable manner to the development of jurisprudence across our nation and the international common law regime.
These members of the judiciary have all, without fear or favour, upheld and continue to uphold timeless principles that span, among others — Constitutionalism. Rule of Law. Due process. Natural Justice. Fair trial. Privacy and Open Courts.
In so doing, they have worked tirelessly and ethically with the vibrant members of the bar in our beautiful province to protect the democratic values we cherish in the Canadian society. I pay homage to your diligence and dedication.
Albert Schweitzer — a renowned polymath and Nobel Peace prize winner — once said: “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” I love the legal profession, love legal research and writing, and love to resolve legal problems. I believe these things that make me happy would help me make a success of my judicial career.
It is my goal to remain committed to the time-honoured principles of openness, transparency and accountability. In the same context, I will strive to observe and uphold the virtues of courtesy, respect, fairness and simplicity.
Acutely aware of the core principle of judicial independence while serving Albertans in the fair, administration of justice, I intend – and have planned – to work hard to justify the trust reposed in me by virtue of this appointment. I will diligently discharge my judicial duties to the best of my ability.
Many thanks to you all for coming to share this joyous moment with me!
By Eric Elezuo
Many see him as controversial, while a great many others see him as a known philanthropist. However, the obvious fact remains that Nigeria-born, England based pastor, Tobi Adegboyega, is busy transforming young and youthful lives into the wonders they were created to be, using his NXTION, formally known Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church (SPAC Nation), before June 2020, a Christian denomination worship centre in East London.
Situated at The Atrium on 124 Cheshire St, London, before the UK authorities reportedly ordered its shutdown, NXNATION was established to rekindle hope in the lost and about to be lost lives, especially among black youths. This, Pastor Tobi, as he fondly called, has been doing even as he is celebrating 44 years of impactful living.
According to information ontained from the church’s site, NXTION has been “a faith based organisation that is committed in seeing the lives of young people being transformed. A generation whereby many young people have been dejected, abused and simply overlooked, SPAC NATION merely offers an alternative, whilst changing the narrative of this generation one step at a time.
“Taking a hands-on-approach, SPAC NATION offers 1:1 mentorship/key work sessions, counselling and guidance through the means of lifestyle evangelism’’. A concept that is not common within today’s society, SPAC NATION breaks the mould…”
In a research conducted by BBC in 2019, it was observed that Adegboyega, who is said to be the cousin of Britain based popular actor, John Boyega, in collaboration with five other pastors (the generals) working with him, has helped many young people to lay down their arms and take up the bible as well as other worthy and rewarding businesses for a greater and better future, and of course many testimonies abound. Each of the pastors runs one of five churches across the capital.
Also known as PT (Pastor Tobi) by adherents, the young up and mobile Nigerian pastor is always the cynosure of all eyes during his services, which more than anything, takes the shape of a celebration, and the message is principally ‘prosperity gospel’ – a belief that God rewards his followers with material wealth – and the more they give, the more they will be rewarded.
Like every stylish preacher, Adegboyega attracts condemnation from most people who do not know how his church is run, and others who may have been fed with wrong accounts. But he affirmed that he has not taken anybody’s or church’s money, his flashy lifestyle notwithstanding.
PT’s denials came in the wake of claims by young followers that they have been left in thousands of pounds of debt, calling to question the church’s inner workings. But PT explains, bringing to the fore the reasons the church and its pastors sort of appear ostentatious:
“We realised young people need help. That help may be getting into college, or getting out of a gang.
“I realised that to connect with the generation you have to look like them.
“What are they looking for? Why are they attracted to drill rap? They want the shoes, and the clothes.
“We thought we’re going to do the same thing, and wear what they wear, then we’ll pass on the right message.
“I can easily pull up in a nice car among secondary school kids who may be about to start selling drugs. They ask what I do and I get them engaged.
“Once I get their attention I can pass on the right message, and tell them they’ll make money by changing their lives. We had to attract them.”
