Sola Abraham Oyelana (1982-2025)
By: Deji Yesufu
A typical working-class Nigerian home is quickly becoming something similar to what is obtained in the Western world. Gone are the days when the man does all the earnings and leaves his wife in the house to cater for the children. Today, if most of us will survive the harsh economic climate that Nigeria has bestowed on us all, both man and wife must work. It means also that traditional roles like babysitting children, cooking, and school runs, which hitherto were the main preserve of the woman of the house, are now equally shared by the man. It was while venturing on a similar role that Sola Abraham Oyelana met his death. Sola had taken his three daughters: Tomisin (9), Tomiwa (8), and Tobilola (4) to school. He had dropped the two older ones at the primary school within the neighbourhood of Ipaja where he had lived since the 1990s. He had carried Tobi in his hand and was heading to her daycare, saddled with having to take her lunch bag and water. Anyone who knows Sola knows that he is a man who never shrinks from work – he served both family and church faithfully.
Sola was on the way to Tobi’s daycare when he was run over by a young man on a bike. The report that I got stated that at the very point of impact, Sola was more intent on shielding and protecting his daughter, so that the hands he ought to have used to guide himself as he hit the floor, he used to hold Tobi. He hit the street floor with his head and went into comma immediately. The bike man who ran into him, noticing that all the attention was on the motionless Sola, picked up his bike and fled. Sola had succeeded in shielding his daughter: Tobi had no scratch on her body. A good Samaritan found Sola’s phone and despite the lock on it, he discovered that Sola Abraham had wisely stored some emergency numbers on the phone. He called one of them which, thankfully was that of his wife. She alerted the church Sola served and, in a few minutes, they were at the site of the accident. Tobi was retrieved, while Sola was conveyed to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), where a five-hour surgery was performed on his head. After the surgery, Sola was monitored at the intensive care unit of the hospital. Sola never recovered. At the wake-keep, on the 31st of January, 2025, at Christ Bible Church, Ipaja, Pastor Osagie of Sovereign Grace Bible Church told mourners that from the moment of impact to the ground, after which Sola went into a comma, he never opened his eyes again. It is safe to say that he was immediately translated into the presence of his Saviour on that Thursday morning, a little after 8 am.
Olorunnisola Abraham Oyelana was born into the family of Mr Ojo and Mrs Grace Oyelana on the 28th of October, 1982. He was their firstborn child and the parents had every reason to rejoice over his birth. He was born in Bariga, Lagos. For his primary school education, Sola attended the Jelly Las International School in Agege, Lagos, from 1987 to 1991. Sola was a native of Ekiti State. In 1991, Sola began his secondary school education at St. Joseph High School, Mangoro, Lagos. He obtained his Secondary School certificate in 1997. Sola joined Government Technical College in Ikotun Lagos in 2001, where he specialized in furniture and building. He was there until 2003. In 2005, Sola commenced undergraduate studies at the Lagos State University (LASU) where he obtained a BSc. Degree in Economics. Sola has a certificate in Pastoral Studies and Theology, which he obtained from the Christ’s Pastors Seminary in Lagos (2013). He also obtained a diploma in Pastoral Studies and Theology from the London Reformed Baptist Seminary in 2018. Sola has three younger siblings (Adeloye Deborah, Ololade Elizabeth, and Segun Michael) and two step-siblings (Bukola and Oluwatosin). Sola married his beautiful wife, Adejumoke Hassan, on the 20th of June, 2015, and the Lord gave them three wonderful daughters.
Sola’s death raises some salient issues that must be considered to evade certain avoidable mishaps. The first that we must consider is the sociological question of what to do with the mass of unemployed and unskilled Nigerian youths that have taken to bike transport as a means of livelihood in South-West Nigeria. I understand that by law it is illegal to ride bikes on major roads in Lagos State. Unfortunately, like most other laws in this country, there is very little effort at enforcing them. There is also the question of who and who is licencing bike riders in the country. It appears that any Tom, Dick, and Harry can just pick up a bike, learn a few rudimentary lessons at riding, and then hit the streets. A 150CC engine bike, the type that many use for transport in Nigeria, weighs between 120 to 150kg. That is about double the weight of an average man. Combine that with the weight of the rider, and then consider the force of that impact on a stationary body, the resulting impulse that will occasion a force of impact will be deadly (in Physics, the impulse is the product of mass and velocity). Beyond prayers, the Lagos State government will do well to avoid another accident like this if they will only ensure that the laws, they have enacted in the states are kept, and that bike riders are dully certified. It is Sola today; no one knows who will suffer a mishap tomorrow.
There was one testimony that was recounted by most people at the wake-keep: Sola Abraham served the Lord Jesus Christ through the local church. Sola was a faithful member of Sovereign Grace Bible Church, which he joined in 2012. He had a strong desire to see a church planted in the Ipaja area of Lagos and worked earnestly to see that Christ Bible Church came to fruition there. He would be considered a founding member of that assembly. One cannot finish this report on Sola without thanking these two churches for all they did to ensure that Sola was kept alive. From the point the churches were alerted, all resources were deployed to ensure that our brother would come alive. But we are confident that it has pleased the Lord to take Sola home to be with him. One must also thank these two churches for their commitment to the wife and daughters. The Lord who is the husband to the widow, and Father of the fatherless, will ensure that the young family Sola left behind will not rue the passing of their father too much. We may call it untimely; but for our Lord, it is within his wonderful and gracious sovereign will. We bow to his good pleasure and worship because we are confident that his will shall be done both in this life and in the one to come. God’s purposes are always good for the saints.
Sola Abraham had very strong faith in what the Lord Jesus Christ would do in our lives. I confess that I often did not share his optimism; I believe that God has equipped believers with the resources to solve their problems. Sola understood this too but also understood that God often brings us to our limits and calls us to trust him. I suspect I would spend the rest of my life learning that kind of faith that Sola Abraham practised so well. Another testimony a lot of people gave concerning Sola was the heart of contentment he lived – this is something else we all can learn as we mourn the loss of our brother. As I was driven into Oshodi, Lagos, via public transport, for the wake-keep, I saw the pillar Sola and I stood by in 2016 as we waited for the church bus that was meant to convey conference attendees to that year’s conference that was holding in Lekki, Lagos. Sola and I had a very long discussion that afternoon – he would always point out the things he appreciates about another person’s faith and play down people’s weaknesses. In 2018, after that year’s conference, and as I sought to find a place to stay for a few days in Lagos, Sola took me to Alaba Ajileye and mandated that kind family host me the few days I needed to stay in Lagos.
Sola Abraham was the best of the lot of the reformed folks I know in Nigeria. It pleased God to simply take him first. The person who found Sola at the scene of the accident ventured first to pry Tobi, his daughter, out of the unconscious man. It is said Sola’s still had a tight grip on the girl, and some force had to be exacted to extricate the girl from his arms. Even while he lay unconscious, Sola was still serving Christ and humanity.
Deji Yesufu is the Pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY.
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