A review of Reverend (Engr) Emmanuel Olusesan Adebajo’s autobiography, The Rewarder.
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES are written to detail the lives of individuals, as well as to guide the coming generation through the life experiences of the writers.
This is definitely the same reason Reverend (Engineer) Emmanuel Olusesan Adebajo recently presented his autobiography, The Rewarder, to the public.
The foreward of the 189-page book is written by the vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who describes the autobiography as not only compelling, but an important record of periods in history that now almost seem like fables.
Professor Osinbajo salutes the ability of the author to tightly hold the story line, while interspersing anecdotes and historical accounts.
According to the vice president, the autobiography is a story of life’s challenges, early success, tremendous professional achievements, tragedy, forgiveness, restoration and peace in the saving grace and love of Jesus Christ.
“Every chapter teaches deep life lessons in riveting accounts of events in the life of one man who, in many ways, typified a generation.
“The Rewarder is a profound work, indeed, not just for the range of difficult issues that the author deals with, but the wisdom, passion and compassion he brings to bear, with remarkable clarity of thought and language.”
Just beside the foreword is a picture of the author with the vice president.
Reverend (Engr) Adebajo opens the book with his early years in Ikenne town, in Ogun State, Nigeria. He describes the town as small by all standards and will not have been on the map save for the political dynamism and hard work of the Sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who happens to be his paternal uncle, and the vice president, Professor Osinbajo.
The author delves into circumstances leading to his birth, particularly after his mother had lost several children, with only one surviving in her first marriage.
While the author’s mother desires to have more children, her first husband, a polygamist with several children, does not seem to bother. This then results in the collapse of the marriage, while his mother finally marries James Ona Adebajo, the author’s father.
Even, after her second marriage, the child is not forthcoming, but by divine arrangement, the woman’s younger brother, Engineer William Alake Onabanjo, who lives in Lagos, has a set of twins, and the woman moves briefly to Lagos to assist in taking care of the children.
The author confesses that each time his mother is bathing for the twins, or doing other domestic chores, she uses such opportunities as points of contact to ask God for her own children.
Eventually, the author, named Emmanuel Olusesan, arrives the world on December 1, 1942.
The first chapter goes on highlighting the early years of the author, as well as how Christianity begins taking root in Ikenne around that period.
When it is time to go to school, little Emmanuel is enrolled at the St Saviour’s School in Ikenne, where he finishes primary school in primary five, after Standard Six is scrapped due to the result of the new education programme in the Western Region, when Chief Awolowo introduce the free universal education across the region.
The second chapter further highlights his exploits in secondary school, particularly youthful adventures which put him in one trouble or the other. It should be noted that the author, being a nephew to Chief Awolowo, once lived in the same house with the Sage.
And even when Chief Awolowo completed his personal house, he moved to stay with the family for a while.
Reverend Adebajo, in the third chapter, explains the decisions he had to take which changed the course of his life.
Some of the decisions include deciding whether to go the Abeokuta Grammar School, Ibadan Grammar School or the Federal Emergency Science School, Lagos for his Advance Level Education.
He also had to decide whether to go to the University of Leeds, the University of Newcastle Upon-Tyne, both in the United Kingdom, or the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
He also had to decide whether to marry his beautiful girlfriend, Esther Ayankoya, or other prospective ladies milling around him at that time.
The rest of the third chapter reveals the choices he made, especially how he finally marries his wife, Esther. In fact, the whole of chapter four is titled, Esther, where he delves deeper into the background of the woman who later became his wife.
In subsequent chapters, the author, a qualified engineer, also details his life as a professional, his foray into politics, and life as an Anglican priest.
However, in his conclusion in the book, the author writes of his determination to make heaven.
He says: “I would never be lost in transit in the wilderness of life, or of this world. I would not be left behind in Egypt. When the saints are filing and singing into heaven, I must be in the number, even if I have to crawl, jump or be carried into it.”
The title of the book, The Rewarder, however, comes from the belief of the author that God has used his life and relative success to prove “that He is the Rewarder to all those who earnestly seek him.”