The Most Influential Person On AIB This Week Is Bishop David Oyedepo

Bishop David Oyedepo was born on September 27, 1954, in Osogbo, Nigeria, and he originates from Omu-Aran in the Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. He is a Nigerian Christian author, preacher, architect, and the founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, commonly known as Winners Chapel International.

He serves as the presiding Bishop of the Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria, which is the church’s headquarters and home to a 50,000-seat sanctuary, recognized by the Guinness Book of Records in January 2000 as the largest in the world. A new church auditorium, the Ark, with a seating capacity of 100,000, is currently under construction and is set to open for worship in November 2025.

Bishop Oyedepo is also the Chancellor of Covenant University and Landmark University. He is acknowledged as a pioneer of the Christian charismatic movement in Africa and is regarded as one of Nigeria’s most influential, and richest preachers.

The Winners Chapel International network includes churches in over 300 cities across all states in Nigeria and various cities across 45 African countries, as well as Dubai, the UK, the US, Europe, Asia, and Canada.

He was born into a family with mixed religious backgrounds: his father, Ibrahim, was a Muslim healer, while his mother, Dorcas, was part of the Holy Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church (C&S). Raised by his grandmother, he learned the principles of Christian life through early morning prayers and the importance of tithing. He was born again in 1969, through the influence of his high school teacher, Betty Lasher.

Bishop Oyedepo studied architecture at Kwara State Polytechnic in Ilorin before earning a PhD in Human Development from Honolulu University in Hawaii, USA. He briefly worked with the Federal Ministry of Housing in Ilorin before resigning to focus on missionary work.

In May 1981, he experienced a vision from God that lasted 18 hours, during which he felt called to free the world from the devil’s oppression through the preaching of faith. This vision led to the founding of Living Faith Church Worldwide (LFCWW) the same year, initially named Liberation Faith Hour Ministries. On September 17, 1983, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, ordained him and his wife, Florence Abiola Akano (known as Faith Abiola Oyedepo), as pastors, with his life mentor, the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, ordaining him as a Bishop five years later.

The church has also established the Dominion Publishing House and several educational institutions, including Faith Academy, Covenant University, Kingdom Heritage Model School, Landmark University, and the Faith Bible Institute. He founded the David Oyedepo Foundation to aid humanity.

In 1982, he married Faith Abiola Oyedepo, and they have four children—two sons and two daughters.

Recently, he celebrated his 70th birthday at the Living Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State, with a ceremony attended by church, societal, and political leaders.