I was born a Roman Catholic.
But naturally, I had this personal longing of reaching to my MAKER and living eternally with HIM.
However, being a nominal Christian and living among nonchallants and wayward people did not help my course.
So, around the age of 12, after numerous experiences tugging my heart to set myself apart and devote more time for GOD, I had a terrible experience, where I found myself in what seems so much to be real but by the Grace of GOD ended up to be a dream–swimming with people that I couldn’t reach nor touch in hell.
#A terrible experience indeed!!!
Within this period, I made up my mind to use a long and hard savings to buy a New Testament Bible.
The same day, from nowhere, the exact amount I bought the Bible was returned to me through somebody I neither knew before nor visualized was coming.
#That was around 1986 or 1987.
Before you know it, again, I found myself slipping away into sins and the pleasures of the world.
So in 1991, a mysterious circumstance that led to a long and mysterious illness, which, all that have witnessed it at any point, always proclaimed that my survival and living is but a mystery and a Divine Act.
And this particular circumstance led me to go all out for the full Word of GOD, (that is, the Old and New Testaments of the Bible combined).
Now, my devoted study to the Bible brought up previously unknown errors and deviations of my Roman Catholic denomination to the fore, and I kept asking: “GOD, but why? Why would you say a thing, and the Roman Catholics would be doing another?”
And, in no much time, the Truth began to dawn on me. And before you know it, a cluster of like-minded persons began to gather around me. And we also started attending gatherings of like-minded persons and activities of other denominations together (Matt.24:28).
So on a particular occation, after coveting a long time for the baptism of the HOLY SPIRIT, and returning home from a programme, I suddenly burst into unknown tongues as I stood to pray.
All this while, the illness persisted, but my Knowledge andd Faith in CHRIST JESUS grew and blossomed.
In 1994, I graduated from apprenticeship and was rewarded with some amount of cash to start my own business.
But the same year, the illness took a sharp turn for the worse, and by December of same year got me bedridden, and that through 1995, and to many hospitals and Catholic prayer meetings, since I had no strenght or control over my parents and relations.
These led to the devil dealing with me very seriously spiritually, physically and financially, instead of any solution to the predicament.
Yet, I didn’t die.. (Matt.10:28, Col.3:3).
By the time I was through all that, I regained some physical strength, but the illness persisted inwardly, and I felt spiritually defeated and abandoned by GOD.
That was the situation when my very elderly cousin suddenly reappeared in the horizon, after bandoning the family and community for Islam for a very long time.
And started sharing about his new faith with all around..
Spurred by my all round condition, I picked interest.
And after he left, we continued communicating on phone until I finally left the south to join him in the north of Nigeria (Kano city to be precise, in early 1996).
It was during the Ramadan, and circumstances made me join immediately.
And after about three days, without any warning or further preachings or any question on my conviction, my cousin presented three names to me to make a choice from.
Understanding what he was up to, I prayed in my heart and chose Abdulkadir.
He then took me to the mosque, where I proclaimed the shahada, and the imam pronounced my name.
The imam also told me that there was nothing he needs to tell me more since my cousin knew well enough.
On our return from the mosque, my cousin told me to take off my mind from any thing business, and shoved towards me some islamic books and articles (including those from late Ahmed Deedat) to study , and told me that he is even ready to sponsor me to Mecca.
He later showed me a big shop which he said he reserved for my business when I am through with my islamic studies.
So I continued studying and practicing Islam in obedience and patience, but always made him know I would always want my business situated in the south-west, to which he would also always object to, on the ground that I would not practice Islam properly there, since they deemed the south-west muslims hypocrites .
I also had a few academically enlightened northern friends and a foreigner, whom I inherited from my cousing, to interact on Islam.
My insistence on having my business situated in the south west each time the subject of business comes up, always left my cousin offended.
And after sometime, I began to notice some disaffection in him, and I shared that with my Liberian friend, and also told him at a point that I am no longer feeling at ease with my cousin, and have made up my mind on leaving.
By that time I didn’t know that I am done with Islam.
On confronting him with my decision, and he understanding my situation (moneyless)and the succesful busines ideas that I have sold to him within the period that I sojourned with him, he told me, “It is alright, if that was my decision without giving a dime to me (Maybe, feeling that I can go no where under the circumstance).
But observing the looks in his eyes, and perceiving the thought in his mind, I hurriedly made my very long way on foot, with my luggage strapped to my back, to the strangers area (Sabon-gari), where I had to sleep for a couple of days on top of the deck of an uncompleted building until a young kinsman sold his clothes to raise the money for my transportation back to the south. (Thank GOD there were no rains in those nights).
