For God or Mammon?

The sordid tale of Dolapo’s romance with Oyo cleric

Unlike two peas in a pod, Dolapo Awosika and a certain Prophet Muyideen Kasali belong to two different and very distant worlds – in fact, liken them to water and oil which nature and science preclude from mixing, and you would not be mistaken. A thoroughbred, London-trained lawyer who has dined and wined with some of the finest male species known to humanity, Dolapo’s grin or grimace would effortlessly tug at any man’s heartstrings and purse-strings. She is as beautiful as they come.

By virtue of education, socialisation and marriage, she knows her way through the labyrinth of power and prosperity. And she was once married, and has two kids by Nigerian-born ex-England footballer, the gangling and wealthy John Fashanu. The well-spoken co-presenter of television talk show, Amazons, with Aisha Falode and legendary actress, Bimbo Akintola, also resides – until recently though – in Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos. Her path was never supposed to cross with that of her new paramour, a powerful prophet whose church is located in Moniya, a rustic and remote area of Akinyemi LGA, Ibadan.

Prophet Kasali became blind at three as a result of a measles outbreak in his village and was once abandoned in the bush by his kin who never thought he’d make good. Well, he has not only reportedly made good as a prophet; Kasali has got himself a quintessential trophy wife. He came into limelight about 10 years ago when he reportedly disarmed a robbery gang on the Ife – Ibadan Expressway, and when he got 25 cars as his 40th birthday present some years ago. Thus, Prophet Kasali may be deemed rich by his congregants and cheerleaders; he still doesn’t operate in the same sphere with Dolapo, the Lagos and London high society belle. But that is as far as logical reasoning goes.

In a classic case of the beauty and the beast, the love story of Dolapo and Kasali is rippling through high society and the media with strong allegations of voodoo being the common denominator. As the story goes, Dolapo was alleged to have sought spiritual help from the prophet who commands quite a following especially among miracle seekers, and before she knew it, was reportedly entranced, so badly that she abandoned the luxury and modernity of her highbrow Banana Island home to orbit in the rusticity of Moniya, a blip on the map of even Ibadan.

What made her friends and relatives cry out was the rumour that she has sold her Banana Island house – which Highlife cannot independently verify – to concentrate on her new marital adventure. They simply went bananas when Dolapo’s picture without any make-up surfaced online, reinforcing the fears of her friends and relatives that she must be under a spell.

Meanwhile, she has refuted the story outright, alleging that her detractors have inadvertently made her more popular. In a radio programme monitored by several blogs, Dolapo claimed that she doesn’t have any spiritual problem and that her visiting the prophet was at the behest of a friend. “A friend had issues and she asked me to go there for her. She doesn’t live in Nigeria. I was coming back from London to Nigeria and that was what I went for… I don’t go to Ori-Oke (prayer mountain),” she said.

However, during one of his prophetic programmes on Facebook recently, the prophet allegedly confirmed that, indeed, he and Dolapo are now living as a couple and that no amount of blackmail can silence him or his ministry. He lampooned those circulating Dolapo’s picture during a prayer session, with the intent to corroborate claims that she is wallowing in poverty.
This has raised further questions than allaying the fears of those who know, and are worried about her. Importantly, will Dolapo ever return to Lagos, to her family and friends?