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Evergreen musician, Evangelist Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi, is indeed a man of many parts. He is an accomplished artiste, preacher, leader, and mentor to so many at home and abroad. Taking Aramide Oikelome on a ride into his Career and relationship with God, he bares his mind on the challenges confronting Christian musicians in this century. Excerpts.

Sir, you have often said that your passion for music is not just a profession but much more a divine calling. Tell us something about this calling.

To talk about my calling, means you are taking me back to the genesis of everything in my life. I would say that my life is divided into two phases. The first phase is how God made music my profession. I never thought in life that music would be my profession. It was just my hobby; something I just loved doing as a little child is the church.

I was actually influenced into music through the church. I was told that as a child, whenever my mother took me to church, I would run to where the instrumentalists played and disturb the choir, so much so that one day, as my mother was running after me to prevent me from disturbing, one of the men of God in attendance was fascinated and he prophesied that I was going to be a great musician. I was told that he also prayed for me.

When I started schooling, I became a member of the school band and choir. I later became the school bandleader and that led to the formation of a boys and girls youth club in the community. In the club, we had drama, music, and other groups but I belonged to the music group. In fact, in that music department, I was the most gifted.

Though younger than all others, we started organising funfairs and that was where my gift was identified and nurtured. It came to a time that if I don't, go with them, things would not be as it should be; so they all knew it was my show. From that club, we also raised an orchestra.

I later formed my own band called the Royal Mambo Orchestra and even at that, I thought it was just my hobby but God eventually turned it into my profession and I became a successful artist known all over the world.

After taking my music to all four corners of the world, I came to a point where the Lord started talking to me that he had something for me, and became unhappy and restless.

In fact, I no longer had the joy I used to have. True, I had everything working for me-shows, money; yet, no joy. When I play on stage and see people dancing and jumping to my music, it would give me joy momentarily but when I finish, I would be enveloped in sadness. At first, God started dealing with me through my thoughts. Later, he turned the thoughts into reality and said that he wanted me to stop playing and come into full-time ministry.

In my confused state, I called my wife and shared the experience with her and she told me that if God was calling me, it was He who gave me wealth and fame, hence I should obey him. From that point, God started sending the men of God to me. The late Archbishop Benson Idahosa sent for me from Benin.

He told me that God spoke to him and specially told him that he should call me. He told me of a popular American musician who yielded to the call of God and that God wanted me to do the same.

Idahosa also told me about himself and how God had called him from the palace. He was already in the lineage of becoming a king. He also stressed that if he had refused to come out, he would have become a king, but his life would have been marked with woes. He told me that he was not forcing me to yield to the call, but that I should go and pray about it. 

Again, Mrs. Bola Odeleke, who is now a bishop, also sent for me in Benin. Her husband was the acting governor of Bendel State then. She told me that she had a revelation and that God told her to tell me that he was the one that established what I was doing but that he established it as a platform for what he wanted me to do and that now, he (God) wanted me to do his work.

Because I loved what I was doing, I didn't want to leave it, so I struggled for a period of eleven years but when those people came in and spoke to me, I just made up my mind.

Though very tough, I made up my mind to do God's will. So, on my 50th birthday, I was ordained as an evangelist by the late Idahosa and that marked my departure from secular music. A few months from now, I would be 66. I give thanks to God that since 1992, the Lord has been faithful and I enjoy what I'm doing. The joy of working for the lord surpasses every other thing you can get.

There are storms and what I call crises of life, but they must be managed by man. Whichever one comes, you do not allow it to bring you down but you encourage yourself, just like David did. You tit across to God and ask for guidance and direction.

Crisis must surely come, it can be financial, marital, and other forms, but they are part of life's experiences we need to pass through to take us to higher levels. On the other hand, the storm of life is not what you can handle by yourself, it is what you take to God.

When Jesus was on the ship with his disciples, he told them to cross to the other side, they were happy because the experience they were having was good but Jesus knew that they couldn't just be in a place. So, Jesus asked them to cross to the other side, but in crossing to the other side, Jesus slept and the storm was rocking the boat here and there. This was too much for them and they cried unto Jesus to rescue them from perishing. 

Then, Jesus said: "Peace, be still" and immediately the storm subsided. For the storms of life, you do not struggle to take care of it, but you hand it over to the master and it is for him to say, "Peace, be still". It may take time but you are not forsaken.

