MY LIFE STORY - TESTIMONY JAGA

 

“If truly I am a Gospel Minister, where am I supposed to go back to share the Good News? The streets. I am saying, “Hello, people, come and see what God has done for me. You too can join me”. That is my mindset and I promised God that if I can make it, I will go back to where I came from to tell everyone there. My songs are for the people in the streets.”

Testimony Jaga whose original name is Saliu Aliyu Olayiwola is a Gospel Artist with a stimulating style and compelling blend of Apala and Fuji which he brands "Fujipop". He hails from Remo North, Ogun State, Nigeria. He is from a Muslim background and was born into a polygamous home. He is the 22nd child of 27 children and the second born of six boys from his mother. 

Testimony Jaga was drawn to music during his years as a secondary student. He was attracted to  the music of the choir of a church who rented the school hall for rehearsals. The music got his attention so much that he joined the choir and attended the church. At the time, he wasn't really conscious of his Christian walk but only attended church because of music. His style and love for music was also greatly influenced by his grandfather who was an Apala  musician. In his words, "when I was young and on vacation at my grandparents, I had the privilege of hearing my granddad sing. That was all. He never had any album, you know those days, they just had a band and went from place to place singing. On subsequent vacations, my grandma would say I sing like my grandpa whenever I sang. I asked her what kind of music my grandpa sang and she said Apala and I was lost since I didn’t know the kind of music Apala was. At a point however I said to myself that I’ve got to take over from grandpa and make it work. I decided to find out about Apala music and listened to Haruna Ishola, Ayinla Omowura and afterwards made up my mind to explore the genre and take it from where grandpa stopped. That is how I began infusing it into my own music and blend it to what people would like. So yes, my grandfather inspired my kind of music.".  

Testimony Jaga started as a secular artist adopting the Apala style and was signed by a record label, releasing several tracks and musical videos. His career as a secular artist blossomed until he encountered a major crisis that changed his life forever. In 2011, he was arrested for a crime he did not commit. A stolen car owned by a big shot in the society was found in the compound where he lived. When the police officers arrived, they did not meet those who were involved in the theft at home. With no support and evidence to back up his claim that he was not involved, he was arrested instead and was charged with car snatching. He spent four months in prison. While in prison, he prayed to God that if He saved him from being arraigned as a criminal,  he will serve Him. God showed up for him. Miraculously, a day before he was exonerated, the real criminals were arrested and he was released. After he got out of prison, he got an instruction from God to go to church. He decided to leave secular music and started attending church. Things were tough for him. His record label dropped him, his manager left him and travelled to South Africa because he didn’t know how to accommodate Testimony's new found status with Christ. All his properties were taken from him as well. He became so frustrated that he decided to join a boxing team in 2013. He trained and became good at boxing. 

On a fateful day, he went to Christ Embassy. Pastor Chris' sermon was as though God was speaking to  him. He gave his life to Christ again and got committed to activities in the church. Pastor Chris saw potential in him and encouraged him to do Gospel Music. At the time, he had an opportunity to travel to Cuba to further his boxing career. He turned it down. He didn't know anything about Gospel Music but through listening to Pastor Chris messages, he began to understand. He said, "I didn’t know jack about Gospel music. With the help of the Holy Spirit and the help of our man of God, Pastor Chris, who has been feeding us with the word of God, I learnt. I also listened to some of our ministers like Frank Edwards and I realized that all they were actually doing was singing the messages of Pastor Chris. So with that knowledge, I started composing Gospel Music. His style of music was not accepted at first. In his words, "Only Pastor Chris saw potential in me. Other people were looking at me because of the secular mentality I brought into Gospel music. In a setting like Christ Embassy, it is English and English alone. I would always tell myself that if I do not have the voice of Frank Edward, Eben and Sinach, that I will use the one I have to praise God. I was just being myself. It was really tough standing out like that. In fact, people only invited me to perform when they wanted to laugh. People were laughing at my music, but I kept on doing it with all my heart."

