GLOBAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 2025 || MAKE A DIFFERENCE

So right now we're going to be having a very interesting section. So all the questions that you've, that you've been, you've been having in your mind that I want to ask, I've been having this question, this is the right time. So we're going to be just having a discussion with them shortly, and if you have any questions, we have our beautiful and handsome ushers around. You can just pass your question to them. Thank you so much. And my name is Tolu Alape, by the way, and I'm the host for this panel session. And with me I have My name is Olawo Peter.

Olanrewaju.

It's so good to have you here with you. Okay, Papa, this session, Global Leadership Conference, has been amazing since Wednesday, and I must say that I've been personally blessed. And because of that, we have some questions that we'd love our speakers to please help us answer while we also wait for people that are also on ground and online to pass the question. So if you are also online, This is the time to put your question in the chat box on YouTube, on Facebook, and you're going to have an amazing session. All right, bro Peter, over to you.

All right, thank you so much for the privilege. Thank you once again, Papa, for the privilege, sir. I do not take it for granted. All right, so we're going right into the questions now, and, um, we'll be starting our father first, as spiritual father. Thank you so much, Papa. Now the question we have here is, how can a leader maintain a strong kingdom value while navigating a sector where compromise is common?

Praise the Lord. That's a very beautiful question. Well, that is not unexpected because the scripture makes it very abundantly clear that we live in a world of compromise. Philippians 2:15 says that we should shine as a light in the dark and a crooked and perverse nation. So it's very clear and self-evident in scripture that the world itself, the system of the world, is compromised. And so we as Kingdom citizens, we don't— there are actually no complex procedures involved. The basic things we learn in church, the Word of God, is to let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. So we must maintain our conviction. The conviction was rock solid. We are convinced that the principles of God's Word, they are the breeding ground for transformation. For all societies across the world. So when the conviction is intact, and then it gives us the boldness, the eagerness, the audacity to actually, you know, exemplify such principles even in the marketplace. So the most important thing is conviction. The most important thing is audacity. We must trust, you know, the primacy of the principles of the kingdom, that they are not fake. And if we have the conviction, we can go anywhere, and then we don't bow to compromise. We superimpose Kingdom culture, even on all the perverted, you know, systems in place. So that's the way we do it.

Thank you so much, Papa. That was very strong. Can we celebrate our Father in the Lord? That was very strong. Your convictions, your convictions, convictions. All right, over to you, Sister.

Thank you so much, Brother Peter. Thank you so much, Papa. Mama, your session really blessed me. Thank you so much, Ma. And Mama, during your session, you were talking about mindset. And so I have a question here. What major mindset shift must today's emerging leaders embrace to be effective across all cultures? Like, what major mindset shift should they embrace, ma?

Thank you so much. As an individual, you must know that you are different.

Yes, ma'am.

So in any sector that you are, you will always meet decay. You will always meet decay. They are not perfect. So if you have resolved it in your mind that this sector you are going to, you want to make a difference, you must be prepared for it.

Yes, ma'am.

Yes, at the initial stage, there might be tackling. People might see you as maybe you are proud, you don't want to mix with us, you have different philosophy. But as you are consistent and persistent, they will see it. Because you will be making difference. You'll be different. Praise God, you'll be different. Let me, you know, in my place of work as a nurse, so many decades, decades are there. So as you are going there, you know, you'll be determined. Yes, this sector, people have different orientation about nurses. Nurses are this, nurses are that. But in your mind, you have determined that in this profession I will make a difference. You will meet so many people, you know. I said it during my teaching, you Patients might be funny at times, you understand, but you be patient and you know that this place you have a goal. So when you know, you be patient and through your actions they will see it, they will change their mind. Many people will say, oh, you know, from a place where I was working, one patient, she was coming and she has been determined that, ah, Mama Shagbe wa for me this time, and that's what I would do. But meeting us, at least meeting me there, the way I approached her, it was like, ah, So we still have nurse like this, she understand. And if she has change of mind, that okay, now I'll be visiting an hospital. So you must be determined that you will be different because many things are flying around. Different start from you. You must be different to make a difference.

Wow, wow, wow, that is so profound. The difference start from you. Wow, that is so profound. Thank you so much, Mama. That was such a wisdom that, that is just so mind-blowing. Prop it over to you.

Thank you so much, ma. Thank you so much, Mama, for that word. I was taught, I learned. All right, so we'll be moving on. Um, Reverend Shagun, sir, I have a question here for you, and also I want to just— I have a similar question here, so I'm just going to take them together, sir, right? It says, um, what does it mean to build a kingdom business? And how does that differ from just building a successful company? Then also this person says, how can a leader now balance business, ministry, and career?

