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Tag: Sadela

  • Sadela for burial Oct 31

    By Oluwatomisin Amokeoja

    The Sadela Burial Committee, consisting of the Sadela family and the Gospel Apostolic Church (GAC), has announced the funeral arrangement for the spiritual leader, Rev’d Samuel Akinbode Sadela.

    The committee Chairman, High Chief Abiola, said Rev Sadela will be laid to rest at the church headquarters on October 31.

    Abiola said there will be a service of songs at the church auditorium on October 27 to 29 from 5-7 pm daily.

    On October 30, the lying-in-state will hold at the church headquarters from 10am to 3pm.

    A wake will be held in the evening of the same day at the same venue.

    On October 31, another lying-in-state service will be held at the Police College, Ikeja, from 8am to 9pm.

    There will be a thanksgiving service at the church headquarters on November 2 by 7:30am.

  • Inside Sadela’s Gospel Apostolic Church

    Inside Sadela’s Gospel Apostolic Church

    He was reputed to be the oldest gospel preacher in the world, with a career lasting 82 years.  When he died on August 24,, on the eve of his 114th birthday, Reverend Akinbode Sadela, founder of the Gospel Apostolic Church, was said to be the oldest living Nigerian. When The Nation visited the church 48 hours after he passed on, it was business as usual. SEUN AKIOYE writes on why Sadela’s death was kept away from the congregation and profiles the rise of the man of God from a houseboy and tax collector to one of the greatest preachers of the gospel.

    At 5:30pm on August 26, a special revival began with a prayer session at the Gospel Apostolic Church, Sholuyi Gbadaga in Lagos.  An elder, who led the session, seemed well tuned with his duty as he urged the congregation in sporadic prayers for blessings during the revival.

    The church, founded by Reverend Akinbode Sadela, is a conservative Christian group, not given to the pomp and extravagance of modern pentecostalism. The building itself was designed to accommodate the separate sitting of the male and female congregation. An altar looked directly over the congregation with a large sitting area behind it. The elders and the choir shared this space.

    It was the beginning of a three-day revival to mark the anniversary of the 82nd year of the ministry of the founder.  Rev. Sadela was a remarkable man of God who had been instrumental to almost all the Christian revivals witnessed in the country. Born in 1900, he qualified as Nigeria’s oldest living person at the age of 113 years. Out of this, he had put an amazing 82 years into the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

    As the service progressed, prayers were said for his life and ministry, speakers drew lessons from his long life and more songs and prayers followed. But Rev.  Sadela himself was conspicuously absent at the service. On the altar, three distinguished looking chairs occupied the centre stage, two elders had taken the seats to the right and left but the center chair belonging to Sadela was unoccupied.

    Unknown to many members of the church who attended that evening service, their revered pastor and founder had died about 48 hours before at a private ward in Sacred Heart Hospital, Abeokuta. It was a secret well kept by the family and church leadership from the public and media. It was a covert operation which ensured all leaks were blocked and information secured.

    The one they called Aboyinbode

    In pre-colonial Nigeria it was unusual for dates of birth to be recorded unless such coincided with a major event. That was the case for Sadela who was recorded to have been born on the last Saturday in August in 1900 at Ifon, Ondo state. His father, Chief Olomonehin Sadela was of the Imoru clan and a staunch idol worshipper. His mother, a princess, was from the Amougba Ruling House in Ifon.

    Sadela’s birth coincided with the arrival of the British District Officer in Ifon, so was fondly referred to as “A ba Oyinbo de” or simply “Abooyinbo de” (The one who came with the white man). But despite his pagan ancestry, it seemed Sadela was destined for a higher calling in the vineyard of God. According to the man himself, he began to read the Bible as a toddler, being taught to read by the angels of God.

    Being the last of 12 children, he was greatly pampered and his parents were not willing to send him to school. Desirous of education, he took the next possible step. “My parents didn’t want to send me to school but I decided to run away,” he said.

