General Overseer in Nigeria confess how the devil almost stop him from doing God’s work

His name is evangelist Victor Okafor, the General Overseer of Crusaders Evangelical Ministry based in Nigeria.  Before he came into the ministry he has had a fulfilled job career as a highly qualified mechanical engineer from University of Ilorin Kwara State. In fact he has worked with several reputable organizations including African Petroleum, Conoil and Globacom.  

But as successful as he was he knew God has an assignment for Him. He said the trait was very clear when he was growing up as a young boy. God was always relating with him through dreams. And every of such dreams were always coming to pass. But unfortunately, the devil never wanted him to fulfill such mission. Instead of discovering himself in Gods will he was preoccupied with jobs and materialism. His break however came when he attended a church program where the pastor called him out before the congregation and told him point blank that he has been ordained by God to preach the gospel.

Below is the interview he granted to Olorunseun Adeoye of Naija Church News.

When did you start ministerial works?

My prophetic gifting began to manifest at the very tender age of eight and it was so much so that I could even see death coming. I would tell my mum whom I was so much close to because my dad was not always at home. He was a civil servant and he was always travelling around.

So I will tell my mum ‘this person will die tomorrow’ and she will hear tomorrow that the person has died. But my parents were staunch Catholics. As a matter of fact, my dad brought the Catholic Church to my town and my dad built the first Catholic Church because that was the condition given to him by the Bishop of Adaeze, Catholic Diocese of that time in Anambra State.

My dad built the first church and a Rev. Father was posted to the church. That time we didn’t have too many blacks as Rev. Fathers but so many Irish Catholic Rev. Fathers. They really did not understand the prophetic gifting.

When this began to manifest, it became embarrassing that if a boy of this age could see something like that then. Sometimes being a boy, I was just being open. So, it will also happen where my parents and family friends were. And by the time what I foresaw happened, they will say that boy said so.

At that time all of them were almost Catholics, so they didn’t understand it. Eventually they took me for confession because the Rev. Father said it was a satanic spirit. He wondered how a boy of my age could be seeing something like that.

The Rev. Father understood it as the prophetic gifting but I’m sorry to say but he may be jealous. He wasn’t happy that what he could not see a small boy was seeing. Don’t forget that apart from the fact that he went to seminary school, he’s also human, the jealousy/envious side of him may be speaking because I was subjected to the confession aspect of the Catholic Church doctrine and I was confessing what I didn’t do because of their ignorance and those of my parents. They did everything to kill the spirit.

How did you cope?

The bible says the gift and blessings of God are without repentance. So, the thing remains. At a point, it went quiet and I also didn’t notice anything because I wasn’t attaching any importance to it. But when I got to University of Ilorin, the thing came again such that I could tell students in other departments what to expect in their exams but I can’t see for myself.

I was in Mechanical class. I’m an engineer by His grace. I could see for others. I could remember my brother was in 300level electrical department when I gained admission. We were in the same corner in hostel because my parents didn’t allow me to stay alone until he graduated.

Then I would tell him and his friends what topics to concentrate on and the friends were like ‘how does he know the topics we were taught?’ You know the Bible said a prophet has honor but not in his father’s house. And my brother will not for so many reasons do what I said.

He could remember when he used to hold me and cross the road in primary school or half way on our way to school he would discover both my legs in one side of my knickers with the other side was flapping. It was a case of the small Victor of the other days.  I knew when he was born.

Jesus couldn’t do much in His place in Nazareth because of their unbelief. Why did they not believe Him? For 30 good years He didn’t manifest anything and for 30 good years He was just an ordinary person.

Suddenly, something started the main purpose for which He came began and they could not relate with His real identity; it was difficult. My brother was in that shoes; he couldn’t relate with the new thing he was looking at. He was just holding on to the past of me. But because all of us grew up in that Catholic home, nobody understood this thing.

But he didn’t bother about the thing I was saying. So, he was scoring 50 something while his friends were clearing 90’s. At a point, they were telling him, “Oh boy, na your 

brother dey give us gist o, you get genius for your family”. But he still would not bother because the word of God was infallible.

After school, did you work on the gifting?

When the time came, Satan did everything to make sure I didn’t do this work. I’m an engineer and a good one at that by His grace but my pleasure was in oil sector. Every mechanical student of those days had their gazes on the oil sector. After our youth service, the opportunity to work in NEPA came for me on a platter of gold. They even showed me my office in the 12th floor of NEPA headquarters at that time. I didn’t take it because most oil sector then was being run by foreigners with opportunity for training and all.

Eventually, I worked briefly with the Africa Petroleum as a contract staff, worked with Conoil. I was working directly with the owner Dr. Mike Adenuga who also doubles as the chairman of Globacom. He later moved me from Conoil to Globacom because of my extreme expertise in engineering.

