By Damola Emmanuel
The earthly remains of the giant of faith, and former General Overseer of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev. Dr. Wilson Adebogun Badejo, were interred at the Ikoyi Vaults, Lagos, Friday, in a blaze of glory.
The burial, aptly tagged Wilson Badejo Coronation, was a funeral fit for the royalty as it attracted a huge array of who-is-who in Nigeria and the diaspora.
It was a befitting testimonial to the immortality of a legend who gave his all to his calling and sterling service to His Maker, Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world.
Friday’s epochal event was the grand finale of the rites of passage that started, Wednesday, with an evening of tributes, held at the Foursquare national headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, during which dignitaries from all walks of life poured deluge of praises on the memory of Rev. Dr. Badejo.
The funeral train moved some notches higher, Thursday, with a well- attended wake-keep at the same venue. Friday’s grand finale began with a funeral service at the Multi-purpose Hall of the University of Lagos, Akoka, culminating in Badejo’s burial at Ikoyi Vaults.
Rev. Dr. Wilson Adebogun Badejo died in the early hours of Saturday, August 7, 2021, at the age of 74.
Breaking the sad news through a press statement, the National Secretary of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev. Yomi Oyinloye, describing the fallen giant of faith as “a great achiever, an accomplished man of God, a role model, a bridge builder, a quintessential ecclesiastical frontline leader, a gifted orator, a trail blazer, mentor, teacher per excellence, an apostle and a respected family man.”
Dr. Badejo, a veteran surgeon, served in various capacities on his way to the apex of leadership ladder in Foursquare Gospel Church of Nigeria, crowning his stewardship with his election in 1999 as the General Overseer.
Badejo, a fiery and world acclaimed preacher, who was also the Founder of the Wilson Badejo Foundation, WBF, served meritoriously as Foursquare General Overseer for 10 years, retiring gloriously in 2009.
Highly connected, and widely travelled, Rev. Badejo used the Foundation to raise many less privileged Nigerians, brilliant but indigent students, widows and orphans, among others, from the ashes of poverty and deprivation, and helped them achieve resounding success.
“He was a man of many parts,” the church continued its eulogy of Rev. Dr. Badejo, “who was able to unlock socio-cultural gateways, and in the process successfully endeared several friends and loved ones from all walks of life across the divide.”
