Pa S.G. Elton is probably one of the best things that happened to Christianity in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, if there is anyone who brought the real gospel to Nigeria - apart from mere church attendance - I think it is Pa S.G. Elton. He was the one who taught those things about the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit, five-fold ministry, and so on and so forth. He was the one who explained the vision that Babalola of C.A.C had to him because I believe the man did not get it all 100%. The man saw a vision of a well of water, a bell and oil and he interpreted it in his own way that the bell means you take the bell early in the morning and ring it about the whole place - which in a way is good because at least you wake people up and they’ll listen to what you have to say.

To me, when you talk about a missionary par excellence, a man who sold his life completely into the work of missions, Pa Elton is a very prominent example. I think before he died he hadn’t been back to Britain for several years because he said, ‘What I am going there to do?’ And in one of our intimate moments, he said to me, “My son, I will contest Ilesha with you when Jesus returns. I’m going to tell the Lord that this is where I spent most of my life and where I did most of my work so this is my heritage”.

Pa S.G. Elton knew the word of God and taught it with simplicity and candour. He never held anything back; he said it as he understood it. I will not say that I agree with everything he said but that should not be a surprise because as a mathematician, I was trained not to agree 100% with anybody. The only person I agree with 100% is the Lord Jesus Christ and the benefit of this is that it keeps your mind open so that you can learn more and more.

He was a great instrument of God in the life of many people including myself. I visited him towards the end of his life every two weeks and I spend only one hour. And you can be sure we were not talking politics; we were not talking business - we were discussing the Lord Jesus Christ. I remember he said once that he regretted that he didn’t meet me earlier in his life and I regretted that I hadn’t met him earlier either but I thank God that last days were profitably used and I think it’s on record that the last major meeting that he had before his home-call was on our campground here. He slept in our little house and we had time for fellowship together and I remember that his last sermon brought everyone back to the altar - General Overseer, pastors, everyone. We all came back to the altar to cry before God and to rededicate our lives to the Almighty God.

So nobody can truly write the history of either Pentecostalism or Full gospel in Nigeria and leave Pa S.G. Elton out of it. He was a tremendous influence not just on individuals but on the Church of God as a whole.