ON THE SICK BED:
It was then he said they had to check me very well. That this time I have to do what he
says. So I said, let them cancel one
week show. And in spite of the series of
medications, I could not sleep for a whole week. The Indian doctors there said if they give me
injection, I would sleep. It never
worked. When they are doing the ward
round in the middle of the night I would wave at them as I was wide awake. During this time, Bhola left her house to
stay with me in the hospital.
praying primate…
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one of those days, Primate Olabayo of Evangelical Church of Yahweh
came to the hospital in company of my brother, Olu Akinrele. I told them I have not been able to sleep for
days. Olabayo said I should get
a bottle of water. He blessed it saying,
“By this time tomorrow tell me what happened”. When he came back the next day, I did not
sleep. The man said, “What?
Get another bottle”. He
prayed hard, saying, “I am not saying
this water will perform the magic. This
man needs to sleep”. For you to know
the damage that the tea had done to me, I did not even sleep. When he came the third day, I told Bhola
and another nurse to stay at the door and tell him that they had moved me to
the theatre. I did not want him to feel he has failed.
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Raymond Dokpesi |
he left, I looked up and said to one of the nurses, “give me paper and pen. I want to write”. The first person I wrote to was Oba
Sijuade. I wrote: “Kabiyesi, I appreciate all you have
done. I have nothing to say but to thank
you for all you have done. Goodbye”. And I signed.
I told Bhola to go to Dr. Dokpesi. I wrote another one to General Adebayo. As I was writing, my hand was shaking. When I finished, I became dizzy. It was then Bhola came in according
to them. As the dizziness became too
much to bear, I dived on the bed and pressed the bell. That was all I could remember. Faintly, I heard the words of the matron: “please, don’t do this to me. Please, don’t do this to me. You are going nowhere. We all love you”.
side & the warnings of my American wife…
the time I came around, it was like the whole world had gathered. Oba Sijuade sent people to me to
pray for me. Dokpesi came, Adebayo
came, many people. The press made it so
big to the extent that they said there was a Ghanaian girl staying with
me. That may be that was where I got the
illness from. Before the illness got this bad, my wife who lives in America had come to Nigeria. Her name is Dr. Olubayo. She came straight to Ado-Ekiti and in Chief
Jimoh
Aliu’s house, said she saw that I was sick back in America. She told me that I
need to rest. “You need to be drinking two bottles of water every day. Make sure you do that because I saw you
walking with a stick”. I did not
take her serious. There were so many
spiritual things that took place. You
know when something like that happen so many people are concerned – Christians,
Muslims, traditional people, the Obas…
Up till now, different things still happen to make me realize that God is in
existence. That time, I was a little bit
confused. Was anything wrong with
me? I wondered. Was I a sicklier? The doctor said I was weighing myself
down. Chief Dokpesi then
insisted that I should move to London
to continue treatment.
“That the person is
going through pains and if she could bring the person to him, she should do
so. I did not want to go but when she
persisted we went. The man prayed and
then said God told him to give me a jug of water. I then remembered what my wife from America
told me in Ado-Ekiti to drink two bottles of water every day and I had ignored
her”
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KSA…Survived a terrible illness and still leading |
On
getting to London, I went to Harley
Street to see his family doctor.
They checked me and asked me to stay back. I was in the hospital and was surprised that,
that very night when they gave me mashed potatoes;
I ate everything and asked for more. They
then wheeled me on a trolley for more examination. I was saying to myself, “Sunny, you are the one they are wheeling now. They didn’t tell you what is wrong. What is happening?” I was lying down but was a little bit
conscious. They put a pipe through my
nose. Sometimes, the doctor would say, “make him to cough a little”, automatically, I would cough. They asked me to look at this or that. I did not want to see the people around so my
eyes were closed. But mentally, I was observing
things. In the name of God, at the end
of the day, they said there was nothing wrong with me. They took me back to my ward and said in
another two hours they would discharge me.
“You can then go to your doctor
and the report would be there”.
I got back to the doctor in the evening, the man said, “When you go out now, you look at your right, look at your left. Either you start from the end of that street
or you begin from the end of the other street.
We have about seven restaurants.
Go to any of them and eat. You
know what? You are thinking too
much. I would buy you a small ball. Did you come with your guitar?” I said, no. “I would tell them to buy you one; why are you dropping yourself?”
he asked. “Go and enjoy yourself!”
inside Raymond Dokpesi’s house…
I got back to Dokpesi’s house, I slept for about one hour. It was like seven years. By that time, if you
look at me, you would see my veins. I
looked at the mirror, I couldn’t find myself.
Then I phoned my doctor in Nigeria and said, “I slept today”. Then I
asked, “All these drugs you gave me should I take them?”
he said, “You can take them, by tomorrow we would see”. By midnight I wasn’t myself again. I then went to knock on the door of Dokpesi’s
brother – asking him to check for any available airline to take me back to Nigeria
because I believe I was going to die and I didn’t want to die in their
house. He said I should sit down. My
body was shaking badly. I said; okay check me into any hotel. He said, no.
“If I do that, what would my brother say? What would I say was wrong?” I said he should bring me a tape recorder so
that I can record the whole thing. He
refused, saying that by the grace of God nothing would happen.
rescue…
in the morning of the second day my wife who lived in London came to see me. She
wanted me to go with her to our house. I said no, she then went to the market
and came back to tell me she saw a pastor with a long beard who told her that
she was nursing something on her mind, either her husband or relation. That the person is going through pains and if
she could bring the person to him, she should do so. I did not want to go but when she persisted
we went. The man prayed and then said
God told him to give me a jug of water.
I then remembered what my wife from America
told me in Ado-Ekiti to drink two
bottles of water every day and I had ignored her. You can see the combination of the medical,
spiritual and so on. He later said he
has his own church in Ilesha and only came to do some work
and anytime I want to go back to Lagos. I should let him know. I said, “It is not
just to let you know, I am going back to Lagos
and I will let you know”. I now started drinking water more than anything else.
Since that time up till now there was no report on what kind of disease I had.
And I have nothing hidden under the sun. Oyinbo cannot tell lies. There was nothing. It was ignorance. Today I cannot do without drinking water.
Even though I want to drink tea, it has to be very light because I can’t do
without it. I will like to seize this
opportunity to thank both the Nigerian and white doctors and my fans worldwide
for their prayers, concern and assistance during this trying period.
travelled with Pastor Gabriel to Ilesha to stay at his house church
mission for a week and I returned to Lagos
thereafter. I have to thank my former
wife Seye
for what she did during that time for me in London
and in Nigeria. May the Lord bless her and her kids; I thank everybody who kept
my hope alive during and after the sickness.
healers; the press and all my fans across the world.
from the book; KSA: My Life, My Music by
King Sunny Ade. Read ‘How I return to limelight after my near
death experience’ tomorrow on this blog)