Pastor Keji Hamilton's Testimony

Source:http://www.elifeonline.net/

* Keji (extreme left) with Fela on stage

THE story of Pastor Keji Hamilton, the pastor of The Tabernacle of Prayer Global Network, in several ways, Can be likened to the story of Saul in the Bible. Like the biblical Saul, Keji was at different times a cocaine addict, an armed robber and a rapist. He even attacked a man of God who dared to preach the gospel to him.

* Keji, now on pulpit.

The son of a Chief Imam, Keji had the future in his palm when he gamed admission to study Pharmacy at the University of Ibadan in 1981. But after' one session, he was fed up with education. According to him, all that mattered to him was to make money and travel. "As a young man, my dream had always been to make money, travel out of the country and make a name for myself. Music was on my mind." With education out of the way, Keji soon found solace in the

famous Kalakuta Republic. Fela took me in and gave me one room upstairs with one Dele Shotimu. In keeping to my promise I did not see my father until after my salvation ten years later.

Once inside the Kalakuta Republic , Keji soon began a romance with a life that would see him travel through 43 cities in the US and almost all the countries in Europe .

However, he equally picked up a lifestyle that saw him at the brink of death. "I was introduced to hemp smoking by a lady. When I took it the first time, I lost control for almost 24 hours."

Keji soon mastered the art of hemp smoking. He, however, graduated into a higher level with cocaine and heroine. With each sniff, he soon became a junk who could not do without the drug, a lifestyle he later found too expensive to maintain.

"Initially, I got the drugs free. But I later start­ed buying with my own money. I spent an average of N25, 000 a day. To have a steady supply Keji soon resorted to armed robbery. "You know that the salary we era was not much. So, for me to have a steady sup­ply of the drug, I became a criminal. I had my own set of boys who worked for me at the time."

With a physique and a handsome face that were hard to ignore, Keji had a steady flow of girls both inside and outside the Kalakuta. He exc1anged girls with his friends and boss. Sometimes, he gave orders to his boys to hijack any girl that caught his fancy. Such girls, he said were raped and let go. "Sometimes, I told the boys to bring to the house any girl. Of course, I raped such girls.

Many times, he was arrested and detained at the Zone II for breaking into people's home. His name, Innocent Warrior, soon topped the list of criminals at the station, a feat that earned him a nomination for elimination by the cops.

AT THE BEGINNING 

"I was born into the family of Imam Shuaibu. My mother's name is Muriamu Shuaibu . My father owned the only mosque in my community in Edo-State. I gained admission into the University of Ibadan to study Pharmacy but had to drop out in my first year in 1981.

As a young man, my dream had always been to make money, travel out of the country and make a name for myself musically. When I left the University of Ibadan and went back home, I told my father about my decision to go into music. He said: 'Can't you see what music has done to that man called Fela?' But my mind was already made up with or without his consent. I took my things and left the house and headed for the Kalakuta Republic ."

INFLUENCE 

"A book by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had a great influence on me. The book was given to me by a co-student at the University of Ibadan and the content was 'white man's education is not for the blacks'. After reading the book, my mind was made up. I was already under some form of influence, so I had to leave the house in other to actualise my dream because my father was not willing to let me go.

My brother was another great influence on me. He was so fanatical about Fela and his music.

What he did every Sunday morning was to dress up in pants like Fela and listen to his music from around 5am to about 1pm. I see him do this all the time so I was influenced."

MEETING FELA

"The first time I met with Fela one on one was through a friend who took me to the shrine for the Sunday jump. I was very innocent then, I did not drink or smoke. We only went there with

Chocolate, soft drinks and meat pie. While we were sitting, I began to ask myself what were all the people doing here. What were they waiting for and I was told that they were waiting to see Fela. I asked who this Fela was. I was told to wait that my question would soon be answered.

Eventually, I heard a loud noise and there was Fela and to my surprise, the people cheered him for every movement he made. I was amazed and told myself I could also be like this man.

The first person I met at the shrine was Femi, Fela's son. He was washing the images that Fela worshiped the day we first met. When I approached him, we got talking, and in the process we became friend.

He asked me what was doing. I told him that I was supposed to be in school. But he told me that there was no reason to go to school. Unknown to me, I didn't know that he was a drop out. Femi asked me again what I would like to do and I told him that I would love to go to music school to learn how to play music. He also said there was no need and that if I loved music, I should come to his father's house that was all.

