The seed of The Redeemed Christian Church of God was planted in Ibadan in 1967 by the late General Superintendent, Pastor J. Akindayomi, who established the first parish at Oniyanrin, Ibadan. That year, Nigeria was divided into four regions with Ibadan serving as the Capital of the Western Region. A room and a Parlour were rented with Brother Akande, who was living in Oshogbo, as the first pastor.
Pa and Mummy Afolabi, Brother Samson Ogundeji, Longe, David Akinyemi, Philip Alade, Michael Olufemi Ojo (later an Assistant General Overseer) were among the pioneer workers
A few month later, because the room and a parlour were not too conductive for a church, the parish was moved to Itamaya, near Foko, Ibadan. But Pastor Akande headed the Church for Only a few months before he returned to osogbo, where an RCCG parish had been established in 1961. Because of the importance of the Ibadan church, the General Superintendent, Pastor Akindayomi, did not want to leave anything to chance. Therefore, he appointed his second in command, who doubled as the Circuit Superintendent, Pastor Akinlembola, as the parish pastor. Pastor Akinleembola should have been at the National Headquarters, given his rank. Soon after, the training of all RCCG pastors was done in Ibadan by Reverend Akinlembola, who was already a Bible College graduate, even though the RCCG did not yet have its own Bible College. At that time, the church at Ebute Metta was designated the National Headquarters while the parish at Itamaya was the Missionary Headquarters, apparently due to the presence of Pastor Akinlembola. Reverend Sobiye, the first person to preach in English in RCCG Ibadan, succeeded Pastor Akinlembola. Pastor Sobiye is now a National Elder in RCCG and still ministers at the camp. Ojo, then became the minister in charge of the Itamaya parish between 1972 and 1973. A year later, specifically in 1972, the second parish of the RCCG in Ibadan was established at Aremo, Atipe area. Between 1976 and 1977, two plots of land were acquired by the church at Bolumole, Ring Road, Ibadan with the generous financial assistance of Bro. Adenuga (later Pastor Adenuga), a financially endowed member of the church, who was also known as Iwalewa Bread. Ojo was the first person to work on the land. The church in Bolumole was completed in 1978 and it was dedicated the same year. Ilori (later Assistant General Overseer) was appointed the first Zonal pastor, covering Oyo and Osun States. He was based at Agugu, Ibadan. Pastor Ilori had earlier surrendered the church he founded to the RCCG and joined the mission with his members. Pastor P. Ojo (also later an Assistant General Overseer) took over from Pastor Ilori and was the first to be designated as State Pastor in 1988. He had jurisdiction over Oyo and Osun States and operated from Bolimole. In 1990, Pastor Olu Emmanuel (now a National Elder) took over from Pastor Ojo. Pastor Emmanuel was replaced in 1993 by Pastor David Kuo (now co-coordinating all Regional Evangelists). Pastor Elijah Daramola and Pastor C. Osho became State Pastors in 1995 and 1999 respectively. In 2002, Pastor Kemi Oluyele was appointed State Pastor and was succeeded by Pastor Innocent Utulu in 2006, during whose tenure the designation was changed from State Pastor to Province Pastor. Pastor Dele Balogun (now Pastor –in-charge of Region 21) took over from Pastor Utulu as Province Pastor in 2010. HISTORY OF THE STATE/PROVINCE CREATION IN OYO
OYO 1 – 1988 OYO 2 – 2000 OYO 3 – 2005 OYO 4 – 2008 OYO 5 – 2008 OYO 6 – 2011 OYO 7 – 2011 OYO 8 – 2012 OYO 9 – 2013 OYO 10 – 2014
NAMES/YEAR
1967 - 1988 -Pastor J. Akindayomi General Superintendent,
1967 -Planted the Seed- Akande
Pastor Akinlembola
Reverend Sobiye
Pastor M. Ojo
1988 - 1999 - Pastor D. Ilori
Olu Emmanuel
1999 - 2002 - David Kuo
Pastor Elijah Daramola
Pastor C. Osho
2002 - 2006 - Pastor Kemi Oluyele
2006 - 2010 - Pastor Innocent Utulu
2010 – 2016 - Pastor Dele Balogun
2016 – 2022 - Pastor CAF Obasa
2022- till date - Pastor Ezekiel Afolayan
