*From a house boy, tax collector, court clerk to an Evangelist
“I told you of the sage, Pa Samuel Sadela, when he was 108, he went to dedicate their new Church in Ondo state.
He came down and came to see us in the house (we were doing my birthday). He said, 108 today, you are 54; half: you are half the way to where God is taking you.
He was still preparing notes for meetings:108!
My family and I miss him. He galloped to Heaven at 114.” – Bishop David Oyedepo
The year 1900 heralded a new century which was significant in shaping the history of Nigeria. On 1st January 1900, the birth of “Southern Nigeria” was recorded as one of the changes in the administration of British colonies in the Niger Basin. By the first quarter of the 20th century, new measures of the British colonial rule such as Direct Taxation, District/ Paramount Head system or the Warrant Chief system had been introduced into most communities in Southern Nigeria. On 24th August 1900, a British District Officer arrived in Ifon (present day Ondo State) for the first time which also coincided with the birth of a boy who would play a pivotal role in Christianity in Nigeria.
Fondly known as the Evangelists’ Evangelist, Samuel Akinbode Sadela was born on 24th August 1900 to the family of Chief Olomonehin Sadela and Princess Adetiye Sadela, as the last child in a family of twelve. He was also called “Aboyinbode” (someone born around the time the white man arrived within the community) by his family and friends.
Samuel Akinbode Sadela had a royal lineage with his father a descendant of the Olisa Chieftaincy House of Imoru, second-in-command to the Olumoru of Imoru, the traditional ruler of his community while his mother was a princess of the Adanike-Amougba ruling house in Ifon. Moreover, his grandfather Adidi was a traditional warrior of repute.
It is also important to highlight another event that happened in the world around this time. On 25th August 1900, the word, ‘television’ was used for the first time in a paper presentation at the International Electricity Congress in Paris: “Télévision au moyen de l’électricité”.
Pampered heavily by his parents who were unwilling to send him to school, he was able to read the Bible at the age of 2 and recalled being taught how to read the Bible by the angels of God, who also gave him a “fruit of the tree of life” to swallow, which he did. He however started school at St. Paul’s Anglican Primary School Ifon but didn’t finish till he was 20 years old because he had to drop out in 1914 to serve as a domestic help to the colonial administrators in Sapele (present day Delta State). He served as a houseboy to 3 British District Officers namely Captain Pullen, Captain Balmour and Captain Gavin before returning to Ifon in 1918 and finally completed his primary education in 1920.
In 1925, he was meant to travel with the Nigerian Contingent of Boy Scouts to England but he didn’t make it as his father fell ill. In 1928, while working as a tax collector and court clerk, he met with Moses Orimolade Tunolase (Founder of Cherubim and Seraphim Church) who told Sadela his place was at the pulpit not at the bar. He began his evangelical mission with The Apostolic Church and later moved to Christ Apostolic Church in 1931 where he served under Apostle Joseph Ayodele Babalola.
From 1932 to 1937, he served as a part-time pastor with the Christ Apostolic Church, planting churches, especially in the Ikale-land of Ondo State, Nigeria. He also started the Okitipupa branch of the CAC in 1935 and by 1937 he was ordained as a full-time pastor. As a passionate soul winner, in 1944, during the Second World War, it was recorded that he went alongside Elder Balogun (Church Leader) and Victor (Church member) on a missionary journey, trekking from Odo-Owa to Ilorin – a distance of 112 miles (180 km). He was also reputed to have travelled the length and breadth of South-West Nigeria by bicycle for missionary journeys; in 1948, he partook in a 40 days and 40 nights fast with Apostle Babalola emulating Elijah, Moses and Jesus
Sadela was however determined to fulfill his ambition of becoming a Lawyer and in 1946, he passed the Senior Cambridge Examination at the age of 46 and London University Matriculation at the age of 49. He would have studied law having passed these examinations of Woolshall College, London through correspondence and was scheduled to travel to London for a nine-month law course preparatory to being called to the Bar but for the divine instruction from his spiritual father, Apostle Babalola, who told him that he would become a major voice in preaching the gospel and advised him against going to London. So, he missed going to Britain for the second time.
This period was also marked with the move of God on his life as it was evident in the healing ministry: healing of lepers at Idogun, Ondo State in 1946, healing of a 25 year old mad man in 1947, a dead man brought back to life at a revival meeting, Akure in 1948, healing of a woman with an issue of blood for 9 years in 1949 which validated the call of God on his life.
In December 1954, he invited Rev. Harold Curtis of Foursquare Gospel Church in the United States of America to Nigeria which was largely responsible for the establishment of Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria. It’s also on record that after Sadela prayed and anointed Rev. Curtis in 1956, Rev. Curtis was healed of a dangerous boil in his ear.
By 1959, 2 weeks before his homegoing, Apostle Babalola had instructed Sadela to establish a church with the word “Apostolic” in the middle of its name. However, this Church wasn’t established until 13 years later. In 1972, Sadela founded the Gospel Apostolic Church (GAC), headquartered in Gbagada, Lagos.
His influence was not only limited to Nigeria: in 1983, he attended the International Conference of Ministers of God (Amsterdam ’83, Holland) organized by American televangelist Billy Graham. In 1990, he was invited to a speaking engagement at the Emmanuel Bible College (formerly called Armenian Bible College) in Pasadena, California, USA.
Sadela was the grand patron of both the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Lagos State Chapter and the Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (CPFN) Lagos State.
Pa Samuel Akinbode Sadela was a living testimony of God’s promise of bringing forth fruit in old age. Pa Sadela regarded as the Guinness Book of Record’s oldest man on the pulpit, had 82 years of pulpit ministry and never missed Church even in his old age. He established over 180 branches of Gospel Apostolic Church in different nations and even at the age of 108 travelled to Ondo State to dedicate a church.
He would have been 120 years in 2020 but was called home by His Master in 2014. Reverend Samuel Sadela was born on August 24, 1900 and died on August 24, 2014, exactly 114 years.
Pa Sadela is survived by only two of his eleven children: Pastor Nathaniel Sadela and Deaconess Adewunmi Sadela.
Sources: PMNewsNigeria Online, Church Gist Archives, Dictionary of African Christian Biography
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