Solomon Adeniyi Babalola
Rev. Dr. Solomon Adeniyi Babalola is a retired Nigerian Baptist pastor. Born in Oke-Ila, Nigeria, he graduated in December 1949 from the three-year theology course of the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Ogbomosho. He is reputed to be one of the youngest set of two Nigerian nationals ever recruited into the ministry by American missionaries, during a 1940s drive led by Seminary President Dr. J.C. Pool, assisted by indigenous pastors. Solomon Adeniyi Babalola was consecrated a trained pastor at the age of 20 years.
Parentage and Early Education
Rev. Dr. S. Ade Babalola is the son of Emmanuel Babalola Adekeye and Marian Tinuoye Babalola-Adekeye.As the Obaala of Oke-Ila Orangun, Osun State, Nigeria until his death, his father Babalola Adekeye reigned as the Head of the Arefa and he was co-founder of the First Baptist Church of Oke-Ila.
The young Adeniyi Babalola started school in Oke-Ila but to complete Primary education to Standard 6, he had to trek the 12 miles to resume each school term in Iresi across hills and bridgeless rivers. On one of his trips, he had a close call to drowning while crossing through a flooded river, but was rescued by a farmer providentially passing nearby. He was recruited to the seminary from Iresi after his call to ministry.
Marriage and Departure to Foreign Missions
Rev. Dr. S. Ade Babalola was married Dec 16, 1952 to Victoria Titiloye Alao of royal lineage, a daughter of Prince Isaac Adewale Alao of Ara, the founder of her hometown's First Baptist Church. Pastor Babalola and his new wife departed Nigeria by sea barely one week after their wedding, to commence a missionary assignment in Ghana, for which the young Pastor Babalola had earlier volunteered.Family
Rev. Dr. Babalola and Rev. Mrs. Babalola have five children, sixteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The four oldest grandsons are graduate professionals with information technology/computer science degrees, currently working across the United States. The next four grandchildren are healthcare professionals currently working across the United States. The other grandchildren are students at university and lower levels.Career
Early Pastorates
On graduation in 1949 with a Certificate in Theology from the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Pastor Babalola was appointed pastor of the First Baptist Churches of two adjoining Nigerian towns, Masifa and Ishoko. During his pastorate in these two churches in the Zion Baptist Association, Pastor Babalola met his future wife during activities of the association. Miss Victoria Titiloye Alao was leader of various Women's organizations in her churches - growing up in Ara and teaching in Olla, and she was Young Peoples' Leader for the Zion Baptist Association.Foreign Missions in Ghana (then The Gold Coast)
Babalola pastored the Dunkwa Baptist Church, now the First Baptist Church, Dunkwa-on-Offin. Pastor Babalola was also Travelling Pastor across the region. Mrs. Babalola leveraged the wide experience of her youthful activities within the Nigerian Women's Missionary Union to organize similar programs across the assigned missionary territory. On departure from Ghana in 1955, Pastor and Mrs. Babalola's family had increased by their first two sons.Northern Nigeria Pastorates and Olivet Heights, Oyo
On return to Nigeria, Pastor S. Ade Babalola was assigned as Travelling Pastor of the Niger Division which included the Nupe-speaking and Bwari-speaking territories of Nigeria. He was also pastor of the First Baptist Church, Bida, while Mrs. Babalola was appointed to serve as Headmistress to revive the long-dormant Baptist Day School.At the end of this assignment, Pastor Babalola was awarded a scholarship to attend Oyo Baptist Boys High School at Olivet Heights where he passed the West African School Certificate Examinations that would enable him to qualify for a bachelor's degree program.
While at Olivet Heights, Oyo, Rev. Dr. Babalola pastored the Baptist Church at Fashola Farm Settlement and later Emmanuel Baptist Church, Oyo. on completion of his education at Olivet, he pastored Oke-Ado Baptist Church, Ibadan from January to August 1962 from where he was admitted for the seminary Bachelor's degree program.
Return to Ogbomosho for Further Seminary Studies
Babalola returned to the seminary for another three years and earned the Bachelor of Theology in 1965. While with her husband in Ogbomosho, Mrs. Babalola trained at the seminary for the three-year Certificate in Religious Education in 1965 and won the Top Student Award in her combined class of C.Th. and CRE students..Rev. Dr. Babalola pastored Laka Baptist Church from 1962 to 1965.
Later Nigerian Ministry Overview
Pastor Babalola had his longest pastorate of 17 years at the Oke-Ado Baptist Church, Ibadan - one of the leading churches of the Nigerian Baptist Convention. During this period, Rev. Mrs. V.T. Babalola worked as a Field Worker of the Nigerian Women's Missionary Union and served across the remote towns and villages of the Yoruba states of southwestern Nigeria. She worked in the mostly northwestern Yorubaland and riverine southeastern Yorubaland. Rev. Mrs. Babalola rose to become a Director with the Nigerian Women's Missionary Union. Rev. Mrs. V.T. Babalola elected early retirement in 1987 to travel to the United States to assist her first son's family in the care of her first four grandsons.Nigerian Ministry Leadership
At the Baptist Association level, Rev. Dr. Babalola served at various times as Financial Secretary, then Moderator of Ibadan Baptist Association, served as Coordinator & Moderator of Dunkwa Baptist Association, Ghana, and served as Adviser to the Ibadan and Paku-Awaye Baptist Associations. He also served as Adviser to the Baptist Men's Missionary Union, Bowen Baptist Association, and served as Chairman, Baptist Churches Union of Fiditi, Nigeria.At the state conference level, Rev. Dr. Babalola served as the pioneer Secretary, Western Baptist Conference, during which he founded and was Editor of "ALORE", the magazine of the Western Baptist Conference, served as Vice-President, [Oyo West Baptist Conference, and served as Chairman, Oyo West Conference Baptist Peoples' Fellowship.
At the national level of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Rev. Dr. Babalola served at various times as a member of the Executive Committee, the Sunday School Board, the Dental Board, the Medical Advisory Committee, the Nominating Committee, and the Church Growth Committee.
Inter-denominationally and ecumenically, Rev. Dr. Babalola served at various times in positions such as Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Fiditi Zone, Oyo State; Member of the Christian Council of Nigeria, ; and Member of the National Steering Committee. He is a Life Member of the Bible Society of Nigeria and The International Bible Society.
Rev. Dr. Babalola was an invited participant and attended, the international invitation-only gathering of “leaders of evangelical Protestant Christians” July 16-25, 1974 for strategic planning, inspiration, and fellowship. Rev. Dr. Babalola was also a participant at the Nigerian Congress on Evangelization that held at the University of Ife in 1975.
North American Ministry Overview
Prior to sojourns in North America, Rev. Dr. Babalola had twice travelled outside Nigeria. The first time was soon after he started his pastoral career, when he travelled to Ghana as a missionary pastor from December 1952 to December 1955. The second was when he was a sponsored candidate to Switzerland attending ICOWE in July 1974, the First International Congress on World Evangelization which was held in Lausanne.Rev. Dr. Babalola left Nigeria twice for North America for his graduate theological education. He attended Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia and earned his Master of Divinity in 1984.
He attended the Columbia Biblical Seminary & Graduate School of Missions, of Columbia International University, in Columbia, South Carolina, and earned his Doctor of Ministry in 1995.
In the various sojourns in Canada and the United States between 1981 and 2002, Rev. Dr. Babalola also ministered among immigrant African communities in Wolfville, Columbia, Buffalo, & Houston. In Houston, they joined to teach in the Yoruba Language School established by the socio-cultural organization, Yoruba Omo Oduduwa, and donated more than two dozen books to the organization.