Ilorin

Ended in Makodi.

So you go to Uniagric You go to BSU A point came Territory enlarged I started going as far as Elorin In fact the first time I went to preach in Elorin I said God of mercy This is the end of the earth I drove The roads were not so good The Abuja road was not yet constructed I drove 8 hours to Abuja When I got to Abuja We now drove another 8 hours To Ilorin.

I said what kind of thing is this? My whole bones were cracking.

I said wow.

New university, yeah.

And University of Ilorin.

Ilorin, mm-hmm.

Interesting how the joint fourth are all in the North Central.

The rural, yes.

You've not been in Lagos Ibado expressway traffic.

Where you would travel all the way from the east, from the west, from Ilorin.

From everywhere.

And you get through to Iba from Mowekara.

Years ago when we went to preach...

I went to preach in Ekiti State, and we flew through Ilorin and then went by road to Ekiti State.

And strangely, I started seeing the obituaries of people, and I saw that these people were in their hundreds, 120-something.

I said, "What is this?" We got to a small community, and I saw one 32 years old, someone who had just died, 132, and yet abroad they are busy saying 118 is the oldest man.

Now, I remember that because my brother and I used to be in the export space.

We used to get, um, [lip smacks] uh, charcoal from, uh, Ilorin and then have to ship it into Lagos, into port.

So, you know, we, uh, we had to use, um, trucks, um, for that.

So Emmanuel, you can also be looking at these sorts of people.

Anyway, so I asked my guy Oluwase, and I'm glad that he thought about it.

Now, he said billboards were too expensive because billboards are 150,000 Naira a week for where he is in Ilorin.

And yeah, I know that kind of checks out.

Yeah, 150,000 Naira kind of checks out.

For someone, God can be prompting you to go somewhere.

I'm, I'm sure that maybe the, the old man, who knows, who prayed for us imparting the grace for long life, somewhere after Ilorin going to Ekiti, I'm sure that man has gone to be with the Lord.

It was by the strong nudging, who knows, angelic presence.

I went to preach at, um, a university called Afe Babalola University that year and I saw people living long.

We flew to Ilorin and continued the journey by road, and we passed a very mysterious village where there were people who lived very long.

They are carriers of graces.

And when we returned, I said, "Please, they should lead us to the oldest man in that village.

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And, you know, fast-forward a few years later, I was 13 when I was informed.

Then I was a little bit older, and I was called to my uncle's out in-- uncle's house in Ilorin, Kwara State.

And, you know, my uncle, you know, he's a big uncle, older than my dad.

Um, I was-- you know, held my hands and told me, like, my fa- dad had died in a road traffic accident.

And then, you know, went back to Nigeria for the first time, 2010, and, and, and, uh, it was my ...

We went to Ilorin.

It was the 70th, uh, 70th birthday, and, you know, I just got into the vibe, felt the energy.

You know, at the time, you know, we were just listening to, you know, Afrobeats was just starting to pop.

And I, it just kind of opened my eyes to wow, you know, this is a incredible, incredible story.

And then, you know, as a filmmaker over time, I was like, "Oh, I wanna do projects, you know, on this." And, uh, you know, time passed and time passed and, you know, eventually it was, it was around 2023, um, where, you know, I had, uh, just the, the opportunity to You know, gather up a team together, um, you know, uh, with Leke as well.

And, you know, we traveled to Ilorin, and we filmed, you know, a series of interviews with him and other, other, um, people who were involved, um, you know, in the war and at the war front.

Because for me, you know, obviously the stories are, um, you know, they die with the people.