The Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Henry Ndukuba, has described the late former Bishop of the Diocese of Lagos West, Peter Adebiyi, as a man whose life positively impacted many people.
Ndukuba said this on Wednesday during a commendation service for the late Bishop at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Cathedral in Ikeja GRA.
He said, “We pay compliments to the family of our patriarch and father, Dr Peter Adebiyi. We thank God because this is a celebration of life. He lived in God’s service, an evidence of the grace of God, he imparted to many people and helped many to find purpose and meaning.
“A good number of bishops and priests, especially those that are here, have, at one way or the other been impacted by this servant of God.
“He lived an accomplished life and indeed, fought a good fight, kept the faith and ran the full course of the race and ended well and strong.
“I want to tell you that Papa Adebiyi has left a legacy which should continue; he left a legacy of humility, integrity and truthfulness.”
In his sermon, the Primate cited the Adebiyi family as an example of how the family altar should be strong and burning for God even in the face of affliction and suffering.
He stated, “A family where fire burns on the altar is always seen in the lives of the children and yesterday when his family came out to sing, it made me remember my immediate family and I said to myself, ‘this is a family where the fire burns.’ I want to assure you that these men and women have taken something from Baba and they will never forget it.
“Baba and Mama passed on testimony of what God has been doing and their children not only have the conviction that they are serving the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they also know that they are serving the God of their father.
“Even in the time of weakness, sickness, affliction, they saw Baba stand strong and I believe each one of them will stand as a minister of the gospel. This is why I must also charge you to take care of the weak because every family has one.
“We also have a lesson to learn from Job who experienced suffering and was rejected by his friends. The issue here is why should there be suffering and affliction even for somebody who is righteous? Actually, we live in a generation that does not want people to hear anything or encourage people passing through trouble or afflictions, but the reality is that afflictions will always be there because the righteous also go through afflictions.”
Some of the dignitaries present at the event included the Bishop of Lagos Diocese, Rt Rev Humphrey Olumakaiye; Bishop of Lagos Mainland, Rt Rev Akinpelu Johnson; Bishop of Yola Diocese, Rt Rev Ibrahim Marcus; the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Chieftaincy Matters, Bayo Osiyemi; and the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Business Affairs, Rev Bukola Adeleke.