Well, um, kingdom, business, and successful career, then building a company, that is different from Now, it's part of what we were talking about yesterday, and I think Apostle was trying to touch— not trying, actually touched on the integral part of it. I will just make a little emphasis on what he has said. I was trying to explain yesterday how to position yourself to attract finance. Not just for personal use, even for the business, is to become a kingdom financier. And the same thing that is applicable to business. So if you are setting up a business, from the beginning, it is important to know that this business, what purpose is it serving? Is it just to make money or to expand the kingdom? I give an example. The business that we do today, I can say, has done, let me say, a little bit well. I mean, you just mentioned it depends on level, your definition of success, because sometimes when you say you are good, you need to understand that your own being good bad is the beginning of somebody's goodness, you know. And so, but to an extent, I discovered that the moment I, right from the beginning, I said to myself, this business is going to service the Kingdom of God. And that's what we still do to today. I can tell you, I give you one example, just one example. I remember a particular Church, I don't want to mention name now, in Lagos. If I mention the name, you— the man is into prayer. We call him Baba Ladura, you know, and they needed to have a crusade. But I'll give you two, I'll give you two examples, then I'll stop. They wanted to have a crusade in Eleoluji and They contacted us, said, "Okay, they will need this and that." I knew from day one this is a Kingdom business. I mean, so I said to the admin who contacted us, I said, "You know what? This will be our contribution to the crusade. It's going to be for like a week crusade." And I said, "It's going to be for free. We're not going to charge anything for this." If I place value on what we are offering, it was running to millions. And that was it. We released, they went to use it, and I can tell you, the return was something else. Now, second example, there was a time I— we planned to have a crusade, but I was looking at how it was going to work out. So I was driving past somewhere around Ketu in Lagos, and I saw a sort of people having a rally, a Deeper Life Church kind of. So, and I said to myself, you want to have a crusade? This is a rally they're doing to host Pastor Kumuyi. Ketu region. And I said to myself, this is time to connect. So I went to meet one of the pastors and said, you know what, uh, when— we're not going to ask for money, we just want to be part of this. And download this. Long story short, we supported that crusade. While that crusade— I'm, I'm sharing this for somebody to understand, you know, I was saying yesterday, some of these things that you talk about Branding and all of those things. There's a better way to actually brand your business, not by sometimes writing proposals. And so I met the man and said, he told me, we're not going to— they don't have money. I said, you don't need to pay us money. So we release equipment for them. While the program was running, Baba came. I was not even there. I've gone to do my own stuff. One of their pastors who came from— because they were supporting themselves, it was time for Ketu. A pastor came from Oshodi and it was going to be the Oshodi turn. Pastor Kumi was going to go to Oshodi. So he saw what we set up and he said, how did you get this? Then the pastor said, somebody just gave us. He didn't even collect money from us. And the next thing was, give me his contact. I was here in Ife while that program was going on, the man called me. "Are you Femi Lazarus?" I said, "Yes, sir." He said, "I understand that you gave this and you didn't collect money." I said, "Yes, I just— that's what God put in my mind to do." And he said, "You know what? Our own turn is next week, but this time around we need you for our own, and then we will not take it for free. We're going to pay you." Wow. Long story short, from there it didn't stop there. We did almost about 40 locations.

Wow.

Paid for. Wow.

Wow.

From just that move. Kingdom mindset. Just to say that, God, this is your business, whatever it is you want to do with it. You see how you can position yourself for God to keep pouring and pouring and pouring his blessings. And then you just realize that works.

Thank you so much, sir. Oh wow, wow, that was powerful. Reverend mentioned something—

purpose.

The difference between building a kingdom business and a successful company—

purpose.

What's the purpose for which you're building that business? It was powerful, sir. I was blessed. I hope we're blessed too. I can't hear us. I hope we're blessed too. All right, all right, that's very powerful.

All right, thank you so much, Apostle Femi Lazarus. Thank you so much for your session. Since yesterday, we've been richly blessed. And we have a question here, and I believe that this has been a question that has been burning in the heart of a lot of young persons, and I'm sure that they will be so delighted to get the answer this morning, sir. So how do we stay kingdom-focused while influencing global platforms, and what practical thing has worked for you personally, sir?

Powerful question, I must say. The most important thing for me is to keep the goalposts as the goalposts, because when you are into many things, if care is not taken, you might have identity crisis in the sense that people don't know what to pin you to. So my mantra is to major on the major and minor on the minor. The fact that things must work doesn't mean I must do it directly. It all still boils down to having the right team, the right people to spearhead that. I think I've answered the question.

