Octogenarian Prof. Augustus Olakunle Macaulay is many things rolled into one in both the secular and religious spheres of life. Born in Lagos on August 14, 1937 into the famous Macaulay family at Alagomeji, Ebute Metta, Macaulay, a professor of Systematic Theology and Biblical studies is also an engineer.
Infact, after initially working as a teacher and rising to the top as a headmaster, he left for further studies abroad and qualified as an engineer. He practised the engineering profession for so many years before he heeded the divine call to work in God’s vineyard, but in a different way.
Macaulay attended Methodist School, Yaba, now called Hoares Methodist Church School at Sabo, Yaba, and finished his primary education in 1954 at the age of 17.
”I left primary school late because, then you wouldn’t be admitted in school until you were eight or nine years old, and by the time you were leaving primary school, you were already qualified for employment,” he recalled.
After completing his primary education in 1954, Prof. Macaulay started teaching in 1955 at the Methodist School in Oshodi, Lagos, where he taught pupils subjects such as Arithmetic, English and Geography. He was later sent to Abeokuta for a 3-week training in Teaching Methodology, an experience he described as “wonderful.” There, he was taught how to handle children, prepare and present lessons as well as how to instill discipline in pupils.
After the training, he resumed fully in teaching and in 1957 he left for the Methodist Teacher Training College in Ifaki Ekiti, where he taught for two years. By 1959, he became a trained and certified teacher, rising to the position of the headmaster of Methodist School, Okitipupa, Ondo State, at the age of 21. By 1961, he was transferred back to Methodist School, Oshodi, Lagos, and that was when he decided to change his career from teaching to engineering.
To realise his ambition, in 1963 Macaulay proceeded to Paddington Technical College in London, where he bagged a degree in Automobile Engineering.
Recalling his university days, he said, ”In London, I experienced serious discrimination and culture shock. It was there I realised that I was a black man. I and other colleagues were treated badly by the English people because it was during the time of slavery. The black people were not given the opportunity to function well. We were badly treated; many white people didn’t want to relate with black people.
“I remember walking on the streets of London, white people would deride us as black men and young boys would boo us to go home. The black people were also given the worst jobs. The fact was that we realised we were there for a purpose, which was to acquire education. So, we had to tolerate all the difficulties, harassments we faced and had it at the back of our minds that after our studies, we would go back home.”
He recalled than even at school, he and his colleagues were discriminated against such that if a student did not bear names such as Johnson, Harold, Williams, it would be difficult for him to succeed. He noted that he only had a little advantage over some of his peers because of his foreign surname.
”I had to remove my local name “Olakunle” and replace it with Augustus because I was born in the month of August, although this did not shield me from racism, because I still had a black skin, despite my name.
“I remember a time when I wanted to get a house in London, I wanted to change my residence and through advertisement of vacant apartments, I got and called a number and a lady picked it up. I introduced myself over the phone as Augustus Macaulay; that I needed an apartment.
She gave me a schedule appointment to come and inspect the apartment. “When I got there, immediately she opened the door and saw me, she screamed because I was dark skinned. Her husband rushed out to her aid and right there, he told me that the apartment was no longer available. I was not even allowed to enter the house to inspect it and that was how I lost the apartment,” he said.
Eager to relive his experience after his studies abroad and return to Nigeria in 1968 at the age of 31, pa Macaulay said there were so many jobs waiting for him at that time to choose from.
He said multi-nationals such as CFAO, Volkswagen, SCOA, were competing to offer him and others employment, adding that some of the companies even felt he was over-qualified and might not be able to pay him the commensurate salary.
“In 1968, I started working with the West African Portland Cement (WAPCO) at Ewekoro, Ogun State, as a training officer and I was the first black man to get that position at WAPCO then. I was given a bungalow and a car. But nowadays, we find out that most companies hardly give incentives when they give you jobs,” he said.
After working for two years at WAPCO, he left in 1970 for Shell Sesmography Limited, an oil exploration company, which was a subsidiary of Shell Petroleum, then as an engineer in charge of oil exploration. He noted that the job was risky as the workers were exposed to a lot of hazards in the then Bendel State along the Eastern coast, and he had to be there for three years.
“Since there were many jobs available, I joined the Ibru Organisation headed by Micheal Ibru, who wanted to bring in Mazda Automobiles to Nigeria. So, I joined Rutam Motors in Apapa, where I was the head chemical engineer. Later on, I was sent to Japan to study Rotary Engineering at Toyokogio in Hiroshima and I was the first Nigerian to study that course. It was there I operated a rotary engine used for aeroplanes, instead of the conventional engines,” he said.
Pa Macaulay, therefore, became the first Rotary Engineer in Nigeria in 1973 and a year later, he was invited by Shell to the first motor rally in Nigeria, which started in Apapa, Lagos; then moved to Abeokuta, Ibadan and Ogbomosho with his rally partner, Engineer Folorunsho Idowu, who was also then the editor of an automobile magazine, Motorist. They both won the rally in 1974.
In 1975, they were both invited by the then head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, to rotate the first car assembled in Nigeria by Peugeot Automobile in Kaduna. They did that on roads in states across the country and did an appraisal of the car before Peugeot cars started selling in the country.
Concerning his career in Theology, pa Macaulay said, “In 1976, I was called by God to the gospel of Jesus Christ in evangelism and theology, but I didn’t leave my engineering career immediately. I was still consulting for insurance companies but at the same time evangelizing the word of God. I proceeded to the University of London to study Theology in 1978.
I also studied at Faith Bible College for two years.
“In 2003, I presented my theology papers to Levites Christian University from where I bagged my professorship in Systematic Theology and Biblical Studies. I started planting churches across Nigeria and within five years, I planted six churches. Now, I don’t belong to any church because after going through it all, I eventually found out that churches in Nigeria are not reliable because they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. Churches are meant to propagate the work of God, but they do otherwise in Nigeria.”
In 1993, Prof. Macaulay founded the United Bible University situated in Ojodu, a border town between Lagos and Ogun states.
He said being the director of studies at the university has been an “excellent experience,” stressing, “I realise that people think they can do anything all in the name of God, but which is not true. Christianity is all about relationship with Jesus Christ; it is not just about attending any church or participating in any congregational services, clapping hands or contributing to church building funds.”
Macaulay noted that rather, the religion is about building an inner self, realisation of belonging to Jesus Christ and also by changing the world. He expressed regret that today people use different methods, including manipulation, subtlety and psychotherapy to bring people into the Christian fold.
I left primary school late because, then you wouldn’t be admitted in school until you were eight or nine years old, and by the time you were leaving primary school, you were already qualified for employment
This, he said, had made the church to be filled with sinners rather than Christians; people, who were embraced because of what they could give.
“Back in the days, Christianity was real, but today it is not the same. We were taught to respect elders. If you find an elder carrying some things, even if you don’t know that elder from Adam, you will assist him to carry it. When an elder sees a young person misbehaving, right there, he or she will caution or rebuke you. So, there were moral values, which were held up high; not what we have today with the present generation, where moral decadence has been encouraged.
“Today, we have secularization of Christianity, where everything goes; also politicisation of churches, where we have magicians. Churches are now being commercialised. Most Christian leaders now fly private jets up and down, building luxury houses; forgetting that Jesus Christ was never a rich man. The apostles were never rich people and the economic situation has even made the situation worse,” he said.
