The renowned Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre, Matthew Ashimolowo, is successful in both spiritual and terrestrial deeds.
The pastor owns a huge 140-acre rice farm in Ofada, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, and plans to expand to 200 acres.
He is proud of what his is doing, because farming creates jobs and encourages Nigerians to get back into agriculture.
“I believe we should not just talk but put our words into action,” the man of God told a correspondent of ThePunch.
According to Ashimolowo, the cultivation of cassava that started during the administration of an ex President, Olusegun Obasanjo, went to waste. This was due to the fact that no encouragement had been given for it. Therefore, the pastor’s company switched to producing rice, which is in real demand in Nigeria.
Our country is the world’s second largest importer of rice with 2.1 metric tonnes per year. This costs over N356bn per annum for the budget.
One of the major challenges is fighting hungry birds which destroy rice plantations. However, the solution has been found:
“We divided the plantation into four sections and put at least 10 people in each section armed with catapults and whistles. We also used drums,” Pastor Ashimolowo’s associate, Mr Akeem Aremu, revealed.
This is quite thoughtful. Food is the most basic of man’s wants insufficiency of which has led to demise and misery of countless number of humans. Evangelism to the hungry is often vain