TRIBUTE TO MY DAD, REV. OKON WILLIE, CSP®, psc+, A GOOD CHRISTIAN SOLDIER
I thank God for the privilege to pay a deserved Tribute to my Dad, the Rev. Okon Willie. That I was adopted into his nuclear family from December, 1990 at Ilupeju in Lagos sometime after I was saved, and had cause to migrate to the West, while he was still serving as a Senior Police Officer in the Nigerian Police Force, remains an indelible fact. That under his tutelage I got admitted into the University for both my B.Sc. and Masters degree, got me a job, got married and now own a family, remain incontrovertible facts. That he bequeathed to us his children a legacy of discipline, obedience, character, respect for constituted authority, integrity, humility, resourcefulness, reputation, and dignity is an undeniable fact. Together with the late Mumsy, they lived godly lives before us children. He taught me how to say, “I am sorry, Sir” – that a soft answer turns away wrath! Whatever I have become in life today, aside the God-factor, are attributable to him. This is an eternal verity. One of the many values I learnt from him – all the while I lived under his roof, I never saw him or heard him once quarrelling with his wife, either privately or in the open – either before us children, or in public! I never ever witnessed anyone coming to settle any dispute in his home. Rather, he was often used by the Church hierarchy to settle disputes for many families – God used him as a balm to many. Though a disciplinarian, yet Baba Willie was affable, generous, and kind-hearted in his disposition. Consequently, he was loved and admired by many. What an admirable life!
Permit me to digress to his last moments on earth, because of paucity of time and space. I hadn’t the slightest inkling that Baba Willie was approaching his last days here below. We were on our way from the Late Professor Samson Ayanlaja’s funeral in Ibadan (former Vice Chancellor of Crawford University) on March 1, 2024, when the Head of Worship at Faith City Church, Brother Toyin Oyeniyi, and I got talking. The only subject of our discussion was concretizing our arrangement to send Sunday School Teachers and Choristers every Sunday to minister to him at home, since he could no longer come to the Church because of old age. Our strategy was to rotate Bassey’s car and my car on a weekly basis, in order to support and convey the Teachers. But while we commenced the assignment with my car that first Sunday, 3rd March, God met me while going into the Rest Room at the University Chapel, and told me pointedly, with joy, that I am the one to lay down my vehicle every Sunday for that assignment. It was a command. I accepted readily. Joyfully, I obeyed. Those of us who were involved in that assignment saw God’s miracle on him in the ensuing days.
On account of his critical condition afterwards, the night he was being taken in an ambulance to the hospital, I was really burdened and was sending SOS messages to the people of God via Whatsapp that night, requesting their earnest, intercessory prayers for him, that the Lord Jesus should appear to Brother Willie before he enters “Jordan”, God whispered to me, “There will be peace in the valley” That divine encounter lifted the burden! About five hours later, he slept peacefully, and stepped into the presence of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Whom he loved and served so dearly.
I thank the Lord that while others have hope, I have the divine assurance that Baba Willie has gone Home to meet His Saviour. By His grace alone, we’ll meet on the Glorious Resurrection Morning! “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” (Psalms 116:15); and, “The righteous hath hope in his death.” (Proverbs 14:32). Amen.
Moses N. Itauma, Registrar, Crawford University, Faith City, Igbesa, Ogun State