Ondo Mission
By Adekunle Olufunsho Bamishaye
Adekunle Olufunsho Bamishaye is the secretary/treasurer of Ondo Mission, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.
First Published: January 29, 2020
Ondo Mission, formerly South West Nigeria Conference, was organized in 1998, and reorganized and renamed in 2013. Ondo Mission covers the present Ondo state of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is present in 17 out of 18 local government areas, namely: Akoko North-East, Akoko North-West, Akoko South-East, Akoko South-West, Akure North, Akure South, Ese Odo, Idanre, Ifedore, Ilaje, Irele, Odigbo, Okitipupa, Ondo East, Ondo West, and Ose, Owo. Adventist presence has not been found in Ile Oluji/Oke Igbo local government area. Ondo Mission headquarters is in Akure, Onto State, Nigeria.1
Ondo Mission as of June 30, 2018, had 22 churches, a membership of 2,239, and a population of 4,843,017.2 In 2017 there were 39 companies, 14 regular employees, three lay-pastors, seven pioneer evangelists, and 24 literature evangelists.3
The Establishment of SDA Church in Ese Odo
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ondo state began in the early 1940s in the Riverine area when Isaac Biobaku came in contact with Adventists when he went for treatment at the Adventist hospital in Ile-Ife.4 Around 1946 he went to Igbobini to share with his people his new found faith about Saturday as the biblical day of worship. Then the West Nigeria Mission sent preachers to Igbobini to teach prospects Bible doctrines using picture rolls, and eventually a group of converts was established there.5
Igbobini was the first point of entry of the Adventist Church in Ondo state and that was in 1946. Isaac Biobaku was raised as a member of the Methodist Church, a denomination his parents belonged to. When he fell sick of a strange ailment for which there was no hope for survival, he was taken to the Seventh-day Adventist Hospital in Ile-Ife where he was treated and miraculously healed. On his return to Igbobini, he testified to God’s goodness. He shared with his people his testimony and his new faith about Saturday being the biblical day of worship. The acceptance of this belief by his people marked the beginning of Adventism in the entire Ondo state, and the Ondo Mission was established.6 Pastor D. B. Alabi was sent from Ibadan to Igbobini and was received by Pa Luwarin who arranged a place of worship for the new congregation.7
In 1952, 60 acres of land were given to the church, though a good part had been encroached on, and a church building was erected on the land. In 1977 the church at Igbobini was organized and it became the district headquarters, supervising Ugbo, Obe-Nla, Igbotako, and Igbotu.8
The Establishment of SDA Church in Akoko North-East
The Ikare Akoko Adventist Church began in 1955 through the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Alabi, natives of Ayetoro Ekiti at Okela Quarters of Ikare. Later, in 1962, four Ede indigenes who were workers at the General Hospital, Ikare Akoko, joined them. In 1965, Pa Gabriel O. Olaiya, also from Ayetoro Ekiti, and Joseph and Michael Ayoola from Ikare Akoko, joined the group. As the members increased, the place of worship was moved to Local Authority Primary School, Ilepa, Ikare Akoko. In 1967, Pa G. O. Olaiya, Mr. Akomolafe, and six other persons were the first people to be baptized in Ikare Akoko. It was in the same year that Ikare Church was moved from Owo district of churches to Omuo Ekiti district of churches with Pastor Familusi as the pastor in charge of the Omuo Ekiti district.9
Establishment of Ondo Mission
The North Western Nigeria Union Mission organized three fields out of the South West Nigeria Conference on February 3, 2011, at the conference headquarters, Akure. The fields are Lagos Mainland Conference, Ogun Conference, and Ekiti-Ondo Administrative Unit. The elected officers of Ekiti-Ondo Administrative Unit were Pastor E. A. Adeleye as president, Pastor C. O. Ogah as secretary, and Sunday Aremu as treasurer.10
On July 17, 2012, it was voted at the executive committee meeting of the South West Nigeria Conference to organize the Ekiti Ondo Administrative Unit into Ekiti Conference and Ondo Mission, with the understanding that both Ekiti and Ondo could stand independently. The pioneer officers of Ondo Mission were Pastor Adeyinka Samuel Ogunseitan as president, Sunday Olajide Aremu as secretary-treasurer (he was transferred to the SDA School of Nursing, Ile Ife, in November 2012 and replaced by Adekunle Olufunsho Bamishaye in May 2015). Ondo Administrative Unit’s name was changed to Ondo Mission at the administrative committee meeting of the Western Nigeria Union Conference on February 23, 2015.11
The departmental directors were elected as follows: Daniel Ayodeji Ajayi (Children’s Ministries/SabbathSchool/PersonalMinistries/Evangelism); Victor Ajimijaye Famuyiwa (Publishing/Spirit of Prophecy/Voice of Prophecy); Kunle Falade (Stewardship/Trust Services/Communication); Michael Olusola Olayinka (Adventist Men’s Organization); Josephine A. Ogunbadejo (Adventist Women’s Ministries); Abayomi O. Adetuyi (Adventist Chaplaincy/Adventist Youth Ministries).12
First Constituency Session of Ondo Mission
Ondo Mission’s officers were elected by the executive committee meeting of the Western Nigeria Union Conference held December 5-8, 2016, at Akure. The following officers were elected: Pastor Nurudeen Oladipupo Agbabiaka (president); Elder Adekunle Olufunsho Bamishaye (secretary-treasurer).13
Second Constituency Session of Ondo Mission
The second constituency session of Ondo Mission was held March 7-9, 2019, at the Ondo Mission headquarters, Akure, after the officers had been elected at the Executive Committee of the Western Nigeria Union Conference in January 2019. The officers remained Pastor Nurudeen Oladipupo Agbabiaka (president) and Elder Adekunle Olufunsho Bamishaye (secretary-treasurer) for 2019-2022.14
Sources
Executive Committee Minutes, 2016, Western Nigeria Union Conference archives, Ikeja, Lagos state, Nigeria.
