Reverend Ayodeji and Ngozi Cole
By Damilola Oyedele
The late Reverend Ayodeji Kolade Cole and his wife, Reverend Ngozi Oreoluwa Cole were, before they died in the ill-fated Dana Air crash last Sunday, senior pastors of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) and presided over a branch of the church called, Vision House, located in Utako, Abuja.
The duo was superlative in their pastoral assignment on the same day that death came knocking. At the church service, the presiding pastor, the Rev. Ayodele Cole, prayed thus:
“Let this be an anchor, that as we dedicate these children, you will dedicate yours”.
He did the prayer as he dedicated a set of triplets born to a couple who had been without a child of theirs for 15 years. Reverend Cole danced as he had never done before; the excitement was visible, as he jumped around in his grey-colour pastoral cassock. This, unfortunately, was his last assignment on earth!
The man called Papa on the pulpit was different from the man off the pulpit. He was a reserved gentleman with a stoic mien, but talk to him and you would discover a loving and caring personality beneath the tough looking exterior.
His passion for church members is unequalled with an open door policy; you could visit his home at any time or call him at anytime.
He loved his wife, who he renamed Oreoluwa, to a fault and had no apologies about it. He always described her as a complement to him. It is impossible not to love mama; she greets you like she has always known you, and is never too busy to spare a minute.