    Sadela finally got his wish and began his primary education at the St. Paul’s Anglican Primary School Ifon but the lure for gold prompted him to abandon his education for Sapele in the present Delta state where he became a houseboy to Captain Pullen, the British District Officer. He also served Captain Balmour and Gavin as house help. But in 1918, he went back to home and finally completed his primary education in 1920. Many years later in 1946, he passed the Senior Cambridge and later London University Matriculation in 1949. He studied Law at the Woolshall College London by correspondence and was heading to Law School before his educational pursuit was ironically cut short by the call of God.

    A lifelong Ministry

    Inside the modest compound which housed the headquarters of the Gospel Apostolic Church in Gbagada, activities began to pick up five days after the death of Rev. Sadela. A condolence register had been opened since Monday and many church members had expressed their gratitude to a man who had been their pastor, most of their lives.

    In the small bookshop, a gospel hymn blared out given sonorous yet soulful tunes, although unintended, the hymn captured an atmosphere of grief which indicated the departure of a beloved one. More than four hundred sympathizers had registered their condolences with words of appreciation and thanksgiving more than words of grief and sorrow.

    Sadela’s encounter with God began in 1928 as a tax collector.  It was a time of great revival in Nigeria with men of God like Moses Orimolade, the founder of Cherubim and Seraphim church. It was also the time of the great evangelist Apostle Ayo Babalola with a reputation for the performance of unbelievable miracles.  Sadela like Matthew the tax collector met Orimolade in 1928, who prayed for him and predicted he would become a great man of God. In 1931, he met Babalola at Oke-Oye Ilesa. Babalola would later prove to become his leader and mentor. He was baptized by immersion the same year; he had answered the call of God.

    Between 1932 and 1937, he served faithfully as a part-time pastor with the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) founded by Babalola and helped to plant many of the church branches. In 1937, he was ordained as a full time pastor.

    Being a close associate of the renowned evangelist, Sadela traveled most part of South West Nigeria with Babalola. He lived with him and partook of his travails also fasting 40 days and night together. It would be correct to say he helped plant the CAC in Nigeria.

    Two weeks before the death of Babalola in 1959, he reportedly instructed Sadela to establish a church which will have the word “Apostolic” in the middle. In 1972, that instruction was carried out with the establishment of the Gospel Apostolic Church (GAC) which now has about 180 branches in Nigeria and overseas.

    The Gospel according to Sadela

    Many gospel pundits believe that Sadela inherited the mantle of Ayo Babalola. His GAC was fashioned after the doctrine dominant in the CAC. Also like his mentor, he was a conservative who frowned at excessive emphasis on wealth and materialism at the expense of the gospel.

    “Baba was a very loyal follower of Jesus who had a passion for soul winning which is the core of his ministry. He told us to go into the city and win souls for Jesus,” Pastor Adebola Onadeko, the head of Legal department at the GAC told The Nation.

    Over eight decades of his ministry, Sadela’s message did not change, it remained: “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” This was evident in the way his ministry has evolved over the years in spite of the threat of Pentecostalism. It is also evident in the way he has lived his creed.

    One may be forgiven to imagine that a ministry that long and prosperous would automatically confer on the founder a lifestyle of luxury. Far from Sadela, he lived simple in a humble flat. “Baba said God has not called him to acquire properties but to preach the gospel, he stayed true to his calling. He did not own a single house anywhere,” a pastor in the church volunteered.

    For many years, where Sadela called home is a tiny flat inside the modest compound of the GAC. The building was called the mission house which is available for anyone who is the leader of the ministry. The flat has a living room and an ante room; the two are relatively small and cannot contain more than 10 people at a time. But it was well furnished with comfortable chairs for Sadela and his visitors. In his ante room, many of his awards hung on the wall and his living room boasts of framed pictures which tell the story of his life.

    A troubled marriage

    For a man committed to the work of God for so long, one would think he would be immune from the travails and problems of ordinary mortals.  But Sadela has experienced one of the most bitter marriages ever known to man. At the age of 34 years, he got married to his first wife. The marriage lasted 21 unhappy years as the seven children from that marriage all died at infancy.

    “When the seventh child was sick, I was crying to God for 22 days. Eventually, the child died and I wanted to know why not one of the children survived,” Sadela said during his 107th birthday anniversary.