Yeah, thank you so much. Yes, sir. Thank you so much, sir. And that is to major on the major and minor on the minor. That is so profound. And, and I believe that each and every one of us already believe that we know what to do when it comes to majoring on the major. Um, Bro Peter, can we please go ahead to the next question? Thank you.

Thank you so much, Ma. All right, Dr. Ifeosa, we're so pleased to have you. Right, this person, um, has a question here. It says, how can a person be global if they finished with a third class in the university?

Very practical question. Very practical question.

And I always—

I think I spoke to the first person who I spoke to about this was Bob Dee, Mr. Dele Momodu. I don't know whether anybody's heard about him. I think he came to UFAES some 25 years ago or thereabout, and he spoke about this with about 2 or 3 other students who had graduated from OAU with very interesting grades. I have taught in university for about 15 years and in about 3 countries. Let me say that a good number of persons who did not have their desired grade from uni and who were able to discover purpose afterwards had something to prove. If you probably made a first class from uni, or maybe a 2:1, you probably may not even know that you have to show yourself. You know what Apostle said about the fact that some of us, they say celebrate your little wins, celebrate your— and then you have over-celebrated your little win. But if you had a third class, you know that you don't even have any win at all. So you now need to win at something. If I may ask you, Do you know what grade I had? You don't know now. At this point, what you are trying to learn from me is not the grade anymore. You ate cake this morning or drank tea. You are wearing a dress. Somebody produced this microphone. Somebody did this backdrop. Somebody is holding the camera. What is his grade? Ladies and gentlemen, what is on offer? What are you trading with? I recommend that people have very good grades. It gives you a foot in the door. If there's somebody who can take the account of Instagram of the church from 100 followers or 5 likes to 1,000 likes, will you be very concerned first about their grades? Did you see the designs for this— what do you call it— this program, this GLC? Did you see the posters? What's the grade of the person that did the poster? What do you have on offer? It's important too. So my question will be for whatever grade that you have, whether it is a first or a third. When rubber hits road, when, when it— when push comes to shove, it is in the addition. What are you country building? Some people will have 2:1, 2:2, and first class. They will be sacked. They do not have the character or the skill or the knowledge base to be able to push it through. Thank you very much.

Thank you so, so much, sir.

Can we celebrate Dr. Ifeoba Mendele? Wow, wow, wow. That, that is really profound. That is really profound. What are you offering? Like What do you have to offer? That's the most important question. So right now we're going to be going to Pastor Kolawole Idowu. Sir, your session was fiery. Thank you so much for this session. So, so we're going to be, we're going to be asking a question, sir. What does, um, what role does vision play in sustaining leadership across different seasons of life? So there are different seasons of life, the highs, the lows, What does vision actually— what is the role of vision in different seasons of life, sir?

I think— thank you so much.

Thank you.

I want to appreciate this privilege and also all the ministers. I think I have set the fire and everybody has— but the truth is this, like I said, 2003, I had a call from God to start a ministry. But I did everything to maneuver. I had purpose class, I had so many things and all of that. And in all of this, I had privileges to run two masters, I've had privileges to take two forms for PhD, but there is a vacuum that was never filled. My father is a professor of mathematics and he wanted me to also be a lecturer, but I'm happy with the kind of lecturing I'm doing. And that is what also makes us— Bible said, for the joy that was set before him. There is a joy that purpose gives that nothing else gives, and that's very important. And that is the joy that drives you. Now, I used to give example: if they put 1 billion at the back of this door And they said they have a lot of broken bottles all over this place, that anybody that jumps and was able to pick that 1 billion takes it. I tell my member, before that statement ends, I will be there.

Why?

Because I know 1 billion is not enough to address the solution that I want to provide. And if I'm able to provide it, they will benefit from it. Because I don't trust you with how far you will do with that $1 billion. Now, the clarity of your destination determines the speed of your today. If your end is not clear— that's what John C. Maxwell said. If you— I gave an example of that man yesterday, uh, Roger Bannister and Mike Tyson. Roger Bannister, I'm talking about, uh, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, and I mentioned another name. That man already lost the wife. He needed money, uh, and also, uh, dustabuglers.

Yes.

