In his footballing days, Taribo was
truly fearsome, an attacker’s nightmare. He had the crunchy tackles and
would kick you on and off the ball, and force you into intimidation with
his looks, gestures and power.
Today, he is a far cry from that
personality. What you have now is the born again Taribo West; the pastor
and founder of Shelter in The Storm Miracle Ministries of All Nations.
“I spend most of my time at home
meditating. All I want to do is to keep spreading the gospel. In my own
little way, I have been into evangelisation visiting places like Ughelli
and within the Orile community, Ajegunle and so on. God has been kind
during these visits to preach the gospel to people who are yet to
receive Christ. We believe He will take us globally very soon,” Taribo
said.
What is the difference between life in Christ and one filled with charms?
“You can’t compare,” he said. “When I
was living that ignorant life, I was in darkness. In the darkness, the
devil can give you what God can also give you, but he will give you
without joy and peace. Eventually, you will end up in sorrow. But when
you experience the joy of Christ, it adds no sorrow.
“The joy of the Lord is not only my
strength; it gives me everything I need in life. The love of Christ
comes with freedom, success, favour, expansion and a better life. When
you have all these, you have everlasting peace. That is why I am
comfortable today and I’m happy how God has seen me thus far.”
But being a pastor doesn’t mean he is
free from temptations. In fact he realises that there are even tougher
battles to fight as a cleric.
“Temptation is permanent; it’s there
every hour, every day but if you begin to study the Bible, there are
principles that God has laid down for us. If you follow this, the devil
will not keep you.
“From my house to the bus stop, I may
see a young girl not properly brought up, dressed half- naked walking on
the streets. You will see temptation right there. But you have to pray
for God’s grace to overcome the temptation.”
After a career that has seen him play
football in Nigeria, France, Italy, England, Germany, Yugoslavia, UAE
and Iran, Taribo has seen it all and aptly names his church a shelter.
He added, “We told ourselves to fast and
ask God for a name for the ministry. In the process, a sister came up
and said a voice told her that we should call the ministry Shelter in
The Storm Miracle Ministries. That’s how we got the name.
“During my journeys, God created a
shelter for me and transferred me into that fold. There are lots of
natural disasters everywhere in the world in these last days. There are
crisis in Asia; there is terrorism and sectarian groups springing up.
People are migrating from all over the world to Europe because of fear.
In the midst of all these, God has created for everyone a shelter, where
everything in your life will be restored again.”
Even though he is no longer actively
involved in the game, which gave him the good life and saw him resident
in some of the world’s biggest cities, the Super Eagles — with whom he
played two World Cups and two Africa Cup of Nations — is still very dear
to Pastor Taribo West.
“We need to pray for the team and I have
taken it as an assignment to pray for the team. The national team is
part of my body, it’s my family.”