Adegboyega, himself, a pastor’s son and trained lawyer, has truly exhibited charisma in everything he has been engaged in, especially in the way he has been getting the young ones to jettison a life of crime and gangsterism to embrace the loving Word of God and genuine business. He is far from the typical everyday minister.
He said:
“SPAC is a very different kind of church. It’s not your typical church.
“We tell them there’s something better, whether that’s a start-up business, or education – if they weren’t part of our church many would be in prison, or dead.”
The wealth on display, apparently is also a cause for concern, given the vulnerability of many youngsters looking for a better way of life. Tobi believes that instead of allowing the youngsters seek good life through crime, it were better they are introduced to Christ, using all the trappings of the good life they envisaged.
In his church are neatly arranged rows of weapons, mostly knives, which have been surrendered by repented gangsters and small time criminals in what appears like a gangster movie.
While the church denies all allegations, vulnerable teens have opined that extortion reign supreme in the church in as much BBC reporter said she saw otherwise ‘when I spent a Sunday there’.
Tobi’s SPAC is another fortress with hefty looking and well dressed security men in their numbers, syrveying and parading the length and breath of the church. The measure, the church explains, is necessary because of the likelihood of persons coming in with weapons.
“We have very strong security measures in place. My first duty is to make everyone feel safe. The security we have, they are also from that background, so they know to sit certain people in separate areas.
“We’ve had arguments and near clashes but no one’s been beaten up because of our security.
“We have briefings every week. The head of our security has served in the military and one is an ex-policeman. We don’t do searches but we’re always keeping an eye out.
“People do bring weapons, but most do it to submit it to the church.”
He insisted that people come into the church with weapons only to surrender them. This sometimes is a consequence of appeals and admonitions overtime. He added that at sometime, guns were recovered as well as drugs.
“We’ve had guns once in a while. We’ve had a guy hand in four guns. He is still one of the leaders in church now. He said he wouldn’t go to the corner shop without a gun because he was so afraid people wanted to get him.”
Speaking further on recovered weapons, he said: “Most of these look like they’ve been taken from the kitchen, taken by young people who want to be able to protect themselves. Sometimes we’ve had rambos and samurai swords – professional knives, bought on the internet.”
Pastor Tobi Adegboyega summarised his destiny thus:
I grew up in the church, preached my first message in church at the age of 8 but, I grew to get into other things and I looked for solace and direction in drugs, education etc.
I felt the Lord calling me back at the age of 25 years but it wasn’t going to be into the church like I had known it. I had followed the Evangelical, Pentecostal and Orthodox “movements” all my life but I knew there was something more.
I am sent to a disenfranchised group of people. A new generation of young people, prospering on fire for God but mostly coming from difficult backgrounds.
Some years ago, we started to speak to this set of people about three of them to begin with, now these young men and women have increased to over 2000 people, in each service. Currently we operate with over 200 ordained ministers and pastors and we operate about 17 community units across London.
According to the BBC, nothing like this has ever been seen before. Young people coming to surrender to Christ and gang leaders and members coming to church to give up their weapons, drugs etc on the altar.
Financial times and many other television channels in the UK have recorded and reported what God is doing. We have created over 40 businesses as we create alternative lifestyles for young people in politics, business, finance, education etc.
In an exclusive interview with The Boss a few years ago, Pastor Tobi stated the obvious about his life. See excerpts:
Why did you you step down as head of SPAC Nation?
I did that because, I did not want to be like those elders or black politicians who in their lifetimes do not hand over but allow death to take them away. I felt it was right and I knew that those who have been with me have come of age. I believed they had to be given the chance to be leaders.
That is number 1. Number two, we have expanded so much that I needed them to take up leadership that is closer to their age. So, we needed the family circle to continue. Those where the major reasons.
So what is your new role in the church now?
