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Tag: Adetiloye

  • Adetiloye : Fare thee well

    Adetiloye : Fare thee well

    The death of Archbishop Abiodun Adetiloye marks the end of an era in the Anglican Communion of Nigeria. Archbishop Abiodun Adetiloye became a Bishop at an early age. He was in his late 30s, when he became a Bishop several decades ago. His meteoric rise in the church caught the envious eyes of many people including his clerical colleagues. He was a cerebral Bishop who applied his reasoning faculty to the work of the church. The church to him was not just the buildings or churches and cathedrals but the people. In this regard, he believed in Christian Evangelism all over the country and particularly to the Islamic North. He challenged the tradition established by the British colonialists that Christian evangelization of the Islamic North was forbidden. Archbishop Adetiloye was able to mobilise men and resources for the establishment of Anglican Missionary Dioceses in the North and in other parts of the South where the Christian religion was not being properly preached. He was an organisational man and he believed in structures. The creation of the office of the Primate as the head of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria was his making. He subsequently became the first Primate of Anglican Communion in Nigeria.

    He began as a liberal cleric when he was young but he later tightened up the doctrine of the church of Nigeria and frowned on sexual and moral laxity among communicants. He was intolerant of the Western practice of homosexuality and lesbianism and he believed in the old time religion and biblical doctrine against same sex unions. When he was Archbishop of Nigeria, he promoted young people into bishoprics and embraced the idea of graduate priests and even priests with higher degrees. At a point in time, he wanted this writer to become a Reverend gentleman. He was not totally against the Pentecostal movement in Nigeria as many Bishops are to today. He frowned on loud music during church worship and was rather committed to the old mode of songs and hymns rather than the loud music characteristic of the Pentecostal movement. I remember sometimes in the late 1980s when the Fountain of Faith of which I was a member in the Anglican Church on Montgomery road, Yaba donated a set of musical instruments and drums to our church in order to stem the tide of migration of young people into the Pentecostal churches. We called on Archbishop Adetiloye to commission the musical instruments. When the professionals we hired struck a loud note, the Archbishop nearly had a fit and instructed that the sound of the music be kept to the barest minimum.

    During his time, he encountered subterranean opposition of those who were uncomfortable with an upcountry man lording it over clerics in Lagos. Archbishop Adetiloye had a great social life and was very comfortable with people and he made friends easily with low and high in the society and was a patriotic Ekiti man who loved the rustic lives of his people and celebrated the immense educational attainment and achievements of his people. He epitomised the great qualities of the Ekiti man especially the commitment to transparency, excellence, honesty and courage. He spoke truth to power when it was necessary especially during the Babangida and Abacha days and he was earmarked for elimination during the Abacha days. He knew this but he still spoke the truth. He trusted the Lord for protection and the Lord protected him. In crisis he embraced the doctrine of liberation theology and like one of his younger colleagues, Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi of Akure he was prepared if needs be to die as a tribune and champion of suffering humanity.

    He retired to Ekiti, his home state after he had served out his term as Primate of the Anglican Communion. He was recognized and celebrated by the state which named the events centre of Ado-Ekiti, Archbishop Adetiloye Hall. If there was any holy man in Nigeria, Archbishop Abiodun Adetiloye was one. Being a Christian does not mean one will not have problems. Saint Paul of Tarsus had a thorn in his flesh. Adetiloye was not above having his own thorn but God was gracious to him and he was not overwhelmed by any problem. Our Lord Bishop will be highly missed by many especially those who are used to his advice, ministration and prayers. Our Lord Bishop has gone to join the saints triumphant and I have no doubt that our Lord Jesus Christ will reward him.

    I will never forget his homily during the burial of Professor D.F. Ojo, the famous Physicist from Igbole in Ido-osi Local Government. The atmosphere was sad and sombre even though Prof Ojo was not a young man. When the Archbishop saw the long drawn faces, he lightened up the atmosphere by telling us how he had advised the dead man to stop smoking to no avail. He said Prof Ojo told him man must die or be killed by something. The Archbishop then turned his gaze to the casket and said “Ojo; cigarette has killed you oh”. He said this in the Ekiti tongue and the whole church erupted into laughter. The Bishop was such a great preacher who knew what to say at the appropriate time. He touched the lives of many and whomsoever he touched changed for the better. It is apportioned for man to live for a certain period of time and afterwards the holy book said there will be judgement. Vox Populi Vox Dei says the Romans and because man has born witness to Adetiloye’s good deeds, God will receive the Lord Bishop into his glory.

