The African Christian academy has lost one of its most illustrious sons.

When he succumbed to cancer on Mrach 18, Dr Tokunboh Adeyemo was the executive director of the Centre for Biblical Transformation based in Nairobi, Kenya, and the chancellor of the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology.

Dr Adeyemo served for 22 years as the general secretary for Association for Evangelicals in Africa (AEA,) — the umbrella body for Evangelical denominations in Africa — with its headquarters in Nairobi.

Perhaps the most precious memory about Dr Adeyemo was the role he played in the production of the African Bible Commentary (ABC), a monumental scholarly work that sought to make the Bible relevant to Africans.

As the general editor of ABC, Dr Adeyemo led a group of 70 African scholars in compiling the groundbreaking work.

The ABC was unveiled in South Africa during the Cape Town Book Fair on June 2006.

It was launched in Kenya in July 2006, with retired president Daniel arap Moi as the chief guest.

The idea of the ABC was hatched in September 1994, when 1,200 Christian leaders were gathered in Nairobi for the Second Pan African Christian Leadership Assembly.

“At this meeting, the Christian leaders identified deficient knowledge of the Bible and faulty application of its teaching as the primary weaknesses of the church in Africa,” Dr Adeyemo told Sunday Nation in 2006.

It was thus decided that the Bible needed to be interpreted and explained in familiar language, using African thought forms and practical applications that fitted the African context.

“After all, God is closer to the people when He speaks in their language,” said Dr Adeyemo,

Though the ABC is supposed to appeal to African realities, Dr Adeyemo was clear on its mandate: “The ABC does not speak of a black Jesus. To do so would be a travesty of the Bible story and cheap scholarship. Of special benefit are the up to date specialist articles dealing with burning issues and problems such as poverty, favouritism, HIV/ Aids, refugees, war politics and so on,” he said. ABC, Dr Adeyemo said, would “scratch where people are itching.”’’

The ABC came at a time when the church in Africa was growing at an exponential rate.

“Everywhere you turn, churches are packed. The large numbers, however, do not translate into depth in terms of impact and effect,” he said.

“There is so much suffering in Africa yet some of the people behind these acts confess to being Christians and answer to Christian names.”

The reason behind this disconnect, he had said, has to do with shallow and superficial understanding of biblical principles by Africans.

“The only way to correct this situation is to get people to know the Word,” he said.

Dr Adeyemo was born into a royal Muslim family in Western Nigeria in 1944.

Destined to be the chief of his tribe, he was educated in the best institutions in the country and became involved in politics as a young man. He converted to Christianity in 1966.

He had his Bachelor of Theology degree at ECWA Theological Seminary, Igbaja, Nigeria; Masters of Divinity and Theology at Talbot School of Theology of Biola University, California, USA; Doctor of Theology degree at Dallas Theological Seminary, Texas, USA; and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.