Executive Committee Minutes, January 2019, Western Nigeria Union Conference archives, Ikeja, Lagos state, Nigeria.
Ondo Administrative Unit, Centenary Celebration (1914-2014), April 12, 2014. Ondo Mission archives, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria.
Ondo Mission of Seventh-day Adventist Church, Report of the First Constituency Session. January 27-28, 2017. Ondo Mission archives, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria.
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2017-2019.
Insight Magazine. A Publication of Western Nigeria Union Conference. June 2019 Edition.
Notes
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“Ondo Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2019), 412; Ondo Mission of Seventh-day Adventist Church, Report of the First Constituency Session, January 27-28, 2017, 21, Ondo Mission archives, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.↩
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“Ondo Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2019), 412.↩
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Ondo Mission of Seventh-day Adventist Church, Report of the First Constituency Session, January 27-28, 2017, 21, Ondo Mission archives, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria.↩
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Ondo Administrative Unit of Seventh-day Adventist Church, Centenary Celebration Program Booklet, April 12, 2014, 21.↩
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Ibid., 21, 25, 27.↩
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Olatunde Biobaku, relative to Isaac Biobaku, interview by author, 2017.↩
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Ondo Administrative Unit of Seventh-day Adventist Church, Centenary Celebration Program Booklet, April 12, 2014, 27, Ondo Mission archives, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.↩
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Ibid., 27.↩
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Ibid., 29.↩
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Ibid., 21.↩
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Western Nigeria Union Conference, ADCOM Minutes, February 23, 2015, Western Nigeria Union Conference archives, Ikeja, Lagos state, Nigeria.↩
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Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2017), 513.↩
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Western Nigeria Union Conference, Executive Committee Minutes, 2016, Western Nigeria Union Conference archives, Ikeja, Lagos state, Nigeria. The following department directors were appointed: Victor Ajimijaye Famuyiwa (Sabbath School/Global Mission/Personal Ministries/Adventist Review/Evangelism); Clement Olanrewaju Ajisegbede (Publishing/Spirit of Prophecy/Voice of Prophecy); Michael Olusola Olayinka (Adventist Men’s Organization/Strategic Planning); Bolanle Olaitan (Adventist Women’s Ministries); Lauretta Ufuoma Olayemi (Adventist Youth Ministry); Sunday Jacob and Comfort Odunola Kayode (Family Life). Other members of the executive council were: Olorunfemi Olaiya, Femi Iwatan, Olufemi Bamidele, Olayinka Olajumoke Ikonne (Mrs.), Michael Afolabi, Oluyemisi Owolabi-Olajide (Mrs.), Idowu Ajimakin (Ibid.).↩
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Western Nigeria Union Conference, Executive Committee Minutes, January 2019, Western Nigeria Union Conference archives, Ikeja, Lagos state, Nigeria. The directors appointed to various departments during the second constituency session are: Victor Ajimijaye Famuyiwa (Sabbath School/Personal Ministries/Evangelism/GM); Iyanu Gbubemi Bayone (Publishing/Spirit of Prophecy./Voice of Prophecy); Clement Olanrewaju Ajisegbede (Ministerial); Michael Olusola Olayinka (Adventist Men’s Organization/Strategic Planning); Bolanle Olaitan (Adventist Women’s Ministries); Lauretta Ufoma Olayemi (Adventist Youth Ministry); Samuel Olugbon Olayemi (Associate Director-Pathfinder, Adventist Youth Ministries/OYIM Coordinator-Male); Yemi Abiwo (Associate Director-Adventurer, Adventist Youth Ministries/OYIM Coordinator-Female); Sunday Jacob and Comfort Odunola Kayode (Family Life); Olufemi Bamidele (Adventist Chaplaincy/Public Campus Ministries); Joyce Morenike Adebayo (Children’s Ministries); Michael Adeyemi (Stewardship/Trust Services); Comfort Odunola Kayode (Education); Doris Erejuwa (Health); Adebukunola Oluseyi Agbabiaka (Shepherdess International). Other members of the executive councils chosen from each of the seven districts in Ondo Mission were: Oladokun Ajayi, Femi Iwatan, Olukayode Oladele Adebayo, Olayinka Olajumoke Ikonne (Mrs.), Bayo Aniyi, Oluyemisi Owolabi-Olajide (Mrs.), Idowu Ajimakin (Insight Magazine, A Publication of Western Nigeria Union Conference, June 2019, 8).↩