By Tosin Adesile
How best can one describe a man who had so much opportunity to become the Youngest Vice chancellor in Nigeria, having emerged as youngest PhD holder in Mathematics, but opted to be a general overseer/pastor of a church that has no money to maintain churches, let alone pay salary.
Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, who clocks 79 today, is a brilliant, hardworking, humble, productive, faithful, spirited, quintessential believer and a man of vision, who has not only impacted his world, but has been a blessing in all ramifications.
Pastor Adeboye was born in the Nationalist age, 1942 precisely, in Ifewara village in Osun State, Nigeria, to a humble family who couldn’t afford to buy him a school sandal till he clocked 18 and was able to get one which, today, the rest is history.
The beginning was rough and ugly, yet, he remained unshaken and unwavering.
The man of God, Adeboye, has some uncommon characteristics which distinguished him-Focus, Consistency, diligence, ambition brought him to where he is today.
In the face of limited finances, academic politics, lack of finances, Pastor Adeboye, having graduated from Ilesha Grammar School, Ilesha, Osun State, moved to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He didn’t stop at that till he bagged a Master degree in Hydrodynamics and a Doctorate Degree from the University of Lagos in Applied mathematics.
In the early days of the ministry, Pastors had nothing to feed on, but Pastor Adeboye was dogged and determined to preach the gospel to every corners of the world. Today, the redeemed Christian Church can boast of it presence in over 184 countries of the world, and every 5 kilometer distance in Nigeria.
Seventy Nine years of vision, hard work and impact could not but attract reward, harvest and appreciation, leading credence to the world of God which says: “Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings and not before mean men”-Proverb 22:29- which today has come to reality.
The work wouldn’t have been easy without the support of Mrs. Foluke Adenike Adeboye who married Daddy Adeboye in 1967 and, since then, they have been driving the vision of preaching Christ to every nook and crannies of the world.
In his private life, Pastor Adeboye is a fire-brand man of God who intercedes on behalf of the Nation and everyone that has come across him, even during his daily prayer walk which he has taken much so much delight in. In the public, the mention of “let somebody shout hallelujah” will tell you that Pastor Adeboye is in the building.
To his credit, pastor Adeboye is a celebrated speaker, teacher, author, father and a Nation builder whose contributions cannot be over-emphasized.
Fondly called Daddy G.O, he has remained a spiritual father to many spiritual fathers, a mentor to many and a man who believes in a new Nigeria.
As a celebrated mathematician, all I asked for Pastor Enoch Adeboye is a Pythagoras blessing which is coined from Pythagoras theorem, which states that in a right angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse side is equal to the sum of squares of the other two sides. Here is wishing Baba a multiple blessing that combines Hypotenuse which represents March, while January represents perpendicular and February base.
Here I am sending 79 hearty cheers to a man of God who stands tall at 79 and still impacting his world positively.