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Today, I opt to dedicate this column to a man who has shown that there are still a few good men. He has made indelible marks everywhere he has found himself. In the fold of God’s generals in Nigeria, it would be a gross omission not to find his name in that list. He has given his all in the propagation of the Gospel. He has straddled the academia and the ministry of the word with almost equal impact but now the greater power has pulled him. Rt. Rev. Professor Emmanuel Dapo F. Asaju has straddled the academia and the pulpit with equal positive impact. He began his career as an academic at the University of Ilorin from where he graduated with such an impressive result that he was retained as graduate assistant in 1983 before he moved over to Lagos State University, where he made great impact and rose to the rank of deputy vice-chancellor.
He later became the vice-chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, owned by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). He has been a priest since 1998, and has been a bishop in the last 12 years. He has been a turnaround man everywhere he goes. He has an uncommon grace in that regard. All the years that God has brought him my way, I have never met a more consistent man in hard work, humility, moral rectitude, generosity and pursuit of God. I have known him for 24 years, and I can wager that my testimony would be in tandem with all those who have encountered him. Certainly, there are no perfect human beings, but in him you find a man who, within the boundaries of human limitations, has been consistent and acquitted himself creditably in all that has been entrusted to him.
He was my vicar at the Anglican Church of Epiphany, Iba Estate, Lagos, which was the first church where he was vicar. There, he mentored many of us and has even become a benefactor to many of us. God used him to bring me into the ordained ministry, and I have not found a better mentor. There must be several other people who God has used him to bless and lift. It was little wonder that, last Saturday, when he was enthroned the Anglican bishop of Ilesa, there were over 60 archbishops and bishops in attendance. There were countless priests. His Lordship has touched many lives. He has been the Bishop Theologian of Church of Nigeria for 12 years, overseeing the theological training colleges across the country.
Now he has been given a diocese to oversee. It is instructive that the Ilesa Diocese has been in existence since 1974. Bishop Asaju is stepping into the shoes of great predecessors in office. They include Bishop Samuel Sowale and the irrepressible Most Rev. Ephraim Adebola Ademomo, immediate past bishop of Lagos, Archbishop of Lagos Province and dean, Church of Nigeria. Ademowo, whose impact in Ilesa is remarkable, was almost ecstatic last Saturday at the enthronement of Bishop Asaju in Ilesa when he told the people that they would see him more often in Ilesa, because he was sure that a turnaround man had come to Ilesa, and he would lend Asaju all the support he could, even if by his physical presence.
The people of Ilesa would have known, even by the sheer number of those in attendance, such that the programme of events hardly went round half of those who graced the occassion, that something new and, indeed, good has happened to their diocese. It was a sign of the good things to come that it was a few days to Bishop Asaju’s enthronement that Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State announced his decision to upgrade the College of Education, Ilesa, to a full-fledged university. Asaju, being a seasoned academic and cleric, would be useful to the state in that respect. He has been prepared for the job of a bishop in many ways. His trajectory cuts across many church denominations.
When he was ordained a priest in the Anglican Communion by the late Prime of the Church, Archbishop Abiodun Adetiloye, in 1998, Asaju was already a general overseer in a Pentecostal setting. But God instructed him to return to his roots, the Anglican Church where his father, unknown to him, had prayed that one of his sons would become a priest. The prayer of his father, Chief Michael Asaju, who was president of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the 1970s, followed him. It was also instructive that Bishop Asaju actually desired to be lawyer but no university admitted him for that course, in spite of his brilliance. He reluctantly went to study Religious Studies at University of Ilorin after he was turned down to study Law twice. God was directing him without him even knowing, in his reluctance.
He had worshipped in other churches, including Deeper life, Winners’ Church and the one where he acted as general overseer before his father’s prayer, as it were, brought him back to the Anglican Church. He also garnered all that experience to make him a better bishop, who has a good mix of Pentecostalism and the revered Anglican traditions in such a mix that he has always held both the young and old in equal awe. Little wonder that one of his avowed goals, as stated in his moving sermon at his enthronement, was to pay special attention to young people. He has been as asset to the church, and it is evident that Ilesa would become a witness to the turnaround tradition that has followed him everywhere he went. He had served the church in many capacities. He was rector of Crowther Graduate School of Theology, Abeokuta, vice-chancellor, Ajayi Crowther University and many other assignments.
His footprints are visible at Ajayi Crowther University, where he ended his tour of duty in October 2020. His successor, Professor Timothy Adebayo, has held the torch high, and is growing infrastructure in the university in leaps and bounds, in spite of lean resources. Certainly, a turnaround has come to Ilesa, and we pray that God’s grace will follow Bishop Asaju in his tour of duty in Ilesa.
