Son – Let Me Tell You About Your Father, Sola Wojuola

Son – Let Me Tell You About Your Father, Sola Wojuola

By: Deji Yesufu

When I began to drive, navigating a U-turn on the main road was rather difficult. It was Sola Wojuola who told me that when you come to such a turn on the road, ensure that you make the turn at a little past half the opening and then you will realize that you will not hit the culvert at the other side, requiring to reverse the car – back and fort. You will make the U-turn once and drive through. This was a timely counsel because the turning that leads to Vine Branch Church from Queen Elizabeth Road, almost at “Roundabout” end of town, is a difficult turn and if not navigated well will cause traffic at that juncture. Sola solved that problem for me with one counsel. That is the kind of person your father was.

As a member of Vine Branch Church, I edited the Helmsman newsletter and your father, Sola Wojuola, was a member of my team. Sola was one of those you could count on to execute an assignment. Sola could be summarized in two words: energy and positivity. At about six-foot one inch tall, Sola introduced himself to a gathering with energy. He had a can-do spirit around him. Long before the idea of working from home became a popular thing, following the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, Sola Wojuola had operated his veterinary business from home and made good money in the process. With a broad smile and a very welcoming mien, Sola will call out to me “Brother Deji…” anywhere he saw me in town. Sola and Foluke, your mother, were quite a hospitable pair. The few years I spent in Vine Branch, your family were among the few that invited my family and I for lunch in their home. Sola’s positivity showed forth in the many years that your parents were married and you refused to come to them from heaven. The few times I talked to him about the delay, Sola was not bothered one bit. “… the child will come at the right time. Brother Deji, don’t bother about it…” It was this positivism that welled up during your dad’s illness that was truly inspiring.

Cancer is a mean disease but your father handled his sickness with grace, positivity, and faith in God. A few months after his second surgery, your parents learnt that the disease had returned. That same day, I called your father to check on him and he told me that he had just received the bad news. I knew immediately that this discussion was better had in private than on the phone. I went to see your Dad at home and in the wake of such dire diagnosis, your father was confident that he would beat the disease. We had opportunity to talk about family and he told me about his own Dad, your grandfather, and that he had learnt from his Dad not to move from church to church. Your grandfather was a pharmacist who practiced in Osogbo. He was also a man of God, whose love for Christ and sound doctrine often led him to be at odds with church leaders – occasioning his move to three or four churches in his lifetime. In all of these places, your grandfather was a faithful church man, supporting the building of God’s house and also lending a hand in training men theologically. Whatever else you do in life, son, ensure that you are a man of faith like your father and grandfather. Know the God of your fathers and serve him in Christ Jesus.

As I bring my open letter to you to a close, son, let me warn you against a kind of religion that I suspect your grandfather battled in his lifetime – a religion that is concerned with pleasing men and has no heart commitment to Christ. It is Pastor Alistair Begg that said in a recent sermon that the reason why Christians of those days put the burial ground right within the vicinity of the church – in some cases burying the pastor inside the church or in front of the church building – is to remind the living of where all of us are heading to. We are all heading to the grave. Any church that does not remind her people that life here on earth is transient and that eternal life is all that is worth pursuing, such a church is not a place you should belong to. When you bring the burial ground into the church’s vicinity, the people who come to church possess a holy fear of their coming mortality. They let go of frivolous issues of life; they find peace with God through Jesus Christ. Any church that is concerned only with jamboree and has no place for reminding God’s people of a life to come is not a church to belong to.

There remains a lot more that I wish I could tell you about your father and I pray that Jesus Christ will grant that I see you in this life before my own time on this side of heaven is done. Fact is that I did not know your father too well, but the little I know of him was quite commendable. Sola Wojuola was a gentleman to the core. Before you came, Sola was both husband and son to your mother, Foluke. They were forever together. Now that you are here, it has pleased God that you look after your mother – I am sure you will do a good job at it. My name is Deji Yesufu. I used to be a member of Vine Branch Church. Now I pastor Providence Reformed Baptist Church here in Ibadan. I am sure that if it pleases God, we will meet on this side of heaven.

Every time I come to a section of the road where I must make a U-turn, I remember Sola Wojuola. I call those turning the “Sola-Wojuola-U-Turns” now because it was your father that taught me to navigate them. The essence of living is leaving your world better than you met it – no matter how small the impact might be. Dear son, I trust God that you will make a greater impact on your world than your father and grandfather have done. Your father was a good man. To us, he left too soon. But for God, it is all for good.

Stay well and may God rest your father’s soul in the eternal bosom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Postscript.

I had written the above tribute two weeks ago with the intention of publishing it a day after your father was buried. I happened to have been at the funeral service yesterday at Vine Branch Church. I caught a glimpse of your playful six-year-old self off the large screen in the church. Obviously, you remain oblivious of the magnitude of the events around you. They will become clearer as you grow older. Know one thing, however, that the churches will be praying for you. While the God of your father will stand by you, guiding you through life. Amen.

Deji Yesufu is the author of HUMANITY.