     

     

  • Rev Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye (1929-2012)

    Rev Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye (1929-2012)

    The People’s Prelate

    The year 2012, a leap year, ended with the sad death of many Nigerian public figures from all walks of life. Of these, I should mention two; the death of the Hon. Justice Kayode Esho, a brilliant and distinguished former Judge of the Nigerian Supreme Court, and that of the Most Revd. Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye, a former Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos, and Primate and Metropolitan, of the Anglican Church in Nigeria. He died on December 14, barely 11 days from what would have been his 83rd birthday. Justice Esho, at 87, was four years older. His death was the occasion for the outpouring of grief and sadness in the country. On account of his judicial integrity and erudition, many regard him as the best Chief Justice Nigeria should have had but chose not to have. For me, both deaths were very sad and painful as I knew both of them very well.

    Archbishop Abiodun Adetiloye, the subject of this tribute, succeeded the Rt. Revd. Festus Segun as the Bishop of Lagos in 1985. In 1988, three years later, he succeeded the Most Revd. Timothy Olufosoye, the Bishop of Ibadan, as the Primate Metropolitan of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria. Altogether, he had quite a remarkable career in the Church where his rise in the Church was both unconventional and meteoric. He was born to a humble family in Odo-Owa, in Ekiti, on Christmas day, December 25, 1929, in the most inauspicious of circumstances. He was only three years old when his father, a peasant farmer, died leaving him in the care of his poor mother at Ijero-Ekiti. After his primary school education at Ijero, he could not proceed to a secondary grammar school due to lack of financial means. But he was lucky and clever enough to enter Melville Hall, a theological college of the Anglican Communion in Ibadan, where he did not have to pay any fees. It was at Melville Hall that he received his preliminary training for entry into the priesthood, and showed the academic brilliance and mettle that was to open the doors for him to his subsequent glittering career as an Anglican clergy. He was made a deacon and ordained a priest in 1954, the year he left Melville Hall. In 1958, four years later, he entered the King’s College, University of London, on the sponsorship of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria to study Theology. In 1961, after three years, he graduated with an honours bachelor’s degree in Divinity (B.D.). At King’s College, he was the contemporary of Bishop Olajide and the classmate and close friend of the Very Revd. Sope Johnson, the former Provost of the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos, another brilliant cleric.

    In 1962, the year after he graduated from London, he arrived as a lecturer at the Immanuel College of Theology, Ibadan, famous for the training of Anglican priests. There he made his mark as a diligent, brilliant, and highly respected theologian. In 1966, after four years at Immanuel College, Adetiloye was inducted as the Vicar and Provost of the Cathedral Church of St. James, Ogunpa, Ibadan. The appointment was a rare feat as, before then, he had not been a Vicar in any parish church. It was there that he began to make his mark as an affable cleric. In 1970, after only four years at St. James’s Cathedral, he was consecrated as the first Bishop of the new Diocese of Ekiti. He had declined an offer of appointment as the Provost of the Cathedral Church of Lagos in succession to Bishop Festus Segun, preferring a bishopric in Ekiti. It was from the Ekiti bishopric that, in 1985, he was consecrated a bishop at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos, in succession to Bishop Festus Segun.

    Initially, there was some objection from a few parishioners of the Cathedral to his appointment as Bishop of Lagos. Virtually, all his predecessors as Bishop of Lagos had been appointed from the diocese, or had worked there before. These critics wanted somebody from the Diocese of Lagos to be appointed Bishop. Bishop Festus Segun had been the Provost at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Lagos, before his translation as the Bishop of Kaduna, from where he was transferred to Lagos as bishop. In fact, the matter was taken to court but later settled amicably. Adetiloye had not worked in Lagos before and was virtually unknown in the diocese. His appointment as Bishop of Lagos from the Ekiti diocese was controversial and marked a water shed, as it ended the domination of the Anglican diocese in Lagos by such ‘princes’ of the Church, as the two Bishops Howells, father and son, and the Phillips, all from distinguished ecclesiastical families in Lagos. Since the appointment of Irunsewe Kale as Bishop of Lagos, it was the first time a Bishop had been appointed for Lagos from outside the diocese. Before his arrival in Lagos, there had been a dispute over liturgy in the Cathedral. Bishop Adetiloye was able to restore amity and peace in the Cathedral. He remained the Bishop of Lagos until 1988 when he was translated as the Archbishop of Province 1 (Lagos) and Primate, Metropolitan of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria. He retired from this position in 1999 on attaining the age of 70, but remained in Lagos for a while until his health began to fail.

