Ask most people in Ibadan about Baba Sebioba and you will get one of two answers: the prophet who built an enormous church in a matter of months, or the man whose prophecies fill the newspapers every January.
Both are accurate. Neither explains much.
The fuller story involves a young man from Kogi State who did not begin in ministry at all, a call he resisted for a period, and a programme of free eye surgeries that has run for years with very little publicity attached to it.
Here is what is actually on the record.
The basics
Full name: Apostle Dr Solomon Moses Oni Mustapha JP Known as: Baba Sebioba Born: 27 May 1969 Origin: Isanlu, Kogi State Ministry: Founder and General Overseer, Seed of Christ Golden Church (Land of Reality) Worldwide Base: Idi Obi, Airport Area, Ibadan, Oyo State
He was born to Mr and Mrs Samuel Mustapha, the fourth child and the first of three sons in a household of eight children.
There is a detail his family regards as significant: three of the eight children share the same birthday, 27 May — a date that also happens to be marked internationally as Children’s Day.
Before the altar
This is the part most people do not know.
Baba Sebioba did not come into ministry through Bible school or through a family pastoral line. He came from the press. The trajectory has been described as a move from journalism to the pulpit, which puts his later comfort with press conferences and public communication in a different light — it is a professional skill he had before he had a congregation.
He received the call into full-time ministry in 2002. He did not act on it immediately. In 2003 he left Ekiti, where he was then living, to follow it, and in 2004 he began the church.
That one-year gap between call and relocation is worth noticing. It is a fairly ordinary detail, and it is more human than the version of the story that usually gets told.
Building the ministry
The early years followed a pattern familiar to anyone who has watched a Nigerian church grow from nothing.
The first message he preached focused on faith — igbagbo. The ministry eventually moved into a leased property at Orisunmbare Market on 1 August 2006. After two years the arrangement changed from lease to purchase, with the land sold to the church on 2 April 2008.
The foundation of the permanent building was laid on 19 April 2008, by a group including Apostle Mustapha himself, Prophetess Eunice Mustapha, Pastor Kayode Oyinloye, Pastor Samuel Ekundayo, Deaconess Odebunmi, Evangelist Timothy Abiodun and other members.
The building went up in about six months.
Later, he drew wide attention in Ibadan by completing a large church building in 131 days — the achievement most often cited when his name comes up in the city.
The ministry now operates under the name Seed of Christ Golden Church, Land of Reality Worldwide, with branches across Nigeria and internationally in London, Ghana, Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire.
The prophecies
This is the most public aspect of the ministry and the one that generates the most coverage.
He issues prophetic statements on national matters, and he has stated publicly that a number of his earlier declarations — concerning flooding, market fires, and plane crashes — subsequently came to pass. Ahead of the 2023 elections, he said that the period might see crisis, but that the crisis would open up greater opportunity for many Nigerians.
He has also described receiving, during a crusade at Liberty Stadium in early 2020, a warning that churches would be unable to gather for six months, which he says he announced to his congregation at the time.
His stated framework is that prophecies of human origin can be altered, while divine ones tend to come to pass — and that where the latter is concerned, the appropriate response is fasting and prayer to reduce the effect rather than expectation that it can be cancelled.
A note on how to read this: these are his own public statements about his ministry, reported in the Nigerian press. Whether one accepts prophetic claims is a matter of individual conviction, and readers will differ. What is documented is what he said and when.
The part that gets the least attention
If there is one thing genuinely underreported about this ministry, it is the medical work.
The church has sustained a programme of free cataract surgeries over a period of years, at one stage carrying out around 250 operations monthly in Abuja.
Cataract is one of the leading causes of avoidable blindness in Nigeria, and the procedure is simple, quick, and life-changing — and out of reach for a very large number of people on cost grounds alone. A sustained programme at that volume represents thousands of people who can see.
There has also been a stated plan to build a tuition-free nursery and primary school, open to children of church members and non-members alike. He is described locally as a philanthropist who assists people without regard to whether they belong to the church.
Very little of this generates headlines. The prophecies do.
His messages
The recurring themes across his public teaching are reasonably consistent.
Faith as the foundation. It was his first sermon subject and it has remained central.
Prayer as the operative response to difficulty. His counsel in the face of national crisis is consistently fasting and prayer rather than resignation, and he frequently returns to James 5:16 on the effectiveness of righteous prayer.
Prayer for children. He has repeatedly urged mothers in particular to pray fervently for their children’s futures — a theme that recurs across his public addresses.
Personal advancement. One line associated with him — that until you upgrade yourself you will be left behind — reflects a strand of teaching about self-development alongside spiritual growth.
Character over labels in leadership. On the question of Christian involvement in Nigerian politics, he has argued that what the country needs is leaders who are genuinely born again and follow the mind of God, rather than people who simply identify as Christians.
No retirement from calling. Asked about age-based succession in ministry, he has been direct: it is not in his constitution to retire pastors, because a divine call continues.
Where to follow the ministry
The church headquarters is at Idi Obi in the Airport Area of Ibadan. The ministry maintains an official Facebook presence under Apostle S.M.O. Mustapha JP (Baba Sebioba), carrying sermons and broadcasts including the Iri Owuro — Morning Dew — live series.
As with any well-known Nigerian ministry, there are numerous unofficial pages and re-upload channels. Look for consistent branding and a long posting history before following or sharing.
What the story actually shows
Strip out the headlines and a fairly clear shape emerges.
A man from a large family in Kogi State, working in the press, receives a call in 2002 and takes a year to act on it. He relocates, starts a church in 2004, preaches faith, rents a market property, buys it, builds. Twenty-two years later there are branches on two continents, a hospital-scale eye programme, and a school in the plans.
The prophecies are what the newspapers print. The building, the surgeries, and the twenty-two years of showing up are what actually built it.
Details in this article are drawn from published Nigerian press reports and the ministry’s own public statements. Prophetic claims are reported as stated by Apostle Mustapha, not as verified events.
