I remember in my early 20s, a guy friend of mine would always remind me to stay a hidden gem. It’s nothing like walking into a room and people want to know who you are. That advice sticks with me till this day.
A day at the RCCG Camp sometime in 2008 changed my life forever.
I had passed JAMB and Post-JAMB, yet I still couldn’t secure admission into OAU. As a teenager, I was restless but hopeful. That day, I was coming from my father’s office at the RCCG Children’s Auditorium, just wandering around the camp. I saw an elderly woman in a light blue polo shirt and a long dark blue skirt, carrying some loads. She looked dignified and graceful. Instinctively, I offered to help her. She initially declined, but as a proper Yoruba boy raised with respect, I insisted politely until she allowed me.
As we walked, she asked, “You are very respectful. What province are you from?”
I replied, “Ondo Province 4.”
Then she asked, “Do you know Baba Dada?”
I knew she was referring to my father, but I preferred living low-key, so I said no. Ironically, she was heading to my father’s office. When we got there, someone said, “Where did you meet Mummy Borha?” She looked at me surprised and said, “I thought I asked you, and you said you didn’t know him?”
I smiled and replied jokingly, “My dad has his own name. I have mine to build.”
I didn’t know she took that seriously.
After her meeting, she called me to her car and gave me ₦10,000. In 2008, ₦10,000 to a 15- or 16-year-old boy was huge. I enjoyed that money well 😂. She asked about my plans, and I told her I had just written an exam for NIIT and would write JAMB again.
A few days later, my NIIT result came out. I was offered a scholarship to study web development. When she heard, she gave me ₦100,000 because she was proud I passed. I completed the program, built my project, and eventually designed a website for Olusegun Mimiko. I emerged as the overall best student in Ondo State.
Eventually, I gained admission to study Mathematics. Throughout my five years in university, she supported me with ₦250,000 every single year for my education.
That “Mummy Borha” was actually Sola David-Borha, former CEO of Stanbic IBTC Bank and one of the highest-paid banking executives in Africa at the time. Her generosity and belief in a random teenager she met on the road changed my trajectory.
Life can shift in one encounter.
One act of kindness.
One moment of favor.
Never despise small beginnings. Never stop being respectful. You never know when you will meet your helper. That day changed my life for good and that was the beginning of my tech journey.
Around June 2024, I used to wake up every night to pray.
One day, after praying, I slept, and along the way I started hearing melodic voices singing sweet and beautiful gospel songs close to my ears (all were songs of praise to God)
They were new songs because I had never heard them in real life.
It had only been a year since I started walking with Jesus.
I can bet I have never heard such sweet and harmonized voices in my entire life.
After that, I started hearing things about my parents and some areas my dad was dissatisfied with. I called to confirm the next morning, and they were true.
I thought that was the end, but from the next day I began having out-of-body experiences.
Every night around 4 am, I would feel a presence close to me, and I felt my spirit leave my body, accompanied by a heavenly being.
I was taken and shown beautiful places and mountains. I can bet that no place on earth is as beautiful as those places. I remember telling my mom I was tired of the world and wished I could just stay there.
Sometimes I found myself joining a crowd to sing new, beautiful songs. There was this day we sang “Blessed Are You” by Paul Wilbur.
That experience is something I can never forget or replicate here on earth. I know I haven’t traveled around this world, but I can tell you heaven is not what you can imagine.
From that day, I began waking up with new songs on my lips. Sometimes I would wake up singing new songs; other times I received new songs in dreams and recorded them when I woke up.
I now have close to 100 new gospel songs I have received. It became so frequent that I casualized it and thought it was normal, but every time I sing any of these songs, I get question like, “Who is the author?”
At some point it stopped, and I thought God had left me not until I realized that whenever I enter deep worship, new songs flow easily.
The spiritual realm is real!
Jesus is real!
Heaven is real!
Accept Christ today, He is the only way to eternal life.
I have many more encounters to share, but I’ll stop here.