His first evangelical campaign was carried out in Irun, a village a few miles from Ikare [18]. Irun is said to be noted even today for its witchcraft practices. It was thus appropriate that the one who was to found a religious society averse to witchcraft should begin his campaign in this village. Thus “he opened the seal of witchcraft and acrobatic evil performances. (…) He also pulled down the image of Osijora (one of the divinities worshipped in the village) and fought with the evil spirits operating in the area” [19].
From Irun he was transported in a hammock-chair,–because of his paralysis,–to the neighbouring villages of Akungba and Oka, where he also preached. From Oka he moved to Akoko-Edo, visiting Ikiran and Ibillo towns. At Benin, he condemned the practice of human sacrifice. In a sermon to a large crowd, he said “God created man in his own image. It is quite unjustifiable to carry out human sacrifice and furthermore it is sacrilegious” [20]. Moved by his sermon, many traditional worshippers willingly gave up their emblems, images and charms for burning.
After visiting several other places in the Midwest, especially in the Niger Delta, he turned northward. He preached at Idah, Lokoja and at Okene, the main town of the Igbira tribe. In the last mentioned place he made many converts and helped them to establish a local C.M.S. Church. He then moved on to Ogori, another Igbora town, where he helped to start another C.M.S. Church for his converts.
Thus, Orimolade pursued his evangelistic campaigns with the vigour of the apostle Paul and the enthusiasm of contemporary prophet William Wade Harris. In each of the places he visited, he directed his converts to the existing churches irrespective of denomination, and where there was no Christian church, he helped to establish one. He did not commit himself to any denomination, realizing that such a commitment would seriously limit his sphere of operation.
Thus, Orimolade pursued his evangelistic campaigns with the vigour of the apostle Paul and the enthusiasm of contemporary prophet William Wade Harris. In each of the places he visited, he directed his converts to the existing churches irrespective of denomination, and where there was no Christian church, he helped to establish one. He did not commit himself to any denomination, realizing that such a commitment would seriously limit his sphere of operation.
Several miracles were credited to Orimolade. In Kaba town he was attacked by a strange lion which he killed. In Ogidi village he purified a pool which the natives have worshipped from time immemorial to ensure that they remained in a harmonious relationship with the evil power it was supposed to possess.
He is credited with founding C.M.S. Churches in Abuja, Egbe, Igan and Ikasa (all in Yagba division). He then proceeded on to the far north, visiting Zaria, Bauchi and Adamawa provinces. It is also believed that he visited Sokoto, Kano and Bomu [21]. In the North he did not win many converts because of the prevalence of the Muslim religion there. He is, however, credited with building a prayer house in Nguru.
On his return journey to the South he stopped at Ilorin and spent some time there. He seems to have been widely known in the town as Alhaji-n-Yisa and he built a prayer house there [22]. He has also been credited with healing a lame young man and raising a young lady from the dead in this Muslim city [23].
When he left Ilorin, he visited Ikirun where he healed a number of sick people through prayer. He also preached in the neighbouring towns of Osogbo, Ede and Ogbomoso. In Ogbomoso he was said to have been openly condemned as a charlatan by a young woman. This woman’s uncomplimentary remark, according to the report, was reprehensible to Orimolade and he quickly left the town. But before leaving he cursed the city: “Rain shall not fall in this town again, pregnant women shall not give birth to any new baby again and the lady (that is the offender) will surely lose her life” [24].
On leaving Ogbomoso, Orimolade went to the big city of Ibadan, where he stayed with the pastor of the African Church and astonished the people with “his powerful prayers in his Akoko dialect” [25]. From Ibadan he went to Abeokuta, according to C & S tradition, on the invitation of the Alake, the paramount ruler, imploring him to pray for an end to the Adubi War [26].
Having fulfilled the king’s wish, Orimolade went to Ifako in Agege district and lived with Chief Jacob Kehinde Coker, the leader of the African Church.
A delegation from Ogbomoso met him here and pleaded with him to return with them to remove the spell his curse brought upon the town because it had thrown the population into a state of pandemonium and insecurity. Orimolade obliged when he learned that the young woman whose impertinent behaviour had caused the trouble had died. Back in Ogbomoso, he passionately prayed that the wrath of God manifested on it be averted. The prayer was answered and things immediately returned to normal: “Rain started to fall heavily, pregnant women gave birth to new babies. (…) Ogbomoso came to realize that Moses was sent by God and not by his own whims” [27].
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