And also, too, he had already another issue. His mother died and is dedicating the fight to the mother. Why did he beat Mike Tyson, the heavyweight champion? Because he was a dead man. He had a purpose that he wants to hit. I took this from my father, Bishop Obedebo. There is nothing you can do. In COVID year, 10,000 churches were planted. You tell him it's not possible, you can't even come close to him and tell him, say, this is not possible. You must give reasons why it's not possible, and I don't think your reasons are enough. So when you have a clear picture of where you are going, for example, if your organization says you are going to meet 100 people, if that is your expectation, you can decide to be working slowly. Somebody running a sprint does not walk this— run the same way like somebody running a marathon. I am going very far, I can't partner with you now because our speed is not the same. So it depends on the clarity of your destination. If your decision is clear enough, what you call distractions are not distractions. If what I want to be is a professor, master's is not a distraction. I quickly want to get it off. So all of these things that you are looking at, if you are— the way you are running shows the clarity of your future and the time you attach to it. If you attach eternity to it, you will get there in eternity. And that's why Bible said— that's why somebody said it's better to be prepared and not have opportunity than to have opportunity and not be prepared. When you have the opportunity, you burn the bridges. Everybody knows fire has been set down. But don't prepare— don't wait until the opportunity comes before you keep preparing. Apostle Lazarus came here and said so many things. He wouldn't have been able to say some of those things because if he had not prepared and had not gone through them. And that's why I love what, uh, uh, Dr. said. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but thou shall observe. Those who don't know how to observe cannot be served. And that is very key. Observation. What are the principles that they engage? You You may not be close to them, but if you observe well, anybody that is great today, they— many of them closely learned not because they talk to them, but because they all serve what has worked. They also have the principles of the Bible, and then they are wherever you are. So if your pre— your destination is clear enough, you will not mind the opposition now.

Wow, wow, thank you. So can we celebrate? Can we celebrate? Wow, thank you so much, thank you so much. So quickly, I'm just going to go to the next question for Pastor Cephas, and then we just go to all the other questions that we have. We have a lot of questions and then we're going to just summarize them. Yes, because of the time. So, um, Pastor Sefa, sir, um, we have a very profound question here and I know that you're very vast and very well knowledgeable about the technological age, especially AI and all. So we're going to be asking you, sir, how can we keep Holy Spirit leadership at the center of our lives in a world driven by AI? Because any question, like, we're just quickly asking Meta, any question we're asking ChatGPT, like, how can we keep the leadership of Holy Spirit intact in a world driven by AI? Pastor Sefa, sir, thank you so much, sir.

Hallelujah.

Amen.

Thank you so much, Papa. Thank you, our host. Um, you see, there is, uh, divine revelation and there is digital regurgitation. You see, when it comes to leading, we are led by the Spirit of God, and the way we are led by the Spirit of God is through revelation. And what we do today now is digital regurgitation. Regurgitation is when an animal chews something, bring it back. So most of what you are seeing is— I fear for the future because most pastors might be preaching the same message, and you start seeing almost the same set of languages. You know, Apostle said something. He said we really don't understand that artificial intelligence has, has bettered a new paradigm, and we really don't understand the depth of that statement. Sincerely, there is a reason why they name generations. Gen Alpha, Gen Beta, Gen Boomers, Gen Zs. They name generations due to their environment, like what is applicable, attainable in their environment. And when they name generation, it is not just for the generation that are coming, it is also for those who are interacting with that age. So the reason why they name Gen Alpha, Gen Beta started this year. And the reason why they named Gembita is because they have seen that artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, metaverse, and all those things, that is going to set a shift of paradigm that people that will be coming up in this generation, they are going to have a different mentality entirely, especially because of these emerging technologies that is coming up. So, uh, this is where we actually need to understand revelation and discernment, that God leads by revelation. There are some things that, um, AI cannot— there are some things that I cannot lead you in. See, I interact with AI every day, and I also advise people to use AI, but if we nullify divine revelation to guide us, we're actually heading towards the bush. Because all we'll just be doing is we'll just be regurgitating, you know, what AI will keep giving. We'll give out, take it back, give out, take it back, give out, take it back. And that is not— God created the head to be progressive in knowledge. And being progressive in knowledge can only be by revelation. And we must hold on to that powerfully.

Wow, wow, wow! Can we celebrate Pastor Sefa Saloka? Is that how to celebrate? Please, let's do it much better. Thank you so much, everyone. Okay, bro Peter, please, can we just try and ask some few questions?

All right, um, we have a, we have a time constraint and we are just going to be going over the questions quickly, so I'll be combining some questions so that we can quickly get away. So, um, this is a question for Reverend Shagun, sir. So the person said, um, you spoke about structure and systems. Now this person is asking, can I build a business team with my siblings because some of them have the strength I don't have? He says, the reason I asked this question is because he said, do not employ someone you cannot sack.

Apostle.

