The testimonies of the Friday vigil at the Ojo Ayo/Adamimogo Global Convention had barely been narrated when a slim young man walked quietly towards the altar, carrying a garment folded with care. In front of hundreds of worshippers, 23-year-old Erioluwa Adekanbi unfolded a specially crafted top and handed it to the cleric, Prophet Sam Olu-Alo of Grace of Mercy Prayer Mountain.
No tape measure had touched the prophet’s body. No fitting appointment had been booked. Yet, when the top was slipped on, it sat perfectly in a moment that drew gasps, then applause from the congregation.
For those who knew Adekanbi’s past, the scene felt almost unreal.
Just two years ago, his life had been moving in the opposite direction. He had dropped out of a higher institution, drifted into heavy drug use and found himself entangled in cyber fraud, popularly known as yahoo yahoo which led him to reckless living. Eventually, it cost him his home. He lost his accommodation and began sleeping in unfinished buildings and public spaces, chasing another deal, another fix, another escape.
He was, by his own account, on the verge of pulling off a single cyber job that could have brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars when something unexpected happened. In that moment, he felt an overwhelming force stop him in his tracks.
What he did not know was that his mother had been on her knees, crying to God for the life of her son.
Sometime in 2023, she persuaded him to accompany her to Grace of Mercy Prayer Mountain, where he met Prophet Sam Olu-Alo. The cleric listened to his story, counselled him and led him to Christian faith. Rather than condemn him, the prophet pointed him towards a new path: fashion design. He urged Adekanbi to learn a skill, to rebuild himself through honest work, to allow discipline to replace chaos.
The young man took the advice seriously. He became an apprentice, mastering cutting, stitching and finishing. He spent long hours behind a borrowed machine, practising late into the night, fighting the temptation to return to his old life. Over time, his hands learned the language of fabric instead of fraud, thread instead of drugs.
That journey came full circle on Friday night.
After trying on the top Adekanbi had made, Prophet Olu-Alo turned to the congregation, visibly impressed. He announced that he would personally support the young designer by purchasing three high-end sewing machines, a generator and paying one year’s rent for a shop in the Ikotun area of Lagos.
It was a moment that left the young man stunned.
“I don’t deserve this,” Adekanbi said, fighting back tears. He praised the cleric for believing in him when he could not believe in himself and vowed never to disappoint the man he described as a father figure.
For many in attendance, the presentation was more than a display of tailoring skill. It was proof that a life once lost to drugs, crime and homelessness could still be rewritten. In a single garment, perfectly fitted and freely given, lay the story of redemption, of a praying mother and of a young man finding his way back from the edge.