    He consulted with his mentor, Ayo Babalola and it was revealed through prayers that his wife was killing her own children through witchcraft. “She later ran away and confessed to the killing of her children through witchcraft, she died after the confession,” Sadela said.

    For the next ten years, the preacher avoided women, he was too bruised and hurt to attempt another shot at marriage.  This has also raised questions about his credentials as a man of God who did not know his wife was a witch. “My answer is very simple, no man is omniscient. God always reveal only what He wanted to reveal to His servants, that is why He is God.” Sadela’s resolve of abstinence lasted till 1965 when he married Madam Juliana Ajisomo Sadela. The marriage had four children with two surviving and in leadership positions in GAC. Juliana died in 2001 after a brief illness. The stage was then set for one of the most outstanding marriages in Nigeria.

    In 2007, Sadela married Christiana, a lady of 31 years who had never been married before. This was an extraordinary event which drew the flanks of some Christian leaders. Sadela would have none of it, claiming that it was a direct order from God. “After a brief search, she met the description revealed by God. The dowry was paid and following the directives of the Holy Spirit, the joining was done like the marriage in the Garden of Eden.”

    Sadela believed it was a reenactment of the Bible days: “ If  Seth the son of Adam married at the age of 105 and in this our own time a marriage is consummated  between a 107 year old man and a young woman of 31 years, then the Bible days are indeed here again,” he said.

    The signs of death

    In a press release to the media, the spokesperson of the church, Pastor Daisi Olisa said the church was not taken by surprise by the death of whom they called “ our oracle of God” therefore they would not mourn but celebrate the death of Sadela.

    Many members of the church confessed that the late preacher had given warning signs to them before his eventual departure early on that Sunday morning, August 24, 2014. A parishioner remembered that penultimate Sunday, Sadela had done something unusual. “Baba was about to end the service when he suddenly told us to start praying for whatever we need. We didn’t understand it then that he was saying goodbye to us.”

    Onadeko has a more pointed example. “Baba had warned us before now, he had prepared out minds. He said if you are a man of God, you will see Jesus before you go.  So we are not mourning, but celebrating because he had told us before now,” he said.

    The incidence that led to the death of Sadela was not slow in coming.  He had taken ill-which is expected at his age- and had gone for his medical check- up at the Sacred Heart Hospital, Lantoro Abeokuta.  “On Sunday morning, at 4:30 am, he had taken his bath and dressed up. He then said he wanted to rest and he put his head on one of the church leaders and he died,” an insider told The Nation.

    But why did the church keep his death a secret for two days.  One of the leaders replied: “It was a Sunday morning and if we had announced on that day it would have disrupted a lot of things. Also the revival was due to start the next day.  Baba had also said we should never allow our grief to overshadow the work of God. Even when his wife died on a Sunday morning, he still preached in the church that day, that was why we didn’t announce it.”

    Throughout the service of August 26, no reference was made to the fact of Sadela’s death. A condolence register which was opened during the service was closed. As the congregation danced and sang the information of his death possessed only by a few was kept away from them. But at the end of the service, the announcement was made. It generated emotions initially, then a resignation which collapsed into gratitude. Onadeko was right, Sadela’s congregation were thankful and not mournful.

  • Last moments of Nigeria’s oldest preacher, Sadela

    Last moments of Nigeria’s oldest preacher, Sadela

    It was fittingly a glorious exit. At exactly 4:30am last Sunday, world’s oldest preacher, Pastor Samuel Akinbode Sadela, breathed his last at Sacred Heart Hospital in Abeokuta, Ogun State. He died just a few hours before his 114th birthday.

    In a remarkable preaching career that spanned 82 years, Sadela remained an untiring and unending force. Many aides, who spoke with our correspondent, stated that his capacity for life and impact remained matchless.

    Sources in the church hinted that plans had been concluded for his 114th birthday tomorrow. The church was to commence a 6-day revival programme to usher in his birthday celebration. Many had obtained gifts and prepared to lavish encomiums on the enigmatic church leader.

    “My wife and I had prepared a gift for baba as we do every year. We cherished how passionately he prayed for us when we had challenges. It was to be our token of appreciation for his support,” Mr. Kunle Oyesina, a member told our correspondent.

