WHAT WILL POSTERITY READ ABOUT YOU? (in honour of Rev. Dr. S. T. Ola Akande)

Dearly Beloved, WHAT WILL POSTERITY READ ABOUT YOU? (in honour of Rev. Dr. S. T. Ola Akande) “At Joppa there was a certain disciple named ... Dorcas … [who] was full of good works and charitable deeds…. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died…. And all the widows stood by [Peter] weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them” (Acts 9:36-37a, 39b NKJV). Some days ago, when I read about the news of the home call of Rev. Dr. Samuel Titilola Oladele Akande (1926-2020) on social media some hours after his demise, I received the news with mixed feelings. As a growing Baptist boy, I knew Rev. Dr. S. T. Ola Akande in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a great icon of the Nigerian Baptist faith. He was then the President (the chief presiding officer) and later the General Secretary (the chief executive officer) of the Nigerian Baptist Convention. I looked up to him as a role model that was worthy of emulation, and I aspired to be like him. He later joined the Nigerian politics in the early 1990s. When I joined the workforce of the Convention at its headquarters in Oke Bola, Ibadan, Nigeria, I heard many stories about him. These stories made me to have mixed feelings when I heard the news about his demise. His demise reminded me of a controversy about what one should say about the dead. Expectedly, many accolades have been said about the late S. T. Ola Akande since his demise few days ago. Many more tributes will still emerge about him. Undoubtedly, S. T. Ola Akande was an enigma personified in the annals of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, and this write-up is not to praise him or do otherwise. One thing is certain: Rev. Dr. S. T. Ola Akande has become a history. Nevertheless, the death of this great orator and indefatigable preacher of the gospel is to remind each one of us that we will die one day, and whether we like it or not posterity will read about what we lived for on earth. When Dorcas (also known as Tabitha) died, people gathered together to recount the good deeds she had done. In fact, a message was sent to Simon Peter to come and wake her up because she was too good to die (see Acts 9:36-43). The books of the Kings and the Chronicles in the Old Testament chronicled the lives and deaths of many kings of Israel and Judah. Each king was measured with either the phrase “he did what was right in the sight of the LORD” or the phrase “he did evil in the sight of the LORD”. Posterity is reading about each of these kings today. You also will become history one day. Your words, actions and/or inactions today will become what people will use to measure you. Whether people will be allowed to honestly say what they know about you or not, posterity will read about you one day. Remember the Yoruba axiom: “Arise ni arika; arika ni baba iregun. Ohun ti a ba se ni oni, oro itan ni bi o di ola.” [Literally: “What one did or does is what people will recount; what people will recount about one is the father of reference point. What one does today will definitely become history tomorrow.”] What will posterity read about you after your demise? Adieu, Rev. Dr. S. T. Ola Akande! In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). Prayer Point: Pray for the grace to do the right things now that you are living so that posterity will read good things about you after your demise. NB This message is dedicated to Rev. Dr. SAMUEL TITILOLA OLADELE AKANDE (ST Ola Akande) (1926-2020).