I oversee the work of the church globally. I am in charge of the expansion of the work. We are presently in 168 locations worldwide so it is difficult for me to continue to pastor just one church in London city, especially since I have done it for sixteen years, day in, day out.
I pastor the church globally and also train the leaders. We have over 300 leaders just in London alone. My job is to gather those 300 and give them constant training, an overview of their duties and the building of families in a church setting.
A lot of people do not understand how SPAC Nation works. What is the format? You know it is not a regular church and people quarrel with what they don’t understand?
Before I explain the format, people must understand that we are a response to something. SPAC Nation birthed as a response to something that affected young people.
There were so many young people who were going astray; who were getting into all kinds of fraud and things like that.
I grew up in the church and I know what it was like as a youth to be disconnected from the church because most young people will say church was boring.
It does not create jobs for them, it doesn’t give them any hope in the future, other than just spirituality and the hope that God will do something in their lives in the future, which may not be. Our format in a nutshell is that we are consistently responding to the situation of these youths and we have created a path for their prosperity.
Therefore, we responded to that situation first from Queen’s Road, Peckham. Queen’s Road at the time was very notorious, police couldn’t deal with it. I started to gather young people in that area until the crime rate reduced.
The efficient way we reduced crime led us to the structure. It was the same way we reduced crime in Peckham, that we reduced crime in Benton and Croydon.
I knew that if young people can find hope, practical hope, then crime will reduce in those areas. Our format in a nutshell is that we are consistently responding to the situation of these youths, and we have created a path for their prosperity.
You bring few young people together, some of them had just come out of jail, the reoffending rate in London is the highest in the entire western world. So, it means that when they come out of jail, they would keep going back again and again, so we had to find a way to break that circle.
We had to reduce or break that by giving them businesses by coming together as a community.
I started by borrowing money for the top three business ideas of our people here. I gave it to them, and they invested in business, when they did that, they did not go back into crime.
We got those people out of crime, and we repeated that template over and over again in the past sixteen years.
In the beginning, I borrowed 1,000 pounds or 2000 pounds but now, they have grown it to millions of pounds. The pastor I handed over to; I started his business; it is called Zuriel UK; it is a recruitment business, he built that from whatever amount we started with at the time, now it is worth millions. The company was featured by Financial Times in 2017.
They did a piece titled, “Streetwise Approach For young people” or something like that. The three people who started with me as part of the SPAC Nation family then included one politician that we raised, the Zuriel founder and another major gang leader that had a Chauffeuring company.
The format is that we have many Senior Pastors, we have many houses in the UK, the houses are Economic Development Centres.
I give you an example, we have a house called the House of Medics. It is led by a lady Surgeon who graduated First Class in the UK. That House is to encourage young people that are interested in the medical field to get mentored.
Like I said, we came as a response to something. We have girls who got pregnant at 14, 15; their boyfriends would have been or is in jail. So we found out that instead of just preaching to these kinds of people alone, which is what the regular churches do, we create alternatives for them.
If they say they want to be medical doctors or any part of the medical field, we lead them to the House of Medics. There, they see people who look like them, they are black, the are Africans; Nigerians, Congolese, they see them active, working in the church and also studying. They will realize that if these people’s lives can change, theirs can too.
Essentially, what you do is give hope to people who are in a state of hopelessness?
Absolutely. In practical terms that is what we do. Churches too move people from hopelessness to hope, they preach and pray. But what we do is apart from the praying and preaching, we have created systems that can practically launch and lead them to a different path.
I also have to add that the Home Office has asked us for our format and we have given them, they seem willing to adopt it. I have spoken at Number 10. From the Prime Minister, to senior officials, I have discussed what we do.
A whole documentary was done about our strategy on Sky TV and it is online, it is public. I was educating them about the House Structure. The Metropolitan Police, Scotland Yard, have led delegations to our church to learn the format for many many weeks.
So ours is a format that is tested and trusted and it has been on for sixteen years and counting.
