Toast to Venerable Adewale Sanda as he retires

By Oluwafisan Bankale

ON April 5, the Venerable Adewale Olugbenga Sanda retires from his ministry in the Anglican Communion which he has been in for nearly 24 years. In those years, Venerable Sanda moved progressively from the unassailable foundation of being a long-standing member of the Scripture Union whose membership earned people the title of ‘SU’ years back. The venerable’s retirement conforms to the set age of 70 years. Venerable Sanda has been a soldier of Christ in the Diocese of Ibadan in the Anglican Communion. An enigma of sorts, despite the huge success in the civil service of Oyo State where he rose and became Director of Forestry, he listens to people who are lesser placed as a student listens to a teacher. When he is engaged in a discussion he pays close attention, he takes in your every word and is willing to work on those words once he is convinced of their veracity, relevance and efficacy.

Ebullient, gregarious, sure-footed, practical, pragmatic with a burst of throaty laughter gifted with great physical energy, he is up and about for the better of the day sometimes till late in the night playing his role of under-shepherd to his parishioners including through prayer sessions, dedicated fasts, revival services bible studies and so on. With equal measure, Sanda would take the gospel to his flock visiting them at home, or the sick in hospitals, or he is on phone following up on the welfare and well-being of his flock and indeed to believers irrespective of religion, for he is a man who is persuaded by the spirit of ecumenism.

Many of his parishioners in the various churches he pastored have testified to his readiness to jump in a car, in a taxi and sometimes on an Okada to give succour, bring hope and show love to them or their family members and even friends with whom he had no personal connections, but he responded to in line with his duty as their vicar and friend.

As further attestation to his gift for looking out for people, I give my own personal testimony as follows: As a result of the Covid lockdown, I was prevented from my plans to return to the US. So on this day, alone at home but with God, I picked up a call from Venerable Sanda and after quick greetings, he asked if I was home which I answered in the affirmative. Then he said, we are at your gate. Amazing! So, I got to the gate and in tow were three assisting priests, Revs. Sonibare, Layiwola and Aina. We heard a hearty discussion about the church and the Covid impact for about 30 minutes and then they departed.

A few weeks after, we were in discussions while walking on the church premises and then he said to me something like, ‘Mr. Bankale, I want you to serve in the post of Peoples’ Warden’. I was taken aback but I recovered quickly to decline because I saw myself on a flight already on my way back to the US. But I didn’t just say no. I explained to him, or so I thought, about the fact that I was going to be travelling a good deal and so it wasn’t going to be possible to function as warden since it would entail some measure of physical presence on the ground. He said, ‘Let’s pray about it, but leave the travelling part to me to handle.’ The plot widened, the ‘conspiracy’ thickened, one thing led to another, and so here I am as the people’s warden at St. Anne’s. In that story are numerous other stories, which we shall save for another day. Right now, I won’t want to be doing anything other than this assignment as a warden, for which I have Venerable Sanda to thank.

His faith is his trademark. He is so full of faith. I noticed early in my interactions with him that he is hardly fazed by situations that surround him, or by his family finding out about some of the trials some of his children went through with sickle cell anaemia. Indeed, he lost his only son to that ailment, and that was a point of connection between us, having lost two brothers myself to the ailment. His faith is propelled and attested to by the many personal and vicarious testimonies that he has in quantum. On the few occasions when he would tell me about his faith, I would intone and say that I wish he knew that his faith was written all over him so that he didn’t have to talk about it. Indeed, a thousand testimonies can come from his last three months in office before retirement, that is from January, when he decided to complete his home, which had been left unfinished and abandoned for many years. From time to time, he reels off the unending flow of financial, and supervisory support from family, friends, and parishioners from every corner. But I think one of the greatest testimonies of the values cherished by Venerable Sanda lies in the fact that he didn’t have a full roof over his head until just about a few days before retirement. A cynic would wonder why this would be so. Well, cynicism will disappear when people get to know that he is one of those people of whom Yorubas would say, o le fi oju e t’ore, roughly translated to mean that ‘he could gift his eyes’.

Even when, a few months before his retirement, around October 2022, I was trying to limit church expenditure to ensure that we had the money ready for his retirement. He was unaware of what I was trying to do. And so, one day I said, ‘Sir, we need to save money for your retirement and so let’s cut down on some of our expenditure’. His response was immediate. ‘Eeh, Mr Bankale e ma worry, e je ka wo oun ti Olorun a se’; meaning: ‘eeh, Mr Bankale don’t worry lets’ leave retirement in God’s hands’. The correct way to interpret his life is that in the civil service, he didn’t soil his hands with lucre. That itself is testimony to the fact that he clearly was an incorruptible officer of government where he rose to the rank of director in a department which for many is considered a pathway to wealth. But see what God has done in three short months. Amazing daily testimonies!

We congratulate him for the good work he has done, as attested to by his colleagues, his parishioners, and interestingly, in the most generous terms by his boss, His Grace Bishop Joseph Akinfenwa who made such generous comments about this faithful servant in a special recording the church media crew a few days ago. As His Grace noted, Venerable Sanda does not put on a glove to discuss the truth. He tells it as it is and when people are playing games that offend equity, you cannot miss the change in his visage.

The word of God says by their fruits you shall know them. And if the testimonies of his parishioners in terms of the spiritual impact of his leadership will ordinarily suffice, his own testimonies and personal conduct bear even greater evidence of his good fruits. The physical development he brought with him and his fruitful evangelism in the planting of churches bear even greater testimony to his faith, hardwork in support of it. Since arriving in St. Anne’s in 2017, God has used him to facilitate the completion of the Archdeacon Iluyomade Multipurpose Building, a library/bookshop, a new clinic, a brand new 110Kva generator and solar power to light up the church premises and the church auditorium. Lately, he got a certain family to donate a music school that will train people, especially those in the youth bracket in the Anglican Communion. He also bought church land in Aiyegun-Oleyo and a 14-acre memorial garden in Onipe.

In summary, Apostle Paul, in one of his pastoral epistles to St. Titus, described the duties and the needed skillset for the priesthood. Of immediate relevance here are verses 7-9 of Titus Chapter 1 where he said: ‘Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gains. Verse 8 goes on to nail down the characteristics above when it says, ‘rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. In verse 9 Paul added that ‘he must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it’, In this mix, you will find, without much hassle, the Venerable Adewale Olugbenga Sanda.

At this point, we congratulate Mama Jokotade Sanda, who mirrors her husband in accessibility, amicability, humility and simplicity. She is herself a prayer warrior which is an asset to Ven, Sanda’s ministry. We also congratulate Barrister Esther, Ms Oluwadamilola and Ms Toluwani, their three adorable daughters for being gifted with a father who knows God and dwells in his tabernacle. There is no doubting the fact that Venerable Sanda’s ministry drew strength from both his wife and his children. I suspect the same with his mother. A little tired but graceful and pretty in her late 90s. We also congratulate Mama on the successful life of a beloved son of hers. We pray that the family will remain bound together with love and that God will remain their anchor and compass as they continue to make their way through life. Retirement shall open new vistas for Venerable Sanda to live and serve the Lord. Amen