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From Fred Itua, Abuja
The Venerable Emmanuel Olorunmola Ajayi, a retired Archdeacon of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) who devoted 41 years to ministry across multiple dioceses, served under seven bishops, and helped translate Christian liturgy into the Ebira language, died on Thursday, 4 June 2026, at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Lokoja, Kogi State. He was 86.
His son, Omeiza Ajayi of Vanguard Newspapers, confirmed the passing in a statement on Monday, describing his father as a man who “did not retreat” and “did not surrender” but “completed his assignment and went home as a soldier goes home after a long and honourable campaign, with nothing left undone and nothing left unsaid”.
The elder Ajayi’s ministerial journey began in Lagos and carried him through Zambia, Kwara, Ondo, and eventually to Kogi State, a career spanning continents and communities, classrooms and pulpits, and every kind of congregation that Nigeria’s religious landscape could produce.
He served under seven different bishops, a record that speaks not only to the longevity of his vocation but to its consistency across changing ecclesiastical leadership.
Among his most enduring contributions was the role he played as a church planter. Wherever he was posted, he tried to ensure the birth of another church, built from the ground up with the patience and rigour that defined everything he did.
He also served for years as Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) across several of his postings, a position that placed him formally at the intersection of Nigeria’s major Christian denominations and reflected a commitment to the unity of the faith that transcended institutional boundaries.
A musicologist and accomplished pianist, the Venerable Ajayi also served as Diocesan Chaplain of Choir Masters and Organists, carrying the Church’s musical tradition as a formal responsibility.
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He served additionally as Diocesan Chaplain of the Boys’ Brigade, Nigeria, an organisation through which he shaped young men with the same patience and discipline he brought to congregational life.
Among his most personal legacies was his work on the Ebira language. He spent sleepless nights, according to the family tribute, spearheading the translation of the Yoruba hymn book and the Church’s liturgy into Ebira, driven by a conviction that the gospel must reach people in the language closest to their hearts.
Between 1993 and 1996, he also organised Ebira literacy classes, first in Okene, and later in Ihima, his hometown, an effort that blended evangelism with education in the manner characteristic of his entire ministry.
He retired in 2010 at the rank of Archdeacon, having attained the age of 70. But the formal close of his commission did not end his service. Ministers and ministries from well beyond the Anglican Communion continued to seek him out for teaching, counsel, and prayer, and he obliged them all, without ceremony, until the end.
Funeral activities begin on Thursday, 11 June 2026, with an Afternoon of Tributes and Wake Keep at ‘Peace House’, Irivogo, Oboroke, Ihima, in the Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State, starting at 2.00 pm.
The funeral service holds the following day, Friday, 12 June 2026, at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Oboroke, Ihima, Okehi Local Government Area, Kogi State.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs E.Z. Ajayi, five children, numerous grandchildren, a great-grandchild, and, in the words of his family, “thousands who call him Daddy.”
