‘Why I sleep in a coffin’

Kogberegbe

It’s definitely true the saying ‘different strokes for different folks.’

While most Nigerians are extremely afraid of death, there’s one Nigerian, a man, who doesn’t care one way or the other about the irreversible condition.

In fact, this man is so nonchalant and carefree about death that he even sleeps in a coffin to mock death and the callous and unexpected way it takes people away from this world to the great beyond.

This man is Prophet Samuel Olawale Kogberegbe and he’s the founder and Primate of the Holy Michael Church of the Lord (Aladura), Cherubim and Seraphim which is headquartered in Itire, Surulere and has 58 branches worldwide.

Kogberegbe is so committed to sleeping in his coffin that he takes it around with him wherever he goes. Sleeping in a coffin is definitely a strange habit and someone doing so might be thought to be eccentric. When Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog met him however to question him on his queer penchant, he seemed to be in full possession of all his faculties, despite his advanced age.

Candidly, he disclosed why he picked up the peculiar habit. “I started sleeping in a coffin when I realised that no matter how wealthy you are, or how poor, or powerful or whatever, the end of our sojourn on earth is our eventual burial in a coffin.”

Pointing at his coffin which is painted white and has a slogan - This is the end of your life and your post - written in red on it, he said, “That’s my own coffin and I’ve been sleeping in it for over forty years now. I put it in my car when I’m going out so that there won’t be a situation where I don’t have access to it.”

Adding that it’s God that also directed him to be sleeping in a coffin, he was emphatic in declaring that his wife had no say whatsoever in his decision, whether she was for it or against it.

“I didn’t ask my wife’s advice or opinion regarding me sleeping in the coffin. When it comes to very salient issues, I don’t ask women’s opinion,” was his answer to this reporter’s query on his wife’s stance on her husband sleeping in a coffin. 

Considering that he claims to sleep in the coffin all the time, this reporter asked him if he had ever travelled out of the country.

“I have been to the Queen’s country just once,” was his immediate reply. “I was there for a few days and I’ve never gone back since then. It was so cold that I had to wear three pieces of clothing while my companion wore seven pieces.”

The coffin

When this reporter asked him where he slept in England, his answer was again instant. “I wasn’t allowed to take my coffin with me, if that’s what you are getting at. The airline said they couldn’t carry the coffin as they didn’t understand my reason for wanting to take it with me. But the house that was allocated to me for my stay was so huge that kidnappers would kidnap me if it was in Nigeria.”

Kogberegbe doesn’t just sleep in the coffin, he’s proud of doing so and doesn’t hide it from anybody as he doesn’t give a hoot what they will say about his habit. All he cares about is living a virtuous life and preaching the Word of God as it should be.

His church has just turned 50 years and in celebration of the momentous anniversary, he opened up about his past which is just as incredible and astonishing as his sleeping in a coffin.

“While I was in elementary school in the early 50s, I found education too simple, but on the other hand, the teachers found me too difficult to teach. I scored 100% in all my subjects and if you’re wondering how I was able to achieve that, I’ll tell you.

“I had divine assistance. Any question that was written on the board, whether I was taught or not, I would answer it correctly because the answer would also be on the blackboard and it would be visible to only me.”

Recounting more of his fable-like early life, he continued that “there were times the Holy Spirit would descend on me in the classroom and my classmates and my teacher would run out in fear. The seizure I would have would take the form of epileptic seizure and it would be so serious that my classmates and teacher had every right to be scared.”

Soon, the young Samuel was tagged as a mystery and it really set him thinking about himself. “Whenever I had a visitation by the Holy Spirit, I would receive messages, visions of what would happen. The visitations increased with time and when I saw that no one knew what to do to help me, I stopped going to school.”

His recourse was to start evangelizing under the tutorship of a certain Marian Omotayo Adeleye of blessed memory until he established his own church.

“I thank God that my church is now 50 years old. Only God has brought us this far. Accordingly, we are celebrating the golden jubilee with an awards night, Bible quiz, a revival, gifts for the less-privileged and on and on like that.

“But even in the spirit of the celebration, Nigeria’s situation is what I’m overly concerned about. The big men in the society are using people for rituals and this is affecting the land. I’m begging them to please stop doing so, so that Nigeria can reclaim its lost glory. The anger of God is coming and the big men have to be on the lookout and mend their ways.”