BayKem Foundation: Pastor Akinde's Birthday Celebrations Bring Water, Food, and Hope for Inmates in Nigeria Correctional Facility.

BayKem Foundation: Pastor Akinde's Birthday Celebrations Bring Water, Food and Hope for Inmates in Nigeria Correctional Facility.

By Charles Segun Adegbite

In a world where birthdays are often celebrated with grandeur and extravagance, Pastor Enoch Adebayo Akinde, the Pastor-in-Charge of Divine Breakthrough Zone, The Redeemed Christian Church of God, chose to mark his 56th birthday in a different way. Instead of throwing a party, he decided to spend the money on affecting lives, especially those of the underprivileged.

It all began when a minister of God, who has a call into prison ministry, shared with Pastor Akinde the agony of inmates in the Sagamu Division of the Nigerian Correctional Service, NiCOS, Ogun State.

Agonies Of The Inmates
Lack of access to adequate water to drink, bath, clean-up after defecating and do other necessary things, was a serious problem that has caused some of the inmates to be weeping like babies, whenever they were thirsty beyond bearable level.

He found out that 540 inmates were struggling to access basic necessities like water daily, because the Correctional Service Center has a single water tap for them to fetch water from, because other water taps in the prison yard have spoiled.

The available water tap could not satisfy the needs of 100 inmates let alone 540, besides the daily water demands of the officials of the Correctional Service Center.This sad news moved Pastor Akinde to action.

He told Successful People Magazine that, " I think if a person is living this kind of hardship life in a correctional service center, how can the person come out and not become a heartless and hardened person?

  "We were told that the place can only accommodate 150 inmates. Now they have 540 inmates. They can't sleep well. Many of them sit down all through the nights to sleep, because the place is not spacious enough for each of them to lie-down to sleep.

"Even though they are in the prison, for them to remain healthy, so that when they come out of the correctional center they won't become menace to the society, I think they needed to be treated better than for them to be reformed rather than deformed." He said.

The Compassionate Moves
On his birthday, April 22, 2025, Pastor Akinde visited the correctional center with a team of friends, including a medical doctor, two lawyers, and a deputy director from the Ogun State Ministry of Education. Together, they assessed the situation and found out what needed to be done.

They took cooked food that he would have given to his birthday guests, if he has organized a party, to the 540 inmates and warders.

The inmates were so happy, hearing about his mission in the Correctional Centre, to make life bearable for them.H He also took his many fairly used clothes to the place and donated them to the inmates.

Speaking on the reason he took his friend who is a director in the Ogun State Ministry of Education to the correctional center was because he believes those inmates should have access to adult education.

He said, "Some of them should be able to write WASC examinations and NECO or GCE while serving their jail terms. And how do we come in, to help them in this regard? That's the reason we brought a senior government official to come and see things physically and suggest to us the best way to go about it."

"We were able to discuss with the Comptroller of the Nigeria Correctional Service, NiCOS, Sagamu. So, we are working out something, to see how we can partner in areas of education. Education is not only about formal education. We have the informal education, which involves giving them vocational training on some things they can be learning to make a living when they finish their jail terms. He added.

This Pastor with royal ancestry, spent over N500,000 on that day, through which he provided cooked food, clothes, and other essentials to the inmates.

His kind gesture didn't stop there. He also paid N150,000 for three inmates who were struggling to pay their fines to secure their release. His visit to the correctional center opened his eyes to the plight of the inmates, and he decided to do more.

Water is now flowing through 10 tap pipelines after they erected additional 9 pipes. "We want to buy new pumping machine for them, and new generator, four additional water thanks. We also want to erect 10 additional pipe lines to make 20 so that more inmates can have access to water in a day.

"We gathered that government embarked on building Solar powered borehole but the project has been abandoned." Akinde disclosed.

Living Impactful Life
You might be thinking that this man must be swimming in multi-millions and living in a great duplex or big mansion? You might even be assuming he is possibly working in an oil company, a financial sector or telecom field. You are wrong!

He is simply a pastor who works day and night to make a living; both as an employee in a private company, who also invest his extra time, energy and  money on farming and entreprenurial activities. While pastoring a church as a part-time clergy man in the RCCG, who is not on salary, yet helping the mission in building churches wherever he is posted to, as God gives him the grace.

Rather than spending his earnings on acquiring luxury cars to social status in the society, building or buying properties here and there as God blesses him, or acquire expensive clothes and luxurious items to "enjoy" his life and be going to social parties to spray money on musicians, to get praised by people, he committed himself to helping the needy and underprivileged.

He organized a free medical outreach in Ado-Odo, in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, about two years ago, during which a lot of people suffering from one medical challenges or the other were given free treatment, with free drugs and eye glasses for those who needed them.

Now, he is launching out with BayKem Foundation; an NGO aimed at caring for the destitute, widows, patients in hospitals, and students who wear ragged uniforms to school. The foundation's mission is "Total Care For All,"

Pastor Akinde is now calling on well-meaning Nigerians to join him in this mission.

Through the BayKem Foundation, he plans to provide vocational training, adult education, and access to basic necessities like water and clothing to those in need. He believes that those serving jail terms deserve a chance to reform and rebuild their lives, while the destitute and underprivileged in our society need to be helped. And he's committed to making a difference.

As Pastor Akinde looks back on his birthday celebration, he's filled with a sense of purpose and joy. He's proved that true celebration lies not in extravagance but in making a positive impact on the lives of others. His story is a testament to the power of compassion and the impact one person can have on the world.