    But when they arrived the church’s international headquarters at Gbagada in Lagos last Tuesday, many were shocked to come across a condolence register with Sadela’s picture. It was learnt many broke down in tears while others lost their composure. The service ended with many members totally at a loss.

    “I couldn’t even concentrate. It was not that one didn’t expect him to die at 113 years but we were completely taken aback because he gave no sign of tiredness,” a member, who craved anonymity, shared.

    His last moments

    Investigations revealed that the late preacher was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital where he always received treatment when it became obvious that his life was on the line. All efforts to stabilise him failed at the hospital.

    Members who saw him penultimate Sunday recalled he was wheeled to the church auditorium for the benediction, which he had been giving in the last one year.

    “In the last one year, Baba could not preach again. He had become so weak and tired but he remained enthusiastic and lively. They would wheel him to the church for benediction and he would shower prayers on us.

    “But that Sunday, he prayed and prayed. He just went on. The amen was resounding but he was unstoppable. Now that I heard he is dead I can say he was giving us his last blessings. It is sad but we cannot complain considering how long he lived,” an official of the church told our correspondent.

    A family source said he if it was left to the late preacher, he would keep living. “Baba loved life. He believed he was born for a purpose and was bent on fulfilling the reason why he lived long. He told us several times that God kept him alive for a purpose. So, he wanted to live on and affect more lives but there is always a last day for every man and we are glad he has gone to rest in the Lord’s bosom.”

    Spokesman for the church, Pastor Adebola Oladeko, spoke of Sadela’s last moments.  He said: “Baba died in the early hours of Sunday, at 4.30 a.m. to be precise. We were not caught unawares. Baba had been telling us and preparing us for that day. He told his son that he was going home, but they did not quickly understand what he was saying. He had prepared us, even somebody else got the same vision. His major concern was for us to go out there and win souls for Christ.

    “That Sunday, he was conscious, he knew what he was doing; he told them to bathe him. After exchanging pleasantries with everybody, he said he wanted to rest. Immediately he lay on the bed, he died.”

    His many amazing feats

    Bubbling with life and energy, Sadela remained strong physically until he died. Until sometimes last year, he kept preaching at the Gospel Apostolic Church, which he founded in 1972. Sadela ensured he shook hands strongly to tell people he was as fit as a fiddle.

    “Don’t think I am weak because I am old. I may be old but I am strong and able,” he once joked with reporters at a parley a few years ago in his church. Members watched him with astonishment as he stood preaching for years during services without stress. Until some two years ago, he walked unaided from the storey building behind the church’s auditorium where he lived.

    His physical strength was not unconnected with his tough background. Born in 1900 as the 12th and last child of his parents, Sadela was programmed for a life of ease and comfort. His mother was ready to make him a spoilt brat being her last child. But the rascally Sadela would have none of it. He realised he was not cut out for a rosy life.

    The young, heady Sadela chose the tough path. It was the path that would ultimately lead him to his purpose and destination. To underscore his radical posture, he dropped out of primary school in 1914. From his place of residence in Ifon, the young village boy from Imoru in Ondo State, proceeded to Sapele. His mission was to break away from the rosy life outlined for him.

    At Sapele, he offered himself as a houseboy to colonial district officers. He served Captains Pullen, Balmour and Gavin diligently. Those years prepared him for the tough challenges ahead. He later completed his standard six education in 1920. By then, his passion for education had taken roots.

    In 1946, went on to pass the Senior Cambridge and London University Matriculation in 1949. The late preacher enrolled as a Law student of Woolshall College London. He studied Law for three and half years and was just nine months away from being called to the Bar when he gave up Law study on the advice of the late Pastor Joseph Babalola.

    While his education was a resounding success, his marital life was a colossal failure. He alleged  that his first wife was a witch. All the seven children they had together died in mysterious ways. “My first wife was a witch.She killed all the seven children I had! After much prayer, she confessed and I left her,” he recalled.

    He could not bear to look the way of any other woman until some ten years later. A second marriage, consummated in 1965, was blessed with four children, but only two survived. Madam Juliana died in 2001. He remarried 30-year-old Christiana in 2007 to the amazement of the world.

