The Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, has uncovered the little beginnings of the late property mogul, Femi Osibona -owner of the 21-storey building that collapsed on Monday on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State. Ashimolowo, in a video clip that has gone viral on the Internet since the 21-storey building collapsed, said as at 2001, Osibona used to sell shirts and ties in Abuja, adding that he once supplied him while he came for a ministration in the capital city.
The Pentecostal cleric said although Osibona attends Celestial Church, he had been listening to all his messages on salvation, deliverance and wealth creation given to him by KICC members. Osibona’s Fourscore Homes is the firm in charge of developing the collapsed building.
Although rescue efforts are still ongoing, several persons are still feared trapped inside the rubble of what was once a 21-storey edifice, one of three buildings under construction in the vicinity. As at yesterday afternoon, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said it has so far recovered 32 bodies from the collapsed building. According to NEMA’s Acting Coordinator, Lagos State Territorial District, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, nine injured persons had also been pulled out from the rubble during rescue operation, adding that the survivors included a female and eight males.
`Ashimolowo, who spoke at an event organised by the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) on July 4, 2021, narrated how he first met Osibona in 2001 when he came to preach at an event organised by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). The KICC pastor recalls that in 2001, his luggage had been delivered to Jamaica in error while he landed in Abuja, and he established a relationship with Osibona who got him suits he wore for the RCCG event.
Ashimolowo said on request, he prayed for Osibona and gave him advice on investing in Nigeria; hence the construction of the high-rise at Ikoyi. He said in the video: “He (Osibona) had been listening to all my messages. Apparently, he was going to a Celestial church. My members were giving him messages on salvation, deliverance, then my teachings on wealth creation.
This guy, something broke forth inside him and he went forth. “After listening to my tapes, he built 12 apartments in London, sold eight, kept four. Then he came to me again and said, ‘Pastor Matthew, lay hands on me; where should I go again?’ After I’d laid hands the first time, he said ‘where should I go again? I want to go to South Africa; please pray for me.’ I prayed for him. “Ladies and gentlemen, he went to South Africa and built 125 houses in the highbrow area of Centurion, next door to Johannesburg. He broke through exponentially.
“Then, he calls me and says: ‘Where are you, sir? I want to come to you.’ I said ‘I’m in Ghana preaching.’ He jumps on a plane and flies to Ghana from South Africa. He comes and says ‘where should I go again?’ I said, ‘look, I’m not your financial adviser. Go and meet your financial adviser.’
He said ‘you’re doing better than them.’ So, I laid hands on him, prayed for him and I said ‘go to Nigeria, your country.’ “They call him Femi Fourscore. Femi comes to Lagos, boom, he buys land in Ikoyi and builds 40 apartments and sold each one for, like, a million dollars. “As I am talking to you right now, in fact, this morning, Femi sent me a video. He’s building, I think, three towers together on Alexander. We know Ikoyi. One is 14 floors, one is 16 floors, one is 21 floors. “This guy used to sell shirt and ties in Abuja. I just told you he supplied me. He didn’t even have the shirt and tie; he went to others to get for me during that crisis journey. Now, he has three towers. I’m even wondering who should be laying hands on whom.”