Sabina D’Great Alfred is a versatile media professional, faith-based speaker, producer, director, actor, radio anchor, event host, licensed behavioural therapist and passionate autism advocate whose work continues to inspire lives. For years, she was the unique voice behind the award-winning gospel radio programme, Sunday Best with Sabina, on Naija FM 102.7, Lagos, helping reshape the place of gospel music in mainstream media. Beyond broadcasting, Sabina produces and directs purpose-driven projects, including SILENCED, a stage play raising awareness about autism. Sabina is the Founder of Deborah-David Care Aide Network, a nonprofit dedicated to autism advocacy and networking help and support for people with developmental disabilities and their families. She is also the Founder, Exhale Woman international, a community that caters to the mental and emotional health of women.
Through advocacy, philanthropy and storytelling, she champions inclusion, women’s wellbeing and hope. In this interview, she shares her autism advocacy journey, and how she survived breast cancer.
Talk about your growing up experience, what role did religion play in your upbringing and how did you get the name Naija Pastor?
I am the youngest of eight children. I had three sisters, now two sadly I lost my beloved eldest sister April this year; and I have four brothers. My father The Late Rev. Alfred Okhalagbe was a retired principal, British trained Educationist and a servant of God. My mother The Late Deaconess Winifred Okhalagbe was a retired teacher, a charity worker and businesswoman. My parents were God fearing Catholics, they were strict but very loving, caring and extremely supportive. So my childhood and teenage was big fun until siblings started relocating to various countries! We have all kept in close touch until now nevertheless. My Christian faith journey story is a remarkable one, it’s not your regular story. I found Jesus real early, about age 9-10 years, after my Christian Religious Knowledge class in JS 1, my teacher preached “the new creation reality” to us and made an altar call. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior then, and I have held tightly to Him ever since. Upon my first visit to a pentecostal church service I came back home to share the testimony of how soul stirring the service was, and how my life feels brand new because I encountered Jesus Christ personally. In my childish testimony, rested the Holy Spirit’s power of conviction as I shared with my parents and eventually siblings.
God touched their hearts, long story cut short, my Dad, Mum, and siblings eventually found Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour one after the other. This is why my parents until their passing were very loud to tell anyone who cared, that “Sabina led our entire family to Christ”! I don’t take the credit but that’s the true story. All glory to God. Naija Pastor was my name on radio. I was (still is) a Jesus girl taking a role in a mainstream radio station. I did not want my identity in Christ to get drowned while I worked as a radio presenter. So on this particular day one of our main trainer asked us to pick up nicknames, we all wrote multiple names so we can make a choice, at the end Naija Pastor was selected by everyone including me and the facilitator of the training/orientation. My Sunday morning show was a gospel show that created a huge audience for me globally, where I shared biblical quotes and played great gospel music, and it gained global attention which won me awards in UK and USA even while I resided in Nigeria! That was how Naija Pastor became a brand.
Recently, you won the battle against breast cancer, can you share your experience and how you overcame the disease?
This question! I have spent the past quarter pondering on how to articulate answering a question like this but even now I still feel unready. My diagnosis came as a shock, however I took it to God on my “Praise altar”. I praised and worshiped God for about ten minutes after the doctor called me to tell me about my biopsy results. I told God I had heard and quoted Isaiah 53:5 all my life, now is the time to see it happen in the flesh; and then God asked me to state what I wanted, I told him I wanted proof of His mighty acts and He said ‘done. So the journey to beating cancer and obtain my testimony began to manifest on March 25th 2025! Mind you, the lump was in my breast from mid/late 2023 after my 50th birthday, but I only discovered it in 2024 and still did not begin investigating it until February of 2025! However, I prayed in hallway .By hallway I mean before I officially started the medical journey I prayed hard, and got closer to the teachings of Apostle Joshua Selman. Time and space will not allow me dig in with step by step details. My journey was powered by a collaboration of faith and medicine. It was hard very hard.
