Literature: The Saint by Tade Adegbindin

Ladepo is a powerful preacher and a miracle worker. He resigned from the teaching profession after ten years of service because he wanted lots of money that he could not achieve with a teaching job. He founded a church and with his father’s spiritual backing was able to touch the lives of many of his adherents who held him in high esteem. They did not know that he was a sorcerer. His miraculous power was occultic. His father, Baba Agba, a strong medicine man, had empowered him to perform wonders and lord it over others.

Baba Agba lived in Alabata village where he practiced his trade. People in the city came here to consult him. Politicians, traders, contractors, soldiers, men, and women with one problem or the other came to Baba to secure protection or get an edge over their rivals. Aremu, his grandson, never ceased to be amazed at the calibre of people who came to meet Baba Agba for protection or promotion.

Aremu’s inclination towards paganism, independent-mindedness, and critical spirit upset his father who had wanted to groom him for his fast-expanding ministry. His incisive questions and penetrating comments impressed Ladepo but he wished he used these talents for God’s work. Ladepo told his radically growing son (Act 2:3, 30) that he prepared him for a course in Religious Studies at the University so that he could join his ministry in the future. But Aremu went against his choice. He opted instead for philosophy. This upset Ladepo which made him bundle Aremu to London to study Theology in a seminary.

Meanwhile, Baba Agba died. Hypocritic Ladepo refused to attend the burial because as he said Baba died a pagan. His congregation hailed his action not minding he had collected money from them and others on account of his late father’s burial. Not everyone is fooled by Pastor Ladepo’s decision to distance himself from Baba Agba and his legacies.

Aremu eventually had his way in London after disagreeing with Rev. Fergusson, his father’s friend. Ladepo had wanted him to study Theology under the tutelage of Rev. Fergusson. Aremu went for his first love and returned home with a degree in Philosophy, a job at the university, with a wife into the bargain. He visited Alabata to pay homage to his late grandfather. His grandmother received him with open arms. She told him everything that happened in his absence, including her conversion to Christianity and the burning of her late husband’s objects of worship. Aremu was furious that his father had burnt all the legacies of Baba Agba (Act 5, 2, 75).

His wife, Adetoun, suggested a reconciliation meeting with Pastor Ladepo. Present at the gathering were Aremu’s uncles, Atiba and Yele, his mother, and his wife. In spite of the efforts of Atiba and Yele, father and son refused to let the sleeping dog lie, each accusing the other of not being a worthy successor to the family inheritance. Aremu charged at his father who wasted no time sending him out of the house.

Father and son did not meet again till they collided at the shrine in Irefin village where both had gone to seek the blessings of the gods. Aremu was in search of a local remedy for his wife’s infertility. Jimi, a newfound friend accompanied him. Aremu and Adetoun had tried orthodox medicine to no avail. First, they met Alamutu, who turned out to be a dupe and a quack. He did not know the meaning and purpose of his incantations. And his charges were exorbitant. On discovering that Alamutu was a fake medicine man, they decided to go to Irefin to meet Fawolu, a renowned native doctor. On his part, Pastor Ladepo came to Irefin village every month to renew his power since the death of his father who had hitherto been a ready source of his spiritual strength. Every time he left for his nocturnal visit he told his wife and congregation he was going for a Christian conference at Ile-Ife. It was therefore a deeply held secret Aremu discovered by coincidence.

Meanwhile, Fawolu, the favour herbalist informed Aremu that they had no problem with their organs but that the fault was with one of their fathers who had been shielding innocent blood to prosper. Just then Ladepo walked in to make his human sacrifice for the renewal of his occultic powers. After some incantations, Fawolu, who did not know that Aremu and Ladepo were related, explained to the former that his father’s atrocities were responsible for his inability to beget children.

The bubble burst later on when Ladepo appeared for his sacrifice. Jimi and Aremu tiptoed to the spot and watched Ladepo thrust a fetish piece of cloth to the priest as he uttered his request (Act 6: 5, 110)

The intruders jumped at them before Ladepo could pierce the cloth. A shocked Ladepo ran from the shrine in his pants, while Fawolu begged Jimi and Aremu for forgiveness (Act 6: 5, 111).

The news of Pastor Ladepo’s death in an accident along the Ibadan – Ife expressway came on television the next day. Aremu expressed disbelief. In his opinion, Ladepo might have taken his life that way to avoid the shame and embarrassment the revelation of his atrocities would have generated.

The story of Ladepo’s double-dealing did not end with his immediate family. The success of his ministry is a satiric commentary on the culpability and gullibility of Nigerians who can fall for any trick so long as there are cakes to share. His immediate disciples; Effiong, Bolade, and Bala were enticed with bread. A minister in government who desired a higher portfolio approached the Pastor for prayer. The pastor sent assassins to eliminate the man’s superior. The politician returned to the church to give God thanks for answering Ladepo’s prayers. Gullible Chief Dalomo could not give his daughter a returning-to-school feeding allowance but had enough money to mark his lover’s twentieth birthday. He also had money enough to share with Mr. Charles, his accomplice, and even had Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira more to support Ladepo’s church programme. The likes of Ladepo can only thrive in such a hollow society as Nigeria.