It was all about celebration and tributes for the legendary musician, Ebenezer Obey, who clocked 75 on Monday.
The singer, who has enjoyed a successful music career, celebrated with family, friends and associate in grand style.
Reflecting on becoming an evangelist and how it affected his music, he told The Point that he answered God’s call at the peak of his career. But, in spite of that, he insisted there was never a time he was not in high demand.
He stated, “The reason I gave my life to Christ is because I started in the church and God has been very good to me. I am very close to my God and He is the only one I have. I never knew I would become an evangelist; it was a calling and I am happy I heeded the call. “There has never been a dull moment and as a matter of fact, people book me a year in advance.
Some people would leave their mother in the mortuary because Obey did not have time. Until I am available, they would not bury their mother because they want Obey to play.”
He, however, admitted that most of his followers did not like the fact that he became an evangelist. He actually lost many of them but regained them later.
“Some fans stopped greeting me, but I was not bothered because I am a very serious-minded person. Once I want to do something, I do it wholeheartedly. For 17 years, I have been in the ministry and I never looked back. Though I have had trying time during those 17 years, I never let people know that I had trying moments.”
One of the trying times, according to him, was losing his cassettes’ factory that was doing well at a time to the bank because of bad debts. Since he could not combine it with his work as a musician and an evangelist, his daughter and relatives were in charge.
He stated, “Even after losing the factory, because of my name, I still continued to pay debts. I had to sell three of my houses. I also bought shares, but it went bad and I lost a lot of money in the process. Nobody came to my rescue but God did something.
“After three years that I had lost so many things, God sent a man to me. This man would just call me and give me money; I mean huge sums of money. He also gave me cars. Most of the cars I have, he gave me. Now, I have different cars; two escalades, Range Rover, Audi, and others. All there were made possible because of a man; may God continue to bless this man. I always report this man to God every day because he is my benefactor.”