From what you have said, SPAC Nation has indeed achieved laudable feats. How come, Pastor Tobi Adegboyega is trailed by so much controversies?
What I have done in this city, there is no single black person that has ever done it. All the offices here, they would always say there is no one person that is able to gather all these youths like I have done. The police used to say that everybody we want to talk to are with you.
I will say that I am black in a very difficult country. I am not naïve to think that good works will always lead to good accolades. There were over 1000 youths in Chelsea yesterday (November 11, 2021) for my birthday. All the major people in this country were there. But I also understand that every movement has controversies.
Everything that is unusual is controversial. We have been doing our work for years but it was 2016 that we grew very exponentially and the work became very obvious with all the barrage of accusations and rumours.
BBC came and did 5 to 6 positive documentaries on SPAC Nation, then they decided to do one negative one.
All those who took part in the first five wrote to the BBC when they discovered their motive that they were not going to part of this one, but BBC decided to do it all the same.
And of course, as humans, we then had some people from the church who said this and that happened. We have been very open, we have been investigated many times and since that 2017 not one charge, not one allegation proven. Not one.
And I am sure you know how the British media operates, not one person has been charged for any wrongdoing. So these are just rumours, we are not perfect but if it was a white person’s charity, gathering thousands of youths and turning their lives around, they would not be treated this way.
Are you saying there is a tinge of racism in the allegations and accusations that has been levelled against you and SPAC Nation? That you are being hounded because you are black?
Oh yes! Definitely. There is no question about that. We have saved the British government 210 million Pounds since 2019. We have given the government ammunitions and weapons, knives, guns etc (160). We have situations where people will not surrender their guns unless I am there.
The Police would have to call me before they will surrender. That is a lot of power. I have announced at a rally where we had thousands of young people that things will come against us.
I study movements, I have studied movements all my life, there is no way in the world that you are going to do what we are doing in a strange country that is not your country of birth and not have things come up against or thrown at you.
There was a lady who used to live with me and she got pregnant at the age of 15, you can imagine how heartbroken she was. She was able to overcome that situation, and in 2019, we encouraged her to take to politics and she later decided to stand for an election.
When she went for the office in Croydon. I went with her to the Conservative Party Convention, and I was sitting right behind Boris Johnson, the video is online. The Labour Party then believed that I was Conservative and they started all the rumours.
The Labour politician put it clearly, that he felt I wanted to expand our evangelical zeal in Croydon. Many people from his party did not support his position and I told him.
Look, Labour Party members have been to the SPAC Nation, Conservative Party members have been to the SPAC Nation and other parties too, apart from the current one, there is no serious candidate aspiring for Mayor of London that has not been to the SPAC Nation.
We usually give the opportunity to everybody but he is the one that led the charge against me and against the Nation as we call ourselves because he thinks I want to get involved in politics.
Is it the MP Steve Reed that you are referring to?
Yes.
Ok, what of the stories that you Pastor Tobi are hypnotizing these youths? What medicine are you using on them?
I am not using any medicine. It looks strange to them and they are all surprised at how far we have come because they just cannot connect with these young people.
And I can tell you why they can’t. I will start with our churches. They cannot connect with them because they do not care. When you have a church filled with young people there is no money.
So what church will spend its time on young people that can’t bring money, young people that look like they have no future.
Secondly, I went to Number 10 and we had a talk about helping young people and reducing crime. When I walked out of the door of Number 10, I was with three Special Advisers for Theresa May and one Adviser of Boris Johnson, this again is online, I realized in the course of that talk that many do not understand that before you can change a person’s life you have to connect with that person.
What I have is that I can connect with the youths. If you can connect with someone, he or she will love you. I have just been plain.
All my life in the UK, even when I was a kitchen porter here in London, washing plates and sleeping on the floor, young people have always flocked around me because of how I relate with them.
These same young people who were on the floor, some of them have graduated First Class in Computer Engineering, some of them have become millionaires, so why would they not love me?
