By Prof. Jacob Kehinde Olupona
The passing of the Rt. Revd. Gideon Isaac Oladipo Olajide, retired Bishop of the Diocese of Ibadan (Anglican Communion), marks the end of an era for the Church of Nigeria. I extend my heartfelt condolences to his family and to the whole Anglican Communion in Nigeria. Baba, as many of us lovingly called him, was a towering figure in the Church. In many respects, he was perhaps the last bishop of his generation. His passing calls us to two things: to celebrate a life well lived and to reflect solemnly on what he gave to the Anglican Church we hold so dear. Above all, it calls us to remember the movement he quietly championed, which many regard as a clarion call for a holiness church and true evangelism, if not for a reform of the Church itself.
Baba hailed from Igbemo-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. He was consecrated Bishop of the Ilesa Diocese in 1981 and later translated to Ibadan in 1988 as Bishop of the Ibadan Diocese. Rt. Revd. Olajide belonged to a generation of priests educated and trained to change the Church’s rhythm. He originally came from the Ondo-Benin Diocese, once one of the largest dioceses in the Nigerian Church, before it was divided into Ondo and Benin, and later into many more dioceses
That single diocese’s growth into many is itself a picture of what his generation accomplished: a Church that multiplied because its clergy took the work of the Gospel seriously. It was an era when the Anglican Church clamoured for educated clergy, degree-holding priests who could lead the Church in faithfulness and service. Nigeria was changing quickly, and the Church was exploring many ideas, including the possibility of a Church Union. Universities were rising, a new educated laity was emerging, and the Church needed priests who could speak to the pew’s current realities. This was made possible by the leadership of clerics such as Bishop S. O. Odutola, Bishop of Ibadan in 1960, and others in the Eastern part of the country, such as Bishop Gideon Otubelu and Archbishop Benjamin Nwankiti. For me, Bishop Odutola remains one of the most educated bishops in the history of the Nigerian Church and a man with a broad vision for its future. Baba Olajide was one of the fruits of that vision. Bishop Kale in Lagos and several others of blessed memory played critical roles in the emergence of the Nigerian Anglican renaissance.
Rt. Revd. Olajide’s life history has been fairly well documented by Professor Olutayo Adesina of the University of Ibadan in his book Right Reverend Gideon Isaac Olajide: The Making of the People’s Bishop (2000).
Those interested in the journey of his life up to his Episcopate in Ibadan may obtain copies to read. Baba attended the famous Christ School, Ado-Ekiti. From there he trained for the priesthood in Ibadan. After his ordination, he served in Iruekpen in today’s Edo State and then as a parish priest in Benin City.
Those early years of parish ministry, far from the centres of power, formed the cleric in him. He learned the Church from the ground up: its congregants, its struggles, and its hopes. That grounding never left him, even as he rose to the Church’s highest offices. He later travelled abroad for further studies and returned home better equipped for the work ahead. The church tradition of doing curacy abroad, particularly in the Anglican dioceses in England, was common. My own father also served in Kingswood Parish, Bristol, UK. Many of his classmates did the same. The overseas short-term visit was part of an exchange program because the English church also sent priests to Nigeria and Africa, and some were instrumental in church development projects, education, hospitals, and so on.
On his return, Baba Olajide was appointed Warden of a hall of residence and later Assistant Deputy Registrar at the University of Ife (later Obafemi Awolowo University), where he was joined by the Revd. J.B.P. Lafinhan, a Baptist and a distinguished cleric like Baba himself.
The University of Ife was fortunate to have him as Warden for many years. On several occasions, he also served as acting chaplain of All Souls’ Chapel, bringing the same pastoral warmth to the chapel that he brought to the hall. He was a reformist priest and administrator. Many who passed through Ife in those years carried his influence into their careers, families, and churches. Baba was later appointed Provost of the Cathedral Church of St. James, Ibadan, under the Most Revd. T. O. Olufosoye, then Bishop. He was consecrated Bishop of Ilesha in 1981 and in 1988, translated to the Diocese of Ibadan, where he served until his retirement in March 2000.
As a Bishop, he raised others who would become the future of the Anglican Church in Nigeria. In Ilesha, he ordained young men who later became bishops. One of them, the late Bishop Jacob Ajetunmobi, served as his chaplain and later became the first Bishop of Ibadan South. In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, Baba led a critical mass of priests within the Anglican Church, giving rise to a deep form of evangelical and charismatic Christianity often associated with the Scripture Union (SU).
This was no small thing, as it brought new fervour to Anglican worship, renewed seriousness about personal faith, and a hunger for the Scriptures among young people across Western Nigeria. Some saw it as a challenge to old ways; in truth, it was a call back to the heart of the Gospel. Baba was a thoroughly evangelical cleric, and his passion for the Good News never waned. He championed the ordination and appointment of several bishops in south-western Nigeria. Many of his mentees rose to the episcopate, among them Bishop Elijah Ogundana, Archbishop Ephraim Ademowo, Archbishop Akinfemiwa, a recently retired Bishop of Ibadan, Archbishop Michael Akinyemi, Archbishop Adebayo Akinde, Archbishop Abiodun Olaoye, Bishop Matthew Osunade. His Episcopacy in Ibadan between 1988 and 2000 saw further reforms. He played a pivotal role in establishing new dioceses, including the Ife Diocese (1990), Oke Osun Diocese (1993), Ibadan North (1998), and Ibadan South (1999). His period was an era of church growth.
I was fairly close to Baba, first as a young scholar at the University of Ife, and later as a professor in the United States who travelled home often and never took my eyes off the life of the Church, particularly the Anglican Church.
He was my father’s contemporary in the old Diocese of Ibadan, and he knew our family well. He was also one of the Church’s fathers who constantly asked me why I had not been ordained a priest, a question I have always understood as an expression of his care for me and his hopes for the Church. One memorable act truly endeared him to me. In 1999, I sent my last two children to spend their holiday in Nigeria. Realising they had not yet been confirmed, I asked their uncle in Ibadan, Mr. Tunde Olupona, a barrister, to find a church preparing candidates for confirmation so they could register and be confirmed before returning to the United States. I still don’t know how Baba heard about it, but he did something I considered remarkable. He arranged a special confirmation for our two young children in the bishop’s chapel in Ibadan. He and the newly appointed Bishop of Ibadan South, Rt. Revd. Ajetunmobi, conducted the service at the Bishop’s Court, Ibadan. They were joined by our uncle, later Bishop, the Venerable Titus Bamidele Fajemirokun.
News of the special confirmation spread, and the children’s relatives in Nigeria attended in large numbers. When the children returned to the United States, they told their friends, with some pride, how famous their father was in Nigeria. I sat them down and corrected them: the service was held primarily in honour of their grandfather, who had served the Church faithfully. I have reflected on that act for years, and I do so again now that Baba Olajide has gone to rest. It revealed the mind of a dignified man of God: sincere, committed to his faith, attentive to individuals, and generous with his love throughout his life. In his lifetime, Baba honoured those who deserved it, and he kept the faith to the end. God blessed him with a long life, long enough to see several of his mentees become influential and charismatic men within the Anglican Communion. It was a long journey, and he walked it faithfully and triumphantly to its close.
Once again, my condolences to the family of Baba Gideon Olajide and to the Church of God he leaves behind. As we mourn his passing, we give thanks for his life and pray that God will renew His Church and restore true faith, love, and peace among us.
May the soul of Baba Gideon Oladipo Olajide rest in perfect peace.
Jacob K. Olupona FNAL, NNOM, D.D. Edinburgh Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
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