    He was blessed with amazing memories of events and incidents laden with specific dates. He could recall major events and times in his life without much ado.

    Encounters with Orimolade and Babalola

    If he succeeded as a church leader, it was because he rode on the shoulders of the first generation of indigenous church founders. In 1928, he encountered the legendary Prophet Moses Orimolade, founder of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church. Orimolade reportedly blessed the young Sadela and prophesised he would be great.

    Two years later, the popular Prophet Orekoya stopped over in Ifon on a missionary journey to Sapele. He was to meet the late Babalola in 1931 under whose direct guidance he trained from 1932-1937.

    Outpouring of tributes

    The National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) told our correspondent on the phone that Sadela’s death was the end of an era. He regretted he died when his wealth of experience would have benefitted the younger generation.

     “He will live long in the memories of those who were privileged to know him directly as a non-compromising preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ and one who devoted his entire adult life winning souls and encouraging evangelism,” Oritsejafor stated.

    The National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Dr Felix Omobude, said: “I thank God he lived a good life. We condole with his family and the church in general for the life he lived. Our prayers will continue to go to his family.”

    Rev. Samuel Ogedengbe, Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos State governor on Christian Religious Matters, said Sadela had fought a good fight as a minister of God, describing him as a wonderful man of God and that he learnt under him.

    “He was a wonderful man who touched many lives. He had lots of challenges, but he was focused and never deviated. Young pastors should emulate him and not deviate from the word of God,” he said.

  • Sadela’s last moment, by eyewitness

    Sadela’s last moment, by eyewitness

    THOUGH the leadership of the church of the fiery preacher, Rev. Akinbode Sadela, is yet to unfold details of his death and burial plans three days after, his last moment was revealed yesterday.

    Pa Sadela, founder of the Gospel Apostolic Church, Gbagada in Lagos, who died at 113 after 82 glorious years on the pulpit, died at exactly 4.30am on Sunday in the hands of family members and top church members, The Nation learnt.

    A senior member of the church, told The Nation in confidence: “Papa died in the early hours of Sunday after he had taken his bath and dressed up. He was surrounded by members of his family and some leaders of the church. After his bath, he said he wanted to rest and they laid him on the bed with his head resting on a church leader. Then he passed on to glory, just like that.”

    It was also gathered that the late preacher had given clues about his impending death to church members although many of them failed to realise it until he departed.

    According to the head of the church’s Legal Department, Pastor Adebola Onadeko, the late Sadela had prepared the minds of the church for his eventual demise.

    “Baba said if you are a man of God, you cannot die without Jesus showing himself to you. He had prepared our minds for what would happen; that is why we are not mourning but celebrating and we ask the whole world to celebrate this great man of God with us,” Onadeko said.

    Onadeko, who described Sadela as a loyal follower of Jesus Christ with passion for soul winning and love for everyone, added that the core aim of the late preacher’s ministry was winning souls.

    “Baba was passionate about the word of God and soul winning. He asked us to go into the streets and preach the gospel. That was his message till his death. He also called for unity among the body of Christ and understanding with other religions. He was a man of peace,” he said.

    Onadeko said there is no mourning or sadness regarding the preacher’s passage but celebration. “We are celebrating his transition from the mortal body to the immortal,” he said.

    On the controversy that trailed Sadela’s marriage some years ago, Onadeko said those who criticised the departed cleric lacked understanding of his peculiar circumstances, saying: “Baba had forgiven them because he felt they didn’t fully understand.”

    Meanwhile, sympathisers continued to flock the Gbagada headquarters of the church to pay glowing tribute to the late man of God. At 3.30pm yesterday, 221 people had signed the condolence register. Among the early callers were leaders of the Aladura Church Worldwide who came with his entourage. Others were friends and members of the church from as far as Ilorin, Kwara State capital.

    Some of those who signed the register described Sadela as the “oldest General in God’s army.” Others described him as a powerful preacher of the word of God. Nobody mourned or cried; it was simply a celebration of Sadela’s life in a convivial atmosphere.

    Meanwhile, the church would round off the three-day revival initially planned to celebrate his 82 years on the pulpit after which details of his burial would be announced.