I live my life with them. If you can be open and plain with people, especially young people, they will love you.
At the moment I live in my house with about 20 people. If you are with them you will understand them, you will connect. That is what we have done, young people figure things out quickly, they are rebels naturally.
I love young people and I know how to connect with them. Maybe that is my medicine.
People say your lifestyle is ostentatious, that you are lavish and flashy, you ride expensive sports cars etc. How did you go from washing plates to riding a Lamborghini and living like a super star?
Let me first explain to you the philosophy behind it all. Rappers rap about all kinds of things, especially in UK and US. There is a genre of music here called Drill, which talks about killing people, doing all kinds of terrible things and a lot of crime is incited through the music.
These guys drive the best cars, they are flashy and people follow them because of these things, so we thought we should do what they do and even be better, while also spreading the right message. So instead of people trooping to them, they will come to us.
Have you seen the marlian movement in Nigeria?
It is huge
Exactly, they have their own lifestyle. But the church, we lock our selves in the room, we would not reckon with them. I know many Pastor-friends in Nigeria, who have Bentleys and Rolls Royces, but hide them. I cannot do that.
We were lucky early enough to understand the language of these youths, whatever people criticize, I do not care, I go for it if it fits my purpose.
Let me tell you, before 2016, we started investing in Crypto currency, again as a result of my association with these youths, everybody was laughing at us. I said guys lets focus, at the end, we ended up taking so many people off the streets, and set them up in business with what was made from that investment. Now we have our own internal loan system that I launched yesterday.
Anyone that wants to start a business, we would give a loan without any interest. We are doing this with Knightshield which is one of the businesses started by one of the Pastors.
The ostentatious lifestyle like you call it is all about me, but trust me, I am not materialistic. I have never cared about material things.
There are people around me that we have raised over the years, I promote stuff for people, all the luxury items for example. I have never bought a car.
Really, this is shocking to hear?
That is the truth. I have never bought a car and I have never owned a car, I don’t have a car, that should be on record. But people will see you with cars and speculate. There are people in the Nation family who own these things.
Cuts: So all those Porsche, Lamborghini, and others that you cruise around town are gifts?
No they are not gifts. They are owned by businesses or people in the church. If I drive them, I speak about them or their businesses and people will patronize them, that is what has been happening.
For example, the guy who designs for Louis Vuitton, he sends me stuff all the time and say “just wear it” and talk about it.
Earlier you said you don’t have a car, how does a man of your status move around?
Like I said earlier, I have got people. I want to prove it to the world that when you have done things for people, helped people, you will have no problem. I don’t have a house anywhere else in the world except the UK. And that is the house I said I live with about 20 people, but when I get to anywhere in the world, I have people who are ready to offer all kinds of things to make me comfortable.
I don’t leave my house and go all about. If I wake up today and say I want 10 Louis Vuitton shoes, I will get 150, but I don’t need it because I have more than enough. That is my formula.
Happy 44th birthday dear Pastor Tobi!
By Eric Elezuo
Men of timbre and calibre, like dynamites, come in very small packages, saying very few words, and churning out gigantic achievements that stand the test of time, and last for ages. The Senator representing Osun Central Senatorial District, Ajagunnla Olubiyi Fadeyi, royally known as the Bafoyin, is a man of timbre and calibre; a man of many parts; a complete gentleman, and more importantly, a go-getter.
In just 16 months as his people’s representative in the Senate, Ajagunnla has demystified governance, making every step, hour, minute and seconds count admirably for the interest and benefit of the people, whose mandate he is riding on at the Red Chamber.
His avalanche of deliverables has become a case study for colleagues, who wish to know how he has been able to achieve so much within a short space of time, and with inadequate funds.
