Encomium
Three weeks after the death of Nigeria’s oldest preacher, Pa Akinbode Sadela, his family are yet to come out with his burial details.
It was reported days after his death a burial programme would be made public few days after… and three weeks now, nothing is heard. In fact, Pa Sadela’s corpse is still in the morgue.
We called the church office on Saturday, September 13, 2014, for clarification. The person who picked our call wouldn’t want to speak as he hung up. Repeated calls were ignored, while our text message was not replied.
A source revealed to ENCOMIUM Weekly there is no definite reason for the delay in the burial of the centenarian. For now, the church has not appointed a successor to Pa Sadela.
Again, there have been disagreement as to where Pa Sadela would be buried. While some section voted for him to be buried in the church headquarters in Gbagada, Lagos, others want him to be buried in his hometown in Ondo State.
Pa Sadela’s dream was to clock 120 but he didn’t get there. The death of Pa Samuel Akinbode Sadela, the General Overseer of Gospel Apostolic Church, on Sunday, August 24, 2014, attracted tributes from his teeming followers and leaders in the Christian world. Pa Sadela passed on at 113.
HIS UNFULFILLED DREAMS
The late preacher would have been 114 on August 31, 2014. His date of birth is not known, but in his biography, it was stated that he was born in August 1900. The church celebrates his birthday every August, and Sunday, August 31, 2014, was set aside for the birthday thanksgiving. Members had bought their Ankara fabric for the day as they used to do before the news of his death was disclosed.
The Ankara fabric was, however, worn to church on Sunday, August 31, 2014, which signaled the third and final day of the church’s annual revival. He also planned to celebrate one of his birthdays at Buckingham Palace, London, UK.
