REFLECTIONS: Lessons From the Life of My Late Father – Bishop Stephen Adegbite
Bishop (Prof) Stephen Adegbite, the esteemed Chairman of Lagos State Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), alongside as Chaplain of Aso Rock Chapel, Abuja, pays tribute to his late father, Chief Moses Adediran Adegbite, JP, and speak on his legacies.
Chief Adegbite passed away on Friday, 14th November, 1925, at the ripe age of 86, with his burial scheduled for Friday, 30th January, 2026, at Fiditi, Osun State.
Bishop Adegbite fondly reflects on his father’s enduring legacy, highlighting how his influence and values significantly shaped his life and that of his siblings.
Our family modest background taught us the importance of humility and hard work, with the highest my dad was able to use in his time as a young man was a Suzuki 125 double-sided motorcycle.
Our late dad was a rugged man, resilient, hardworking, and focused. He taught us the value of hard work, satisfaction and contentment.
As a retired technician, he travelled a journey of about one and a half hours daily, from Fiditi to Ibadan for over 20 years, demonstrating remarkable dedication. I recall an incident of 40 years ago, where he survived a serious accident after running into a road barrier while on his way back from work because he also went to the neighbouring villages to administer utility tablets to farmers.
As the first son and second-born, I have an elder sister and younger siblings. I was often reminded by my father’s counsel, especially on leadership and accountability with the phrase, “You are born to lead; if you cannot lead, you will follow, and if you cannot follow, you fall out of the way for other people to pass”, had a profound impact on my life.
When I struggled for my WAEC in 1985, and had just two distinctions in Yoruba and Bible knowledge, with P and F9 in others subjects. He said, I should go and learn how to be a roadside mechanic and I said it would never happen. He asked me, what do I want to do? I said, I am going back to school. He encouraged me to work harder, and I went to Community High School, also in Fiditi, to resit for my WAEC exams. When the results came out this time, I got the best results in that school and that became my turning point.
I deeply reasoned on that phrase, “You are born to lead, if you cannot lead, you will follow. If you cannot follow, you fall out of the way and allow other people to pass”, and I said to myself, “I am born to lead and I am going to lead”.
After I expressed my desire to become a pastor at 20, despite initial reservations about my ministerial aspirations. Meanwhile, I’ve been offered admission to study finance at Iree Polytechnic but I declined and made up my mind to go to the seminary and be trained as a minister. He eventually supported my decision, saying, ‘If God has called you, who am I to say no?’
I’ve now served in the ministry for 38 years, and my father would often express pride in my achievements.
Two years ago, I asked him, sir, how are you feeling now that I’m a minister of God? He said, I wouldn’t have asked for anything better from the Lord. Now that the two of you are bishops in the same church, my immediate younger brother, Bishop Dr Abayomi Solomon Adegbite is also a bishop in the Methodist Church of Nigeria, you broke that record.
His teachings on contentment, and God’s providence as reflected in Philippians 4:5 and 13, have been a cornerstone of my life.
I’ve learned to be content in any situation, there’s nothing anyone has that entices me; and I’m always okay with the one I have.
I attribute my achievement to God’s sustaining grace and the values instilled in me by my father.
When God called me at the age of 20, I told Him, I would not borrow, and to God’s glory, in the last 38 years, I have never borrowed from anyone. By His grace, God has sustained me. Though, there are periods of low days, there are periods of God’s blessings and the increase, we give all the glory to the Lord.
We learned all this from him, and today, we can say, he left a footprint with a good legacy, and has gone to be with the Lord.
His own father (my grandfather) was a steward and a man of integrity in the Methodist Church for 38 years. He was in charge of everything, including keeping of the Church’s money, and almost doing everything. My dad was also a steward in the church we started in our living room when I started the ministry journey 38 years ago. That church is the third Methodist Church in Fiditi today.
To God’s glory, I built the church from the ground level, and started the mass, we call it pastoral, and the Anglicans called it vicarage, and completed it. That is the gift the family will present to the church as a record and memorial for our dad’s burial.
The legacy he left behind is a testament to his remarkable life and I am grateful for the impact he had on my life.