    As Bishop and Archbishop he made his mark in Lagos and in the Anglican Communion in several ways. First, he made the training of Anglican priests his top priority. In 1987, he established the Lagos Anglican Diocesan Seminary for the training of the clergy, opening its doors to other non-Anglican Churches. Second, he continued with the Kale policy of admitting professionals, such as engineers, medical doctors, architects etc, into the priesthood after training at the Seminary. Third, as Archbishop and Primate, he initiated an unprecedented programme of evangelism in the Anglican Communion in Nigeria. Between 1987 and 1997, he created 15 new dioceses in Northern Nigeria, another 15 in Eastern Nigeria and 13 in Western Nigeria. It was during his incumbency that the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) was divided into three ecclesiastical provinces. When he arrived in Lagos as Bishop in 1985, there were only 66 priests. When he retired in 1999, there were a total of 281 priests. In 1985, there were only 26 dioceses in Nigeria. Under his episcopacy, this figure rose to 76. The four archdeaconries increased from only 4 to 15. Fourth, he initiated the system of directorates in the diocese as a means of promoting evangelism more vigorously in the diocese. These directorates, which included the Prison Chaplaincy, Evangelism, the Elderly Helpline, and Health and Welfare, brought the Church closer to the congregation as never before. He also started at the Seminary site, a secondary grammar school, the Thomas Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, named after the Revd. Thomas Babington Macaulay, the founder and first Principal of the famous CMS Grammar School, Lagos, the first secondary grammar school in Nigeria. The Revd. Macaulay was the father of Herbert Macaulay, the great leader of the Nigerian nationalist movement in the 1940s.

    Archbishop Abiodun Adetiloye was a charismatic and vastly learned man, steeped in Theology. As bishop, he was humble and not given to any form of ostentation. He was a man of great spiritual strength, moral courage, and evangelical fervour. He was admired as a most inspiring preacher, often delivering his sermons without any notes at all. His sermons in the Cathedral were quite memorable and immensely enjoyable. In political matters, towards which all successful prelates must cock a sensitive ear, he was alert, well informed and, when occasion demanded, very responsive. He was a fearless cleric and spoke out strongly against social injustice under military rule in Nigeria. So strong was his persistent criticism of the repressive Abacha military regime that many people feared for his personal safety. The security agencies kept him under their close watch together with Bishop Gbonigi of Ekiti, another courageous cleric, he was tagged a “NADECO Bishop”. In those days, I met him often and had conversations with him concerning the disturbing political situation in our country. I admired his great courage despite some well known health challenges in his own family. A totally unpretentious, easily accessible, and humble bishop, he attracted to himself the admiration and affection of the diocese, including a few parishioners who had initially objected to his appointment as the Lord Bishop of Lagos Diocese. He was, indeed, a steadfast bishop in the mould of Bishop Leslie Gordon Vining, the last expatriate Bishop and Archbishop of Lagos (Anglican Communion). I join all his admirers in offering his family my condolences. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.

  • Farewell to an exemplary cleric

    Farewell to an exemplary cleric

    •Today’s men of God have lessons to learn from Bishop Adetiloye (1929-2012)

    It is certainly striking that the late former Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, Most Reverend Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye, shared the same birthday with the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he was to serve as a faithful priest for the 82 eventful years of his life. Pa Adetiloye, who departed this realm of existence, on December 14, was born on December 25, 1929, in Odo-Owa, Ekiti State.

    The late Primate was certainly not born into ecclesiastical greatness. He came from an economically depressed area. Matters were not helped by the fact that his family was poor. Furthermore, he lost his father at the tender age of three. Yet, none of these deterred him from pursuing, with passion, his ambition to become an Anglican priest and, through hard work and dedication, rising to the highest echelon of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria.

    Primate Adetiloye’s preparation for the priesthood was solid and thorough. It was thus no surprise that he made such an outstanding success of his chosen vocation. After passing his first school leaving certificate with distinction in 1944, Adetiloye taught for six years before becoming Acting Church Agent at St. Paul’s Church in Ara-Yero, now Araromi in his eighth year. He trained to become a priest at Melville Hall in Kudeti, Ibadan, Oyo State, in 1949. Adetiloye served as curate of St. Peter’s Church in Ake, Abeokuta, as well as chaplain to Archbishops Vining and later Howells, before studying further for the priesthood at various times at King’s College, London (BD) and Wycliffe Hall in Oxford. The distinguished cleric taught briefly at the Immanuel College of Theology in Ibadan on his return to Nigeria.