He took me to meet Fela and introduced me as his friend. Fela took me in and gave me one room upstairs with one Dele Shotimu and in keeping to my promise, I never saw my father until after my salvation ten years later.'

Romance with Fela. 

For you to live in the Kalakuta, you had to change your name to an African name. I picked the name Keji Hamilton to reflect this. My original name was Sulaimon. I took the name Morounkeji because I wanted to be like Fela. You know, the second Fela. After that, I started living in the Kalakuta. A lady introduced me to smoking hemp. She now lives in Baltimore , Maryland , USA ".

Adventure with hemp smoking

The first time I smoked hemp, I lost control for more than 24 hours. I did not know where I was or what I was doing. I went into a deep sleep and later woke up with a heavy hunger.

At the time, Kalakuta was situated at Atinuke Street . While Fela lived on one side, he allowed boys to sell hemp on the other side. I started with a whiff, later increased to a wrap and then a parcel.

"I met my wife in the church. She knew the entire story concerning me. She was not just any woman, she was sent to me by God and she knew the responsibility on her shoulders. I told her not to be surprised if later in life somebody comes up with a story about my past."

Fela's library 

"Fela had a library that was fully stocked with different kinds of books. It was there that I read a book on how to become a wizard. I also read about astral traveling. That was one of the reasons why Fela loved me. He knew I read a lot. As a matter of fact, I learnt how to play music dur­ing one of such spiritual astral travelling."

Egypt 80 Band 

"It was after my seventh month inside the Kalakuta that I went to Fela. I told him that I could play the guitar. He tested me and found out that I was good. He just called the man in charge of the finances and told him to include my name on the list. He later procured an international passport for me so that I could travel with the band to the US that year."

My first trip 

"It was in 1984. Unfortunately, Fela was arrested at the airport by the Buhari-Idiagbon regime. After his arrest, Femi quit smoking because he was scared. But because he did not travel with us, our first show in the US was a big flop because everybody wanted to see Fela. So few people turned up to watch us."

Drug Addiction 

One day, while we were performing inside the shrine, a certain man approached me. He said he loved the way I handled the guitar during our tour of the US . He said I needed something to turn me into a star. He said people like me abroad have something they use to make them real star. After I asked him what it was, he replied that it was cocaine. At the beginning, I refused his offer, but he kept on asking me to take it.

He started giving them to me free. But with time, I became a junk and I needed a steady supply. I spent about N125, 000 daily on drugs."

Life of crime 

All this was around the time Babangida was in power. Fela was out of prison, so, we were being paid salary. However, the money was not enough and I had to go into crime to sustain my drug life.

I was into robbery. I had my own group of boys. We robbed and raped. The Area F Police Station now became my second home. I was giving the police in Ikeja a tough time until information got to me that an order had been given to elim­inate me. This was because my name had appeared on their case file too many times. I had 'to relocate to Surulere.

Encounter with Bash Ali 

I was at the shrine one day when Bash Ali came into the shrine. He sprayed some dollars on Fela. At the time, we had this guy who picked such things. I accosted him and collected the money from him and ran back to Surulere. Fela then put a death order on me. He gave orders that 1 should killed. "

Me and Beko 

"Left for Beko, he would have sacked me a long time. He said I was a bad boy. But Fela would not have it. He loved me like his son. I was the only one who could share a woman with Fela. I don't mean his wives. But I could have sex with his girlfriends. I could take hemp from him to have a puff."

Living with three girls

"I was at the time living with three girls in one room. Though only one was my girlfriend (the girls were prostitutes), I was sleeping with all of them."

Turning point 

"It happened one Sunday. I just returned from the comprehensive show early Sunday morning. Just as I was about relaxing, I heard a knock on the door. It was a guy standing there. He said he had come to invite me to the church. I slapped him and drove him away. He would sometime come around and drop some tracts for me. I collected them and dumped them. After sometime, he stopped coming and I started having this strange feeling to see him.

One night, I went to Ojuelegba to buy cocaine. I came home with the stuff and prepared to take. I started to vomit and cough out blood after I took the cocaine. I first thought I had been poisoned. But I also took the heroine to step down, but the same thing happened. 

Then I just asked God to save me. 

For the first time, I went to sleep without any difficulty. I heard a voice telling me that he would help me if I quit my drug habit. For the first time in a long while, I lived without drugs for days."

My wife

"I met my wife in the church. She knew the entire story concerning me. She was not just any woman, she was sent to me by God and she knew the responsibility on her shoulders. I told her not to be surprised if later in life somebody comes up with a story about my past."