Biography of Pastor Femi Emmanuel

Born on July 2nd, Pastor Femi Emmanuel, an Engineer, one-time deputy speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly and a businessman turned preacher is the founder and Presiding Pastor of Livingspring Chapel International with her National Headquarters at Agbowo/Ojo Expressway, Aduloju, Ibadan and International Headquarters at Ikeja, Lagos.

Of a humble background, Pastor Femi Emmanuel had an encounter with the Lord in 1972 while still a teenager, and he has since been full of fire for God and minister. A motivator and conference speaker, His mandate is to teach people undiluted word of God and the application of word in order to bring out the best in them. His insightful messages and prophetic declarations make people find fulfillment in life and destiny.

A dynamic evangelist from humble background; one of the four pioneer members of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International in 1985 in the western part of Nigeria, a prolific interpreter for great men of God in the 80's.

He rose to the post of Deputy Speaker in the Oyo State House of Assembly in his political career before he left all for ministry work.

Pastor Femi Emmanuel is one of the most respected and sought after ministers of the Gospel in Nigerian; his popular Turning Point programme is broadcast on various radio stations across the nation and beyond.The version of it; Turning Point Today (Daily Motivational Booklet) comes out on a monthly basis; its demand by young and old is awesome. His married to Dupe Femi-Emmanuel and blessed with lovely children.

From 15 to over 20,000 members in 11 years, the meteoric rise of Pastor Femi Emmanuel-led Living Spring Chapel on Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, is on the lips of many people. What started as a fellowship with only 15 members in his apartment in the ancient city of Ibadan, Oyo state has become a big ministry worth N2 billion.

He pastors one of the fastest growing Pentecostal churches in Nigeria with international headquarters at Ikeja, Lagos. His evangelistic aura flavours the ancient city of Ibadan. His Oyo headquarters in Dominion City, Iwo Road, Agbawo Expressway, Ibadan, Oyo state with a 10,000-seater cathedral worth over N1 billion.

The Dominion City is on over 50 acres. It accommodates the citadel of ministerial learning, nursery, primary and secondary schools, old people's home and recreation centre, resort centre for ministers/multi-purpose hall and a 10,000-seater worship centre called the Dominion Cathedral with an amphi-theatre for open air crusade. The cathedral was designed by Architect Olumide Osikoya. Its shape is like a man's palm. With this form, the architect was able to evolve a functional and aesthetic design of a 10,000-seater cathedral without any free standing column which can block the congregation's view. The hollow of the palm is the centre of attraction. This is where the altar is and the chair stand flowing out from the hollow (centre) are two fingers where the congregation are seated with a good view of what is going on at the altar. The neck of the palm is where offices and counseling rooms are provided with other necessary conveniences.

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The gallery, which can seat 3,500 worshippers is accessed through the overflow that serves as a corridor to the eight different stair halls, which also serve as links for the eight different vomits that ushers people in and out of the cathedral. The principal façade with the main entrances are designed with parapet walls in the form of a praying hand. This conveys a message to every worshipper coming.

The cathedral plays host to worshippers every last Sunday of the month during the Super Sunday mega service. However, the international headquarters at Adeniyi Jones Avenue, near Wahum Factory, Ikeja, Lagos, is worth N100 million. It was inaugurated from October 24 to 27, 2002. The two peak services of the ministry are the every Thursday prayer mountain between 12 and 1.30 p.m and the three services on Sunday. The first service is between 7 and 9 a.m, second service is from 9 to 11 a.m, while the third service is between 11 and 1 p.m. It was reported that within the last five years, almost half a million people have attended his insightful and miracle induced programmes in his chapel.

To accommodate the teeming worshippers that throng his ministry, their services run from three shifts. He nets an average of N100 million per annum from offerings. And several millions of naira donation from followers of his radio programme.

The ministry arm of Living Spring Chapel International is uniquely arranged so members can easily identify and develop their potentials and ultimately serve God. This is why upwardly mobile young professionals attend en masse. The service groups are structured into intercessory units, protocol, counselling, church administrator, living players, tracts and publications, evangelical crusade, sanctuary care, security and others. The fellowship groups are Bezaleels, Hand Moudons, Youth Affairs, Children and Campus.

One key group is the Youth and Singles Affairs International. Established since inception of the church in 1993, it is a platform for the ministry to bring youths together and express God's mind concerning Christian relationships. Under the leadership of Pastor Femi Emmanuel, the Singles Affair International, along with the campus fellowship has grown in leaps and bounds.

The ministry reaches out through various media such as television broadcast, audio and video tapes, campus outreaches, seminars, symposia and internet. It's worth N100 million. Some of the ministry's best seller messages on audio and video tapes are: The Ultimate Search, Test of Love, Developing a Magnetic Personality, Why Marriages Don't Work, A Night With Samson, Dating Rules, Lost in Action and Critical Assignment. The tapes have raked several millions of naira to the ministry.

Pastor Femi Emmanuel is one of the four pioneer members of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International founded in 1985. A man of many parts, his interests straddle his professional calling in engineering, politics, business and ministry. He is married to Pastor (Mrs.) Hephzibah Emmanuel. She is the President of the Women Handmaiden Ministry of the church in Nigeria and abroad.

 

 

Pastor Femi Emmanuel’s Political Career 

Stirring a revolution in the political space over the years, Pastor Femi Emmanuel made his entry into politics many years ago. Although a church founder, he actively dug it out with people of different characters at the grassroots of politics.

