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=Gabriel Olufunmilayo Ifarajimi, born May 9, 1933; glorified Jan.31 2012 =

''' A Peculiar Icon GABRIEL OLUFUNMILAYO IFARAJIMI was born 9th of May 1933 at Makun Omi, into the family of Late Arogbo Oloru-igele (who  was named Ifarajimi, because his father Late Fagunwa -one of the founding fathers of Makun Omi- gave birth to him at his very old age, and was said to have been a gift from River Ifara.) Olufunmilayo’smother; Omoetan was the daughter of Chief Obamoyegun of Olekoyu’s compound of Ode Erinje. He lost his mother at the age of nine in 1942, and was then raised by his maternal grandmother, Omoejurun. He began his educational career at Makun in1945 when he enrolled at infant class one. He then moved to Native Authority School Abigi, and later to Iwopin where he passed out in the year 1952 with a Standard Six Certificate.In May 1953, he proceeded to Lagos, where he worked briefly at a Daily Newspaper publishing firm as a proof reader, from where he later returned to Makun Omi to wait on his father, shortly before the father passed on, on the 20th of October 1953. In simple obedience to his father’s death wish; he proceeded to Ibadan at the beginning of the year1954. He lived in Ibadan from this 1954 up to the time of his demise, on the 31stof January 2012.He had a very humble beginning at Ibadan,started out as a cart-pusher at the then Railway Corporation, for survival; and there upon secured an employment at P. Comazzi; a European construction firm asa casual worker; while undergoing private study concurrently. He became a qualified Draughtsman in 1958. It was not long however before his proficiency made way for him, he was promoted to the post of a Supervisor at the European company. In 1970, he resigned from the company, registered his own company G.OLU. IFARAJIMI AND SONS; later renamed G.OLU. IFARAJIMI CONSTRUCTION COMPANY NIGERIA LIMITED.He was married to three wives- all living;survived by seventeen great children and many grandchildren. He kept all his children and family close together, and did his best to educate all of his children. He was a strong believer in sound education even though he did not have similar privilege growing up.Gabriel Olufunmilayo Ifarajimi was very hardworking, and worked round the clock in his active business days. He handled many projects both for the government and private individuals, some of these notable projects are:Government Printing Press Eleyele IbadanCollege of Arts and Sciences Ile-IfeCollege of Education (now Tai SolarinUniversity) Ijebu-OdeOndo state Broadcasting Corporation AkureSaint Peter’s Cathedral Ile-OlujiSenior Staff Quarters of the BroadcastingCorporation of Ondo StateSenior Staff Quarters of F.U.T.A. Akure Great Nigeria Insurance House, Abeoukuta and Akure Grenic House Alade Market Allen Avenue IkejaIn recognition of Gabriel Olufunmilayo Ifarajimi’s professional excellence, he bagged the following international awards:African    Award winner given by the Selection Committee of 12th African     Award in Paris France, 1990 The International Award, given by the Selection Committee of the 4th     International Construction Award in Spain, 1992.On the public scene, he was the Chairman,Board of Governor of Ogungbade High School Olode Ibadan, between the years1979-1989. He was also a member of the Rotary Club of Ibadan West, between the years 1982 and 1984. He was granted an indefinite leave of absence the Rotary Club because of the trust and confidence reposed in him by the Club, when he made the move to quit the club due to his newly found zeal to serve God in a different capacity.On the community level, Gabriel Olufunmilayo Ifarajimi had a very strong passion for peace and harmony. A community leader in his own right, and a counselor. He was gifted with wisdom in conflict resolution and reconciliation. He was offered the chieftaincy title of ‘Aro of Makun Omi’ in the year 1978, but he rejected the chieftaincy. In 1982, he was to be installed as the first king of his native town, but he strongly turned down the kingship on the ground of his Christian faith. The stool remained vacant for a long time; the king maker waited in anticipation that he would later agree to ascend the throne; but he remained strong and firm on his stand.Up until the time of his demise, he remained the ‘unenthroned king’ of the town.Rev. (Dr.) G. Olu. Ifarajimi obeyed God’s call on his life in the year 1985. He was a member of the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim Oke Seni. He served God closely in the C&S church for close to 40 years before he gave his life to Christ in 1985. He founded a church on the 6th of September 1985 in line with the C&S order.He however had some unique encounters with God that eventually led to his new birth experience at the end of 1985.It was after his conversion that he was instructed to worship God in line with the Pentecostal Order. The church was then renamed, Christ Miracle Evangelical Church; located at Tinubu LayoutMonatan Ibadan. The church was later renamed Sureword Christian Center, in December 2011, after he successfully handed over the ministry to one of his sons.Gabriel Olufunmilayo Ifarajimi was ordained as a Reverend in the year 1986 and Bishop in 1987 at the United States of America. In recognition of his services to Christianity and mankind, in 1998,he was offered a Honorary Degree of Doctor of Divinity by the Christian Theological Seminary; an affiliate of Ogun State University for B.A (CRS) and Ahmadu Bello University for D.C.R.E; under the leadership of Apostle Bamgbose.Rev. (Dr.) Gabriel Olufunmilayo Ifarajimi lived the last phase of his life going from place to place with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He held a number of crusades, led his town to Christ. He was a preacher of righteousness and right living. He forsook all to follow his maker,and led a number of souls to Christ. He spent his last week on earth praising and worshiping God with those around him; and when his final moment came to depart and be clothed with eternal life, he practically lifted up his hand towards the heaven, said “Thank You Jesus,” and breathed his last. 

His Walk with God

Gabriel Olufunmilayo Ifarajimi had a deep walk with God. He was a strong believer in God, religious and highly committed to the things of God. Even at a time he did not have sound knowledge of the ways of God, he tried his best to live with clear conscience towards God and man. He was no doubt highly gifted. He had strong endowment in the area of dream and vision. God often led him through dreams. On several occasions, difficult personal issues had been resolved through the medium of dream. A particular case that readily comes to mind is that of a dream he had when some of his workers, broke into his cement store at a construction site and made away with large quantity of bags of cement. While asleep, through dream, he saw the whole operation, including the plate number of the truck used, where the stolen goods were taken, and those involved. When he woke out of the sleep, in the morning he called the ring leader, told him what he(ring leader) had done in the night. He asked the leader to enter into his vehicle and drove the leader to the place the leaders and others had kept the stolen good...just as he saw it in his dream.

In his lifetime he had a number of astounding revelations concerning the nation-Nigeria. Some of these revelations are contained in his book; 'Divine Revelation Concerning Nigeria.' The book gave insight to his spiritual experiences where the nation was concerned. He did not publicize his spiritual role in the leadership of the nation. He was shown revelations that helped to guide some of the past leaders. As contained in the book; he wrote a letter to the then former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar on the 30th of August 1998. in the letter he shared the vision he had and how the Head of State was instructed to hand over power on the 29th of May 1999. This eventually played out a year later; could Abdulsalam had followed the dictates of this letter?