Why Ijesha, Ekiti remain the bedrock of Christianity in Africa
A generation of Ekiti, Ijesha laid a monument for Christiandom in Africa
Baba Ayo Babalola, Obadare, Babajide, Williams Kumuyi, Samuel Olu Alo, Ashinmolowo and many others all came from Ijesa, Ekiti areas
Read the story of an English man that took part in laying the foundation for Christian Revolution in Yorubala
He Lived In Ilesa For 50 Years, But He Was Not From Ilesa. Do You Know His Name?
By Jonathan Philip
This is the most emotional story I have read this year.
In 1934, a young British man in England was praying.
God said to him, “Go to Nigeria. Go and find a town called Ilesa.”
He opened the map. He did not know where Nigeria was. He did not know where Ilesa was.
He had never been to Africa before.
But he obeyed.
He arrived in Nigeria in 1937.
He did not come for 1 year. He did not come for 5 years.
He came for 50 years.
He had no car. He had no loudspeaker. He had no big offering.
He lived in a small house in Ilesa. He trekked from village to village. House to house. School to school.
He taught people how to lift their hands and worship.
He taught people what it means to be born again.
He taught people about Holy Ghost baptism when many people did not know it.
He printed 200,000 copies of a magazine every month – in Yoruba, in Igbo, in Hausa, in Efik – and gave it out free.
He did not build a church for himself.
He built men.
One of the men he raised was a young Benson Idahosa who called him “my spiritual father.”
From his small room in Ilesa, he prayed for and discovered leaders who are today fathers we all celebrate – Idahosa, Wale Oke, Fred Adegoke, and he inspired a generation that includes E.A. Adeboye and David Oyedepo through campus fellowships in the 60s.
He never went back to England to live.
He said, “Nigeria is my home.”
His only daughter, Mama Ruth Elton, came with him at age 3 in 1937. She also stayed. She renounced British citizenship in 1975 to become a Nigerian. She served in Okene, Kogi State, carrying babies on her back, fighting infant mortality, loving the poor. She died in Ilesa on August 30, 2025, at age 91.
Her father died in Ilesa on January 16, 1987.
Father and daughter – 50 years and 88 years of love for Nigeria. Both died in Ilesa. Both buried in Nigeria.
Today, many young Christians have never heard his name. There is no big award with his name. No big university with his name.
But in heaven, his name is written as a faithful servant.
And in the history of Pentecostal church in Nigeria, his name can never be forgotten.
His name is Pa Sydney Granville Elton.
I am celebrating him today because faithful people deserve to be celebrated.
Did you know about Pa Elton before today? Have you heard this story before?
If this story touched your heart, please save it and share it so that this generation will not forget our true heroes.