Wow, wow, wow. All right, it's amazing. All right, all right. So, um, I think Apostle— I would love you to answer this one, sir. Is it? Yes, sir. Thank you so much, sir. Is it? In an era of prosperity preachers and gospel leaders, how do we distinguish between authentic spiritual leaders building a structure and those that are prioritizing wealth? And then, uh, there's this last one. The last one is, how do I find out my purpose? I think I have an idea in everything, but it's not clear yet. How do I find out my purpose?

So, um, thank you. First question, um, can— should you build a business with your sibling if they are mature? If they are mature, um, and if they are smart, they are wise, they can do what is required, but they should also be sackable even it be Second question: How do you distinguish between authentic ministers and from non-authentic? Well, I have quite a concern for the fellow that asked the question. Don't join the world to brand ministers prosperity ministers, because prosperity is part of the benefit of redemption. You might be broke for a long time if you do that. So, um, well, to know what's fake from what's genuine, you be genuine. Um, I've said it again that fake ministers are product of fake members. It is because you are not sound, that's why somebody who is not is taking advantage of you. If you know the truth, nobody will be able to do that. All right, the last question is what?

All right, sir, purpose. How do I find out my purpose?

Your purpose— the issue with purpose is that stop expecting one statement. Your purpose gets clearer with time and exposure. Do the will of God. It becomes clearer as you mature. God bless you.

It was very, very short, precise, and powerful. I hope we all got the message. I think— I hope we all got the message. All right, so, um, Sister Tolu, let's have you, ma.

All right, so we have so many questions there, and sincere apologies if we're not able to take your questions this morning. Okay, so, um, and a lot of questions, um, were directed to Apostle because some persons even picked out some of the things that were said in the teaching. Okay, so, um, a lot of questions were directed to you, sir. And yes, sir, so I'm just going to summarize it because— all right, all right, sir. So, um, I think most people actually want to know what's the Nigerian mentality And how can they fix the gap between mediocrity and excellence, especially being in an environment like Nigeria, and especially where system does not work and where things are actually not so straight? So how can a Christian make a difference there?

Okay, um, well, permit me to not get into the entire mentality. I just talk about African mentality. All right, because we are quite synonymous in many things. Um, Because of our exposure and the depravity in Africa, the focus of many people and organizations is money, not service. So when that is in front, people are not able to deliver. So you see that, for instance, there was a time I sent someone to get me a shoe. It was not what I liked. It was not my size. So we returned it, and they were like, they will never refund. That's the Nigerian thing. We hold money and lose people. Now, okay, myself and Papa were talking about an hotel in Eleife, and at some point we came around And while we were lodged there, they switched off the light. So we went there, they said, well, fuel is expensive. So we said, whenever I'm around, I'll buy fuel. But we deserve the dignity of good rest. So it occurred to me that they had employed someone who value money, not service. Now, I, as I came, I started asking, and I saw that many ministers have come in recent time, didn't lodge there. So when you value money and not service, you will lose things that you can't ask for the restoration because you didn't even know they were yours. What ought to be yours that was never yours that you lost, you can't ask for restoration. So people will look at you from afar and judge you and know that they should not do anything with you and not come. So you'll be thanking God for what you have, but you don't know what you could have gotten. So then the African system put money first. What you see in anyone that wants to build a global platform, you want to have global negotiations, service first, and nobody will negotiate your price if they see what you can do. God bless you.

Wow, wow! Can we appreciate Apostle Femi Lazarus?

Praise the Lord! At this point, I want us to once again appreciate Appreciate Apostle Femi Lazarus. Thank you for your generosity, your magnanimity. He has to catch his flight, and then, um, graciously accepted to be around for, uh, this. We're going to get the panel section. So, sir, uh, let's rise, let's rise, and let's rise. And we love you, we celebrate you, we appreciate you. Why the question continues, and then our other guest speakers will be on ground to answer the questions. And then so that we don't deny the members of the congregation the benefit of having their questions answered. You can take your seats.

Thank you so much, Papa. Thank you so much, Apostle Femi Lazarus. Can we celebrate? Can we celebrate? Can we celebrate? Please, let's do that better. Can we celebrate? Can we keep celebrating? Wow! Is that how we celebrate? This is a house of honor. Can we celebrate? We should keep on doing that. We should keep on doing that. We should keep on doing that. We should keep on celebrating as Apostle walks out. Can we keep on celebrating? Please, can we have our seats? Thank you. So we're just going to continue the panel session so that, um, questions can be answered. And I'm sure that is— this session is really going to be so, so, so powerful and your questions are going to be answered. So I'm going to be asking, um, Dr. Sir— I'm going to be