Incidentally the first doctor I met to enlighten me on what was at stake was/is a Christian, an Asian breast specialist. She asked if she could pray with me I was so delighted. She knelt down and her opening line was “Father I thank you because only you could have kept this cancer at bay”! Do you know why she prayed like that? As a doctor and a Christian, she knew that only God stopped the cancer from spreading to other parts of my body, given that I was also diagnosed with HER2 positive which is responsible for aggressive spread of cancer. Remember between late 2023 and Feb 2025, medically the cancer should have aggressively spread all over my body, but GOD, like Doctor Liz Lee said “God kept the cancer at bay”! Every doctor I met on this journey was perplexed about a supposed aggressive cancer that could not be aggressive! Then came the dark season of chemotherapy. God said it wasn’t my time. This was the hardest. Sometimes I imagined death would be easier. Again, but GOD! God came to me through men; my daughter paused her own life to care for me, my siblings and my brethren supported me in every way possible! I did not work for almost two years so you can imagine all that went into my medicals and upkeep, in a country like America where the bills never take breaks. As a media personality I didn’t want the news out earlier than when I would be ready, and also because I was working with a spiritual formation, so we kept the circle of intercessors really small. In conclusion God gave me my testimony eventually.
What advice would you give to women facing cancer diagnosis?
Cancer diagnosis is not an end to life. Please if you have been recently diagnosed and (or) already navigating cancer, it is not the end of your life. Do not accept the negative suggestions that your life is over, No! it’s not. Get closer to God, be specific in your requests to God, don’t assume your healing, participate with your faith. Pray over your medications, pray over your body to agree with your medications. Dark days will come, extreme weakness and exhaustion will come, days of silence and isolation will come, there’ll be days when the thought of giving up will be very fancy, please keep your mind on the word of God, ask God to be the head of your medical team, before embarking on any phase of your treatment plan dedicate it to God, pick scriptures prayerfully that you will use for a spiritual formation. Kill fear! It will not be easy but try, use the word, use worship. Listen to testimonies and the word of God steadfastly and surround yourself with people who have spiritual understanding and who believe in what you have asked God for. The road will not be rosy but cooperate with God. He heals us through various routes, but He heals.
What inspired you to go into autism advocacy and how are you finding it?
Faith and charity forms the basis of everything I do and represent in life. Assisting individuals with autism has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my life. Working closely with individuals and families in implementing their BIPs (behavioral intervention plans) is not an easy task but the outcomes are priceless! I have always had a heart for people with disabilities. In my radio days I championed a mission that encouraged my station to sponsor her first charity event in a facility that houses individuals with Down syndrome in Lagos. Upon relocating to the USA, I trained to help people with autism. Among other things, I became a certified Behavioral Therapist in order to understand the spectrum better so I can use my media experience to create awareness and advocate for individuals on the spectrum and their families in Nigeria and other parts of Africa where autism is stigmatised. I created and directed a stage play titled silenced for this purpose. We’ve had two showings in Texas USA, and plan to take it to multiple countries especially Nigeria. I would appreciate it if interested individuals and organizations can partner with me on this project.
How has the journey been so far?
Rough but rewarding. We have set up a non profit- DDCAN (Deborah-David Care Aide Network), in order to help us put structure on our work globally. It’s been slow, but we are determined because we already know it’s going to require a lot of resilience.
How can public spaces be made more accessible to people on the autism spectrum?
First off, Autistic people are people too! The difference is that their brains are wired differently from the neurotypical person. So my main advice is for the general public to please put away the judgement, mockery and hostility towards people with autism and their families. The general reaction to coming in contact with an individual on the spectrum should not be condescending; it is a very broad spectrum and no two autistic persons are exactly the same. The levels vary from one individual to the other. So if we are talking about making public spaces accessible to individuals with autism, it would vary. Meaning one autistic person may require the presence of a caregiver in order to be in a public space, another may not. The stigma needs to stop. The families are going through so much to care for their autistic ward, adding societal hostility is a nightmare.
What advice do you have for parents raising a child with autism?
I applaud every parent of children with special needs. I have assisted individuals with autism in various capacities and I can first hand tell you that these parents are real life super heroes. Please take care of yourself, seek professional help/assistance when you suffer a burnout, find communities, there are a lot of them online. Also research simpler ways you can care for your special needs children to make things a little easier for you. And don’t let the society make you feel less! Behavioral science has progressed massively so do not be ashamed you have an autistic child.