The personality of the working Senator is captured by as many as know him in and out, and presented below:
Ajagunnla Olubiyi Fadeyi was born to the family of Dagilogba Baba Ayodeji Fadeyi, of Eran’s Compound, Oke-Ede, Ila Orangun in Osun State and Mama Esther Tinuola Fadeyi of Odu’s Compound of Oke Ejigbo also in Osun State.
His father, while alive, was an astute and respected Administrator, who served at the then University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-ife, while his mother rose through the ranks to become a Matron in nursing before becoming the owner of Oduduwa Hospital in Ile-Ife.
Buoyed by parent’s conviction that education is a non-negotiable ingredient for a meaningful and purposeful life, the young Biyi, as he is popularly called, started his illustrious educational career at Seventh Day Primary School, Ile-Ife, and thereafter, proceeded to Moremi High School also in Ile-Ife, for his Secondary School education, This was immediately followed with a Bachelor’s Degree with Honours at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. For his postgraduate honours, he obtained a LL.M in International Business Law at the University of Cumbria, Carliste in the United Kingdom.
Growing up in Ife, he developed a penchant for academic pursuit, so it’s not a surprise that he attended Ivy League colleges in the US, specializing in Business Management, International Relations, PPP Risk Analysis and Political Economy. He also took Senior Executive Courses in International Relations and Political Economy from the renowned London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) London, United Kingdom.
Ajagunnla Olubiyi Fadeyi is a member of Senior Executive Course in National and International Security at Harvard’s John Kennedy School, Boston, USA.
Olubiyi also has gone through some executive courses in Leadership and Block Chain strategy at the said business school, Oxford University, United Kingdom. As a Public Private Partnership (PPP) expert, who facilitated many PPP projects in and outside Nigeria, he has participated in PPP Executive Courses at the International Law Institute (ILI) in Washington D.C, USA.
Biyi has also been to the prestigious Harvard Business School (HBS) in Boston, United States where he attended Senior Executive Management courses in Creating Shared Value, Competitive Advantage Through Social Impact as well as other courses at the Harvard Law School, specializing in Negotiation. It is worthy of note that while at Harvard, Biyi attended three major faculties, the Business School, The Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Law School where he became a Senior Executive Fellow.
He also has a Honorary Doctorate Degree in Infrastructure, Planning and Management, from the Esfam-Benin University, and Honorary Doctorate Degree in Administration, Policy, and Leadership, from the Commonwealth University in UK.
As a PPP Consultant and expert, he has partnered with state and Federal Governments on Public and Private Partnerships (PPP) on infrastructure projects mainly on Road, Bridges and Seaports in Nigeria, which has attracted over 7 Billion USD Foreign Direct Investment through his core International partners to Nigeria in the last 15 years.
Ajagunnla Obubiyi Fadeyi is the Executive Chairman of Fane Group, a Group of Companies with subsidiaries in Consultancy, Real Esate.
He is an expert in Road and Sea Port Infrastructures, Energy Services, Hospitality and Sport Betting. He is also the Chairman of Harvard Continental Hotels, Luckia-fane Gaming Company Ltd and Chairman Dubia Free Trade Zone, A Multi-Billion Naira Company with well over 500 employees in its payroll.
He is a strategic Partner to the Economic European Development Council (EEDC), Partner to European Market Research Centre, Energy Partner to Luckia Gaming South Africa, and Infrastructure development partner to China Harbour Construction Engineering Company, China.
In his desire to give back to the society, he forayed into politics, and contested for the Senatorial seat of Osun Central Senatorial District in 2019. Ajagunnla came with a bigger wave in the 2023 Election, and presented a robust issue based campaign with which he defeated then the serving Senator from Osun Central in a hard fought election, winning with a wide margin.
Ajagunnla Olubiyi Fadeyi is a member of the 10th Senate of Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is the Vice Chairman Senate Committee on Communication, and also the Vice Chairman Senate Committee on Trade & Investment.
A Senior Executive Fellow of Harvard, a proven guru and philanthropist, Ajagunnla is happily married with children.
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