Owo- Young Wizard the magician

‘I am now a Born Again Christian’

Pa Kehinde Ilesile practised magic for over 40 years .He is now a Born Again Christian .He says he does not want any of his children to practise magic for it is evil. Taiwo Abiodun met him .

For those whose ages are between 40 and above , the magician called Young Wizard will easily come to mind especially in the old Western State, Northern Nigeria and in some African neighbouring countries where he practised the magical art. He had preformed magic in various schools both in primary and secondary schools, and in tertiary institutions between 1950s and 1990s . But today Young Wizard had stopped the practise and says it is unchristian.

Young Wizard met God in the church during a Sunday service. After listening to a sermon about the ills of magic practise he then had a change of mind and later discarded all the abracadabra he had practised for over 40years.

He gave his reason :’’ A pastor preached in the church that magical art is not good and that it is unchristian .The sermon touched me . When I heard this I repented .I am now a Born Again Christian .I have learnt my lesson that magical art does not pay’’, he said in a croaked voice and then sank into the dirty and torn sofa chair in the living room. The old man now lives at Omi Adiye , in Owo , Ondo state.

Young Wizard has become a shadow of himself. He is no longer bubbling .His chubby face has disappeared while his body is now wrinkled .He looked sick and weak courtesy of old age.

Probed further on what he has gained from the magic business so far in terms of wealth , in response the old man declared’’ I have no money . I was only popular then . I only had fame but I was not rich. Now ,I am living in my father’s house .I have no house of my own but I still believe that it is not too late to build a house .

I am now over 70, there is nothing God cannot do’’, he told The Nation.

That is the life story of the septuagenarian magician , Kehinde Ilesile popularly known as Young Wizard. The nickname was given to him by some Britons who watched his performance and were amazed at Sabo Hotel , Ita Balogun in Lagos in 1958.’’When the Britons or colonial masters who were in Nigeria then saw my magical feat at Ita Balogun they were shocked seeing a young man like me performing in magic in big way . It was there they gave me the nick name and called me Young Wizard. Since then it stuck on me and only few knew my real name’’ .

On the type of magic he performed that earn him the nick name Young Wizard , he said ‘’ I was drinking drink beer from the bottom of the bottle without removing the cork ,and the spectators were amazed that was where they started calling me Young Wizard.

At over 70 , Young Wizard has grown old and the energy in him has gone .He looked pale and sick. He said ‘’ I am now sick and I am old . I no longer practise magic again. It does not pay’’.

He told of his experience when he met the Lord, he said ‘’ I have accepted Christ into my life. God is beyond everybody .I now believe there is power that is above all these things called magic .I will not practise it again and now I have abandoned it

.I now go to church. I attend Christ Apostolic Church . I now go to the house of the Lord to pray .I have accepted Christ into my life .God is beyond everybody. Man is wicked . I have seen a lot’’, he declared with emotion and betrayed self pity as he turned into a preacher .

Ilesile did not attend any school of magic to study it, as he told The Nation ‘’I did not have any formal education .I did not learn the art of Magic. I did not go to any school of magic like those ones the late Professor Peller went .I did not have any formal education, . My parents did not send me to any school, ’’.

At the age of seven, Kehinde Ilesile was taken away by the whirlwind where he spent three years in the thick forest , it was there he learnt the art of magic. When he returned he began to perform magic.

He said ‘’I remember that if I stretch out my hand and demand for any object , it will appear. If I ask it to disappear it will disappear. I can call a stone to appear or disappear and it will be so. I only need to say the word or command it . That was all. I don’t know where they come from and I don’t know where those things disappear to. I don’t conjure any spirit , I did not go to school to learn the art .I am unlike those who went to school of Magic that would have to say one thing and followed it to the letter.’’.

Asked whether he knew the late Professor Peller the popular Magician , he answered to the affirmative and said :’’Yes, the late Professor Peller went to School of Magic but I did not . I am an illiterate. I cannot speak English . That is the difference between us . I also remember Oladokun of Ikirun and Alimi Ibarapa who were also magicians along with me then, they were my senior in the profession and did not go to school to learn it like me too.’’

He boasted that he did not perform ‘box match magic ‘ or carried instruments about like other magicians but used bare hands to demand for things that would appear and disappear ‘’

According to him he had performed in many states and towns in Nigeria like Lagos , Ibadan, Oyo, Owo, Akure , Oshogbo Kaduna, Kano and in the West African neighbouring countries such as Ghana , Benin Republic, etc. His words ‘’ I have performed in many places .I used to go to schools both the secondary and primary to perform. I used to drink beer from the bottom of the bottle instead of removing the cork ,and that was where they started calling me Young Wizard.

He told The Nation one of his close shave with death :’’ I was once swept away by the Atlantic ocean’s sea waves in Lagos. The waves took me to the middle of the ocean but God is so wonderful that I was washed ashore again. I thought it had finished but God rescued me . ‘’He confessed that “ There is no magic one can perform on the sea , it is a different terrain entirely. God used to send His angels to keep watch over us all the time .He has angels guarding our noses, head and other parts of our body , that is it’’ he said, trembling. .

However, in spite his magical feat he said the side effect of magic is bad for God did not support it. He argued that “ God did not support magic, that is why one cannot be successful in it .There is no money in the profession in Nigeria for it is not regarded as a serious business . They did not appreciate it as they do in overseas countries . Here, if you claim that you are a magician they will accuse you want of trying to dupe them. They will call you a liar. They forgot it is part of entertainment. It is a profession in the civilized world. But here people will hate you if call yourself a magician’’

He said whatever materials he used magical power to attract or collect he does not use them but gives them out to people, ’’Ha! We don’t use the materials or objects or spend the money we used abracadabra to get. It is forbidden, we must not do it’’, he said with a frowned face.

He believes that witches and wizards do exist but says they put people into trouble. He said he did not practise any of these and refuted the claim that he is a wizard ‘’I am just like ordinary person like you and calling me Young Wizard is just a nickname .I sleep and wake up like any other person , there is nothing extra ordinary in me .I am a human being like any other person’’.

Where is the power now? The Nation asked while he too responded ‘’I don’t have to do it again I have stopped . Since I had been going to church and listening to sermon.

I was into star gazing, Ifa oracle and divination and many other things but in the end I stopped it. There is nothing in it, it is all evil.’

However, Young Wizard did not pray to pass the profession on to his children as he screamed’’ No! . God forbid. I don’t pray to pass it on to my children. Do you think Magic is a good thing ?. It is not a good thing my brother .It is not a good thing . I reject it .None of my children should do it. Never and Never!’’ he swore