I was able to cope with telecoms but between 2004 and 2010, I was combining Conoil and Globacom together. But in 2012 while all these was going on, of course I was in the world because Satan can see the future and was trying to drift me away from whom I am.

So I was in the world to the extent that when I and my wife met in 1998, I didn’t have a Bible. There was no time for me to attend church. I was even doing some private lectures then. So, on weekends, I go from home to home to teach these people.

And you never had time for God?

I didn’t know anything about church. Even when I was growing as a Catholic, I was never really deep in anything church. The only thing I was going for as a kid was for me to be a man servant because they worked with the Rev. Father. They wear this red and white uniform and when it was time for the Holy Communion, they ring the bell; that was the only attractive point.

But sometimes I will be looking at what was dealing with church members but I can’t talk because there was no encouragement in that direction and I was also scared being a kid. I didn’t even know it was a gift.

What did you think it was?

I didn’t think of it to as anything important and I have come to a level where I saw it the way they painted it; they painted it as negative. So, I didn’t want to talk about it. I was not really deep into Catholicism.

But you said your mum was aware of the gift because you two were quite close


Yes, my mum and my dad were close.

So what was their opinion on it?

When the whole thing became quiet, as far as they were concerned, they got what they wanted. To them, it was an embarrassing thing. It was like immediately after the civil war. I can be likened it to an Igbo man bringing a Yoruba lady to marry. It was an abomination as far as they were concerned. It shouldn’t happen but the gift was there.

How were you able to cope with it then?

When you don’t know there is a problem, you are not bothered about it. I didn’t see it as a problem because it remained silent. If I discovered now the thing is no longer there, I will be bothered. I can go to all mountains seeking the face of God. But as at that time, I didn’t even know it was a gift or a problem. I didn’t know anything disappeared. I didn’t know anything went quiet; I was just living my life.

So even when I grew up after my youth service, I was not going to church. But something was of significance. Whenever anybody invited me to church anniversaries, if there was anybody the man of God will talk to, it would be me. As a fresh graduate, I was crushing plant engineering in home oil that shared a fence with Latter Rain Assembly on Akilo Road.

I worked there from 1996- 1999 and home oil was such that your overtime was more than your salary. We always craved for over time. We worked from 6am -6pm. If I was hearing anything about Jesus Christ, it was from the speaker of Latter Rain Assembly; I wasn’t going to church. I remember that somebody invited to New Anointing Church one day so close to that place.

But my job will not permit me. The day I picked up fliers from Kingdom Day assembly on Allen Avenue, I was on morning duty. As soon as I closed, I went. It was not me. I didn’t even know what was pushing me. I didn’t even know Allen that time because I was staying in Palm grove but I was able to trace it.

As soon as I went in, the man on the pulpit just said “that young man, come”.  He said, “I see you in the ministry and fire coming out of your mouth.” He knocked my head and came against every power hindering me from serving God. Immediately, he handed me over to the deliverance ministers that this guy will preach the gospel whether anybody likes it or not.

How did you feel at that time because really, nobody serves God willingly, especially when you are making money?

I still didn’t feel anything because in the family I come from, nobody appreciated you as a man of God. All they appreciated was your profession. If you want to get married, nobody asked if she was born again. The only question they ask is her profession.

When did your family come into the reality of your calling?

It was not until about five years ago or so. The Bible says to search out your own glory is no glory. Let the heaven search out your glory and announce you to men. They began to hear about me. Some of the things I told them about their lives, they kept to themselves. Then some of them had the opportunity of going somewhere for prayers and they were referred back to me.

How did they feel?

They know how they felt; the human factor was still there.

I noticed you and your wife wear same clothes always. Why is that?

It was not planned. When she was in school, she loved wearing jeans. Then, there were only two colour of jeans- blue and black. So, I went to market, bought some and I was so good in tie and dye. So, I dyed some of the jeans in purple and so on.

But while buying T shirt or polo for myself, I was buying same designs for her. By the time, I took them to her in school, we were practically wearing the same things. Then her friends would say “this your bobo na wa o”.

It was a habit that came into being before we got married. Right now, if I’m buying anything for myself, I’m buying in twos. If they don’t have it then I’m not buying.

How did you meet?

We met in 1998 and I told her then that she shouldn’t marry me because I’m an engineer or for my money but because I’m going to be an evangelist. I didn’t know where that came from because at that time I didn’t even own a bible.

I had jerry curls on.  This one I have on is nothing compared to the one I had then. I was so much busy and in the world.

She must have seen something in you then?

Well, she has been told before we met that she was going to marry a man of God and when we met, though the appearance then was not that of a man of God, she believed.

Source: Naijachurchnews.com