Nigeria Richest pastor: Bishop David Olaniyi Oyedepo Net Worth, age, career, spouse, children in 2023

Oyedepo Net Worth

With a net worth of $200 million, David Oyedepo is the richest pastor in Nigeria. He is the founder and head bishop of Winners Chapel, also known as Living Faith Church World Wide.

Oyedepo Biography

David Olaniyi Oyedepo, a Nigerian preacher, Christian author, businessman, and architect who was born on September 27, 1954, is also the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide and the head of the Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. Winners’ Chapel International is another name for the congregation.

More than 300 cities, including all of Nigeria’s states, as well as many cities in 45 other African countries, Dubai, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in Europe, Asia, and Canada, are home to the Winners’ Chapel International network of churches.

One of the forerunners of the Christian charismatic movement in Africa, Oyedepo is regarded as one of Nigeria’s most potent speakers. He serves as both Covenant University’s and Landmark University’s chancellor. He was recognized as the wealthiest preacher in Nigeria in 2011 by Forbes magazine.

Oyedepo Facts

Birth Name: David Olaniyi Oyedepo

Date of Birth: 27 September 1954

Place of Birth: Osogbo, Southern Region, British Nigeria (now in Osun State, Nigeria)

Occupation: Pastor, author, educationist, minister, architect

Spouse: Faith Abiola Oyedepo

Children: 4

Oyedepo Early Life

David Olaniyi Oyedepo was born in Osogbo, Nigeria, on September 27, 1954, however he is originally from Omu-Aran in the Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. He was brought up in a multireligious household.

Muslim healer Ibrahim was his father. His mother Dorcas was a follower of the Aladura movement in Nigeria, namely the Holy Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church (C&S).

In Osogbo, where he was raised, his grandmother taught him the principles of living a Christian life by accompanying him to early morning prayers. She also stressed the value of tithing to him.

Oyedepo Education

At the Ilorin campus of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Oyedepo studied architecture. He also holds a PhD in Human Development from Hawaii’s Honolulu University.

Oyedepo Career

Oyedepo temporarily served in Ilorin with the Federal Ministry of Housing before quitting to focus on his missionary activity

Oyedepo Ministry

Through the influence of his teacher, Betty Lasher, who showed interest in him throughout his high school years, Oyedepo was “born again” in 1969. He claims that in May 1981, he was given a mandate by God through an 18-hour vision to free the globe from all devilish oppression by preaching the word of faith.

This is the original vision that inspired the establishment of the Liberation Faith Hour Ministries, which later became the Living Faith Church World Wide (LFCWW), in 1981. Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, ordained David and his wife Florence Abiola Akano (also known as Faith Abiola Oyedepo) to be pastors on September 17, 1983. He also formally commissioned the new church two years later.

Oyedepo’s life mentor, the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, consecrated him as a bishop five years later. Living Faith Church (also known as Winners Chapel International) was founded in Kaduna but relocated to Lagos, the country’s former capital, in July 1989 to establish a new branch of the church after Oyedepo allegedly got orders from God to minister to Lagos residents.

Oyedepo has a net worth of approximately US$150 million, making him the richest preacher in the world, according to Forbes. The church owns four private jets and a number of structures, including ones in the US and London. In addition to magazines, Oyedepo is an author and publisher who has written over 70 books.

He serves as the chairman and publisher of the ministry’s publishing division, Dominion Publishing House (DPH). To date, more than 4 million DPH prints have been distributed. To prepare the youth for a worldwide impact, Covenant University, Faith Academy, and Kingdom Heritage Model Schools have been formed under Oyedepo. A third institution, to be called Crown University, is currently being built in Calabar, Cross River, Nigeria.

In order to accommodate the growing number of worshipers, Oyedepo asserted that he received a directive from God in 1998 to construct a new base for the commission.

This led to the initial 530-acre (2.1 km2) building, known as Canaanland, which serves as the headquarters, being purchased by Oyedepo’s church.

The “Faith Tabernacle,” an auditorium with a seating capacity of 50,000, is located there. The Guinness Book of Records also recognized this achievement.

In less than a year, the construction was finished. According to reports, this structure was constructed debt-free. On September 18, 1999, the 50,000-seat structure was officially opened by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Canaanland, a 5,000-acre (20 km2) estate and campus in Ota, Ogun state, has a 50,000-seat auditorium, the church secretariat, the church’s youth chapel, a primary school called Kingdom heritage model school, a full-boarding missionary secondary school called Faith Academy, with over 1,500 students, and the Covenant University facilities, which can accommodate over 7,000 students and have fully functional faculty.

On its campus in Canaanland, the church also runs a number of for-profit businesses, including a bakery, a facility for bottling water, a gas station, a number of restaurants and shops, as well as a number of homes for its more than 2,000 employees and guesthouses.

On this Estate, there are also four banks: one community and microfinance bank run by the Church, three external commercial bank branches, and one other bank. By 2012, the total area of Canaanland, which would also contain the 15,000-home Canaan City development, had grown to 17,000 acres.

Shiloh, the largest yearly meeting of the ministry, is held each December in the same Faith Tabernacle and frequently draws thousands of attendees from around the globe. The ministry is now constructing the “Ark,” a 100,000-seat auditorium that is said to have the biggest span in the entire world.

Christian Ministry

Oyedepo falls under the umbrella of the so-called Word of Faith Movement as a result of his teachings. He has cited prominent Faith Movement figures as mentors, including Enoch Adeboye and the late Benson Idahosa from Nigeria as well as Kenneth Copeland, Gloria Copeland, the late Kenneth Hagin, E. W. Kenyon, T. L. Osborn, and Smith Wigglesworth. Oyedepo has been characterized as a preacher of the prosperity gospel, like many of his mentors.

For members and non-members alike, Winners’ Chapel International runs the Word of Faith Bible Institute, a Bible training school that aims to create leaders and future pastors while also increasing awareness of Christian values. The institute is managed by the Church’s principal branches.

David Oyedepo Ministries International is led by Oyedepo as its president (DOMI). DOMI is the umbrella organization that includes Living Faith Church World Wide (a global network of churches), World Mission Agency (WMA), Dominion Publishing House, Covenant University, the church’s publishing arm, and the Social Development Missions projects, which include hospitals, maternity homes, schools, and other facilities.

Oyedepo has criticized ineffective government leadership and corruption across all of Africa. He also has criticism for Muhammadu Buhari, the leader of Nigeria at the moment.

Oyedepo Books Publishing

Dominion Publishing House (DPH), which Oyedepo’s church runs, was founded on December 5, 1992, and has since released more than 70 Christian, inspirational, and motivational books, mini-books, magazines, and other materials.

Oyedepo Family

He wed Florence Abiola Akano in 1982. (now known as Faith Oyedepo). Together, they have four children (David Jr, Isaac, Love and Joyce). In May 2007, Kenneth Copeland anointed Isaac and David Oyedepo as pastors.

While Isaac Oyedepo leads Winners’ Chapel International in Maryland in the United States of America with his wife Ayomitide, David Oyedepo Jr. formerly served as the resident pastor of the Ministry’s main church (Faith Tabernacle) with his wife Kemi.

Love, his first child, is wed to Stephen Ogah, another pastor at Winners’ Chapel. The second daughter and last child is Joyce Priscilla. In 2020, she wed Abimbola Abodunrin.

FAQ

What is praise by Bishop Oyedepo?

David Oyedepo, a bishop. A powerful weapon in the working of miracles is praise. Even though it receives the least attention, it has the same power as prayer. The two most significant miracles that Jesus performed during His career came about as a result of praise.