    His rise to become the Second Primate of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria in succession to Archbishop Timothy Olufosoye on December 26, 1986, was predicated on hard work, dedication and commitment. On August 10, 1966, Adetiloye became vicar and provost at the Cathedral Church of St. James in Ibadan. He was elected and nominated Bishop of the Diocese of Ekiti and later transferred to the Diocese of Lagos as Bishop from 1985 to 1999. During his 13 years in office as Primate, Archbishop Adetiloye spearheaded the rapid expansion of the church, which grew from 27 dioceses in 1986 to 76 in 1999.

    Indeed, during the 1998 Lambeth conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury described the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) as the fastest growing church in the Anglican Communion service. So impressive was the growth of the church during this period that it was divided into three ecclesiastical provinces, with Primate Adetiloye heading Province One consisting of the dioceses in the west.

    Primate Adetiloye was a humble, modest but forthright and fearless cleric. His tenure coincided with the worst period of vicious military dictatorship in Nigeria and he never failed to speak up at all times on the side of truth, justice and human dignity. His was a constant voice courageously advocating the cause of reason, wisdom and sanity in the Nigerian polity. In particular, Primate Adetiloye stood resolutely by the forces fighting for the termination of military rule and the restoration of democracy in Nigeria; a reason for which he was tagged “NADECO Bishop” in quarters ruffled by his relentless criticism.

    His was certainly a brand of ‘liberation theology’ that contributed significantly to the emergence of the current democratic dispensation. He demonstrated that the responsibility of religious institutions cannot simply be limited to spiritual concerns but must encompass the socio-economic and political well-being of the polity. Our religious leaders must heed this example and avoid an unhealthy and compromising romance with transient occupants of state power.

    We condole with the family and admirers of the late cleric and pray that his soul rest in eternal peace.

  • Makinde urges Christians to emulate Adetiloye’s ‘leadership example’

    Makinde urges Christians to emulate Adetiloye’s ‘leadership example’

     

    The Prelate, Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde, has called on Christians to learn from the leadership examples set by the late Archbishop Abiodun Adetiloye.

    Makinde made the call in a statement signed by the church’s Media and Public Relations Officer, Rev. Oladapo Daramola in Lagos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Adetiloye, the second Archbishop and Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), died on Friday few days to his 83 birthday at Odo-Owa in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti.

    He also said the future generation must be properly taught the right values and ideals critical to the nation’s building.

    Makinde described the death of the former Archbishop of the Church of Nigeria as a loss to the Christian community and the nation in general.

    He also commiserated with Adetiloye’s family, Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh and Anglicans in Nigeria.

    “Papa Adetiloye was indeed, a servant of the living God.

    “He laid an extraordinary example for people like us to follow and we will surely miss him,” Makinde said.

     

  • Adetiloye: Ikuforiji, Makinde commiserate with Fayemi, family

    Adetiloye: Ikuforiji, Makinde commiserate with Fayemi, family

    Prelate Makinde mourns ex Primate

    Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, has commiserated with the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the Primate, ministers and all members of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, and all indigenes of Ekiti State, on the sudden death of the former Primate of the church who passed on last Friday.

    In a condolence message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Adebayo, the Lagos State Number Three citizen said:  “The death of our highly referred Pa Abiodun Adetiloye, former Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion came to me and my fellow legislators in the Lagos State House of Assembly as a rude shock.”

    ”Despite the fact that Primate Adetiloye died at the ripe age of 82, it is indeed sad and very painful  to lose the elder statesman at a time  when our  nation is in dire need of the prayers and wise counsel  of Papa Adetiloye.It is however a thing of great joy for  us at the Lagos State House of Assembly that Primate Adetiloye  is leaving us behind as a fulfilled man. He will be remembered as a most influential church leader, who led several millions of souls to Christ, through his sermons and teaching of the words of God,” Ikuforiji said.

    Meanwhile, the Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde, has described the death of the former Primate as a loss to the Christian community and the Nation-at-large. In a release by the Church’s Media and Public Relations Officer, Rev. Oladapo Daramola, the Prelate while commiserating with the family, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh and Anglicans in Nigeria, and around the world said “one of God’s Generals has transited from the Church militant to the Church Triumphant. Papa Adetiloye was indeed a servant of the living God. He laid an extraordinary example for people like us to follow and we will surely miss him.,