His involvement in the botched third republic fetched him the position of the deputy speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly. When he wanted to step to a higher ground in his political career God called him to ministry.


In an interview with Pastor Femi Emmanuel, he recounts how he won the heart of Ibadan strongmen. Being miles ahead of the average Christian in politics. Chief Lamidi Adedibu who controlled the political landscape in Oyo State had no option but to come to acknowledge his political prowess. His Christian character stood him out of the pack and earned him the trust of Adedibu. According to Pastor Femi, “When I won the election against Adedibu’s preferred candidate in the primaries of the election that brought him to the House of Assembly, Chief Adedibu was excited and he came to embrace me. People cautioned him saying “you are embracing our enemy” and he replied that “since he has won, we can’t afford to antagonize him again”

Today, Pastor Emmanuel deplores his vast experience in the Church through his appointment as Director of Social Security Outreach of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria. This gives the Church the opportunity to
draw from his wealth of experience and prepare believers with the skill and know-how of politics.


He said in a recent interview with Church Times that he had always had a passion for the involvement of Christians in politics. “Not only should the
church be involved in politics, but the church should also own the structure that will produce leaders. Politics is my passion. What I saw in politics I could not have seen on the pulpit. You can’t see governance from the pulpit,” he said.

Recalling his experience in the botched third republic he said, “There is no way people can emerge as a political office holder in Nigeria as Christians without compromising. It is not possible because Christians don’t have a platform of their own. They had to join other people’s platforms and those platforms would make demands. There is something in politics about loyalty. If one is not loyal, the party will never put the person forward. And the only way to be loyal is to be heavily compromised.”

He believes the way to go is for the Church to provide the platform “for honest, sincere, competent and God-fearing people to emerge. There are many of them; apart from people in the Church. There are good Nigerians. There are Nigerians who won’t steal, they may not be many. But there is no platform for them to emerge”

The reason many Christians are incapacitated in government is that the structure that brought them to power was not known to the church. “You can only expect loyalty from a politician if you supported him to power. But in the case of the many Christians in government, they got there through another person’s platform and they are bound to be loyal to the platform that brought them to power. That is why we need to change that narrative by getting involved from the grassroots”

Pastor Femi Emmanuel is actively involved in Grassroots involvement. He believes that working towards making a radical change in 2023 and the future is too late for the Church. He however reasoned that it is better late than never.

“With the present system, if one votes 20 times, nothing will change. But it is better late than never. Nigeria will go beyond 2023; let us start something. We won’t get it in a single jump. But let’s start something. I said the Christian community is imprisoned. I think we are just apolitical. It will surprise you that there are still pastors preaching against Christians’ involvement in governance. They tell them to get their voter cards and vote but the question they don’t answer is: vote for who?”

It is on the premise of who to vote for that Pastor Femi Emmanuel is now on a drive to motivate Church leaders to release their members and encourage them to take part in politics from the grassroots.

He said the compromise people talk about in politics starts from the grassroots. “That is what many people especially Christians are not aware of. The leaders don’t emerge until there is an endorsement from the ward. The delegates who go to vote come from the ward and that is where the money bags hijack them.”

While in active politics during the third republic, he won the heart of people and succeeded in playing his game by studying what was happening. There were 10 wards in his constituency at the time, including 10 ward chairmen. The first thing was to get my ward chairman to support me. He was the one who helped to influence other ward chairmen. That was how he won the primaries. According to him, people at the grassroots want care and concern so if an aspirant shows himself friendly at the grassroots level and he reaches out to the people, they will reciprocate by ensuring the person gets the ticket of the party. Pastor Femi Emmanuel believes Christians can make a difference in this regard because love is our nature.

Books by Pastor Femi Emmanuel

Pastor Femi Emmanuel’s published book is titled, “Urgent Need to save Nigeria”. The book highlights the grave danger ahead as a result of the age-long neglect of the church. In his book, he noted that the prayers of believers won’t work for Nigeria if Christians are politically naive and docile. He charged fathers of faith to give directives to their members to be party card-carrying members as that is where the influence begins. If Christians are members at that level, they can begin to influence things.

In the 68-page book, he observed that four main groups influence the political landscape in Nigeria. They include the political entrepreneurs; ie those who own and fund the parties. And then the party members at the ward levels. This is another block of influence. These people according to him are strategic to any election either at the primary or secondary levels.

Closely following the party members are the ambitious political office seekers. This group according to him is often occupied by the elite and money bags.

The last class of people are the voters. He observed that the voters are often like customers. “Voters in other climes are kings unlike in Nigeria where they are treated as disposable items after every electoral season. Like every cheap article, they are used and dumped once voting is concluded.

The book, Urgent Need to Save Nigeria, is doing great in stirring that revolution. Pastor Emmanuel believes the Church has the capacity to cause a change only if it embraces politics from the grassroots. According to him, Christians can rescue Nigeria and we have a responsibility to be involved in the fourth category to rescue Nigeria by participating meaningfully in the electoral process.

Pastor Emmanuel is convinced that the only way to tackle the socio-economic problem in Nigeria is for good people to get into politics and influence the system. He stresses the fact that the church should not just be involved in the election but in the selection of political candidates to be voted for. We must not wait for political parties to give us candidates to vote for. We must be part of the process of identifying and selecting the persons to be voted for at all levels. The Church is the only group that can sanitize the system.”

 

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