At the right time, he would come and take control of the storm, and when he does that., you will move forward. It doesn’t mean there wouldn't be any storm again, but when it comes you know how to handle it, So, God is good and He created man in his image and that is love that cannot be compared with anything else, and he meant well when he told man to have dominion over all he had created. He also meant well when he said, 'be fruitful and multiply.' So, fruitfulness is something that God is so much interested in.

Our lives must bear fruits and we must preach the gospel to people and counsel them as well as re-establish those who are passing through whatever is not the will of God for man. I give thanks to God that just as he opened ways for me in my music career, he still opens doors for me to carry the gospel to the four corners of the world.

Since 1992, I have been going about doing the work of him who sent me, and He Lord has been faithful. I am happy with what I'm doing and still have the intention of doing more things for the Lord. If Jesus tarries, I would continue to work for the expansion and bring more people to his kingdom here on earth. It's a thing of joy that money cannot buy. So, I give thanks to God.

Your songs before now have been highly philosophical but now, you seem to have changed the lyrics of most of your songs from circular to religious and spiritual. How would you compare the two?

I believe God knows the two served different purposes. The songs I sang in the old records were philosophical and every one of them teaches mortals, encourages, advises, and gives people courage, even as it shows them the way out of different kinds of entanglement, they find themselves.

Even now, we still have them and people who want them are buying them. I compose new songs and I can even use some of the old ones and change the lyrics, all to the glory of God.

Is there anything called Christian music?  People sometimes argue that there is nothing like Christian music but the imposition of Christian lyrics on existing music.

I disagree because as I said earlier, my music started from the church. Apart from the music that comes from the culture, tradition, and worship of idols, the origin of music is God.

 

From the Bible, we see that Asaph, David, and the Levites, were all singers. King Nebuchadnezzar was jealous of God and he forcefully took all the musical equipment and everything used for God's worship.

That was why he made a decree that anybody who does not bow to the music would be thrown into the furnace of fire. This was because he knew that the music belonged to God and he forcefully took it and wanted the take the glory of God to himself.

Interestingly, the music, he wanted them to bow to, was stolen from the house of God. So, music started from the church. If they say that there is nothing like Christian music, I disagree because there is.

As a frontline Christian leader and musician in Nigeria, you would have observed that lately there are so many people coming up with different brands and packages of Christian music. What is your assessment of the trend we have now, especially with the fusion of both religious and secular tunes/lyrics? How would you describe the kind of Christian music in existence now?

Well to me, I believe we should allow for different brands of gospel music because music is not static. Therefore, we should have different forms of music. The youth, for instance, have what they like and if we can have music that can bring them to the Lord, fine; there's nothing wrong with it. Definitely, what the youth would accept, adults may not, and vice versa; so let’s have the brand and let everybody have what they want within the body of Christ.

What should be the focus of a Christian singer?

The focus of the singer should be to know who his God is and move closer to him. Without the singer knowing who God is, he wouldn't be able to represent him. It's like someone who doesn't know his parents. First, they should give their lives to Christ. Once you do that, you also know the word of God and live it. Otherwise, they would just be using the music to gain fame.

 

Most musicians have problems with managing success; especially because women often run after them. In the end, they become polygamists with many wives, some hold that there is nothing wrong with this, for David too, was a singer and he had many wives. What's your take on this? Is it biblical?

Well, it's not biblical to do that but the truth is that fame that comes with music attracts a lot of interest. People generally love musicians all over the world. If it’s in a concert, the musician pulls off his clothes and throws it to the crowd and the crowd goes wild.

 

That is what music can do. So, no doubt, with fame come a lot of temptations. Those who are referring to David should know that it was a temptation for him, and not that it was a good thing, but thank God for his mercy. We all are sinners; but in our sinful state, he brought us out and allowed Christ to die for us, so that man can turn from bad to good, good to better, and from better to be the best for God.

So, it’s not something that one should glorify; committing sin and referring to David is unjustifiable. Yes, what David did was because of temptation. It was not good and he regretted it. Some of us too have had our past.

God has been gracious in that he saved us and did not allow us to perish and because he has somewhere he is taking us to, he opened our eyes and helped us to come out. So, my advice is that people shouldn't glory in sin. It wasn't palatable for David and it cannot be palatable for anybody.

The Bible says that he who commits sin is of the devil. So, everything sinful is from the devil and that is why God sent his son Jesus to die for our sins.

My advice is that people should not lean on that scripture and if anyone has committed sin, the name of Jesus is there, and the blood is still there to redeem anyone from his sins into the kingdom of God.