In 2015, his opportunity came. He was called by Sinach to open the International Music Conference (IMC). As he opened the concert, Pastor somehow missed his performance but he managed to hear the last part of his song as he was coming in. In his words, "Pastor Chris requested that I repeat my performance. It was open heaven; no one has ever been privileged to perform twice on Pastor Chris’ altar in one event. That day, I must say, I broke all protocol and wore agbada instead of suit, which was the norm. Of course, I performed again, and the standing ovation was beyond me… over 30 thousand persons were on their feet cheering. Pastor Chris was thrilled and he didn’t hide it as he danced his heart out. Afterwards, he took the mic and explained to the congregation the message of the song I sang. And then he said, ‘I will give you N5 million’. I almost fainted. My life changed. From a squatter, I rented a three bedroom apartment. Not only that, I got equipment and instrument for the journey. My encounter with Pastor Chris did not end there, in fact, it was the beginning. I had concluded performing one day when he asked me, ‘how much did I give you the last time?’ I told him five million. His next question threw me completely off balance. ‘What if I place you on a N5 million salary every month?’ In fact, I fainted. “To cut a long story short, I became a landlord within the next three months, and it has been from favour to favour ever since. That same year, Pastor Chris moved me and my band to South Africa, all expenses paid to shoot his music video; "Igara".

In 2016, Evangelist Kathy Woghiren, Director of LoveWorld Music and Arts Ministry, Pastor Chris' younger sister called and told him the Holy Ghost told her to train him. He was under her tutelage and then another miracle happened. Her son, Dezman who was a major youth influencer in Africa told him to accompany him to a program. Testimony Jaga ministered a song titled "Take it" at the program and Dez was thrilled so much that he handed his car keys over to Jaga. He revealed thus, "That was my first car – a brand new Toyota Muscle. When we got back to Lagos, I was with my family rejoicing and later on while I was praying, the Holy Spirit told me that was not my car and told me to give it out. So I gave it out as a seed. When the news got to Dezman that I had given out the car he gave me, he called me to confirm. The next thing he did was ask me to go to his garage and pick any car of my choice and when I got there, there were big, pretty and slick cars but I chose a small one I could maintain, a Toyota Sport 2005 version. He then asked why I preferred that among all the cars I saw and I replied him that it was the one I believe I was capable of maintaining. He was impressed and promised to be giving me a car every year. And that’s how it has been. I also ministered in the Staff Awards ceremony. After the ministration, Pastor Chris stood up and defined my song and asked me to sing the song again. After the programme he called me and gave me N5million. That night I won Best Artiste of the Year Award and one of the top 20 songs of the year 2017."

Since then, it has been from glory to glory for Testimony Jaga.

All these gave Testimony a new sense of hope and belief in God and himself and discovered a unique way to spread the Gospel. He initiated the "Street Gospel Movement", an initiative which involves taking the Gospel to struggling youths on the streets. He said, "Pastor Chris gave me an opportunity to minister on his platform as a street boy. And if truly I am a Gospel minister, where am I supposed to go back to share the good news? The streets. I am saying, “Hello, people, come and see what God has done for me. You too can join me”. That is my mindset and I promised God that if I can make it, I will go back from where I come from to tell everyone there. My songs are for the people in the streets. We buy snacks and drinks for young ones to come and savor while they listen to the Gospel being ministered through songs.  I don’t have to condemn them in what they do because I do not come with a message of condemnation but that of Good News. So they easily accept Christ. We don’t need to be paid by that. It is part of the commission. So we must not wait until we are called in one church or the other to come and minister but must create platforms for ourselves and deliver the Gospel to the people." The Street Gospel Movement has contributed to taking people off the streets and turning to God. According to Jaga, at least 60 to 70 souls are won from each outreach.

Everything Testimony Jaga has achieved, he has attributed to God and his vessel, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. Some of his songs include, "I have moved", "Biggie Biggie", "Jesus", "Igara", "Jehovah Doer", "Mash it", "Take it", "Goal", "The King", "Gbese",  etc. In his words, "Today, I have an empire. I have a lot of things I am doing. I produce my on sound equipment, TMJ (Testimony Mr Jaga audio), I have TMJ wears, I have TMJ gas and I have two studios from one man, who blessed my life because through him I am able to express myself. A lot of things are happening in my life because a man decided to invest in a boy like me from the streets. My life turned around and became a testimony, hence the stage name, Testimony. JAGA stands for Jesus Associate God Ambassador".