Akin, as he is fondly called by family and friends, is the sixth child in a family of nine, born to Benedict and Margaret Akinbola, on the 3rd of May 1965, in Jos, Nigeria. His childhood education started at the Uvwie Nursery and Primary School Warri, and he continued this as he shortly began to travel with Dad at his postings to Federal Government College Maiduguri and Enugu, with Akin finishing at African Comprehensive High School in Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria.
Akin’s Christian Ministry
Akin came to know the Lord Jesus at an early age, as he gave his life to Christ at the Household of God Church in Lagos, in 1987. As a committed church worker, most of his weekends were spent evangelizing in the ghettos, prisons, buses and streets. In 1998, he was ordained a minister in The Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lagos.
He later relocated to Abuja in 2006, and continued to serve fervently in The Father’s Church Abuja, from where he later become an Associate Pastor who greatly impacted his congregation through his ministrations, prayers, evangelism and counselling. In his community, his neighbors recall his selfless service to their Landlords Association, noting his cheerful disposition and continuous pursuit of peace and reconciliation among all the faiths represented.
In March 2022, when God relocated Akin with his family to Atlanta, GA, USA, his new home church became The New City Church, Peachtree City, GA, from where he actively served in the prayer group. His Pastor once privately recalled how he always came by to pray for him.
Akin was a devoted husband to his darling wife of twenty-nine years, and the love of his life, Oluwatoyin Adebimpe, and a doting father to his dear sons, Oluwatosin, 25, a graduate currently employed in Canada, and Oluwadara, 18, an undergraduate in Atlanta, GA. Together with them, he shared his deep faith journey in Jesus Christ, leading daily devotions with constant teachings in God’s word, encouraging them to become the legacy of God’s kingdom today and forever. Along with his family, Akin’s 37 year journey with the Lord Jesus has been one of relentless, loving service of total commitment to Jesus Christ, with a keen passion for searching and speaking the bible, prayers and evangelism. Many testify to Akin as a man who was fully cognizant of the repercussions of his faith, and how he gently led them to Christ and remained a spiritual mentor who continued to impact them with God’s word even from his bedside, till he peacefully transitioned to his Master on Friday, January 26, 2024.
Akin’s Art Journey
Also born into a family of three prominent first-generation artists, Akin Akinbola’s professional success story may be attributable to the gene factor, as some may say. It is indisputable that this artist’s inspiration from God and his environment, with his dint of sheer hard work were integral to his success, making him an iconic figure in the art world. "Tony" or "Akin" as he is fondly called by his protégés undoubtedly cut his teeth in the arts by watching his late father, Benedict Akintayo Akinbola, who was one of the earliest and foremost Nigerian artists who graduated from the famous Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria, at independence in 1960, when the expression of modern Nigerian art was mostly in drama and dance. It was a period when other modes like painting and sculpting depicted mostly colonial representatives of the former British colony, with hardly any native African of repute.
Tony was a product of the famous Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria, and was considered by his teachers and peers as a deep-thinker ahead of his time, and someone who was pro-actively and rigorously passionate about applying the arts to explore and break frontiers across time, realms and generations. While the renaissance of the enunciation of Nigerians as objects of art continued to remain in the fledgling stages, Tony was one of the earliest artists of his time to pioneer this genre of art, typified in many of his works like: The Nkarasi monoliths and The Nsibidi pots, ‘The Calabar’, and Nigeria, its people and resources.
As a professional Painter and Sculptor, rather than seek security in paid employment, in 1987, Tony demonstrated entrepreneurial ability by preferring to practice the arts with the independence-mindedness required to explore his ideas. He founded and became the CEO of Mastapiece Productions Company Nigeria Limited - a platform from where he worked as a full-time studio artist, along with his team and mentees. Mastapiece remains a Nigerian visual arts and cultural branding outfit at the vanguard of pioneering the beautification of strategic public spaces with its iconic monumental arts. A visit to the roundabouts in the tourism capital Calabar in Cross River State, The Nigerian Defense Academy, and in many Public gardens and private homes, will re-ignite the memory of this erudite artist of our times.
In recognition of his uncommon talent and skills, the United States of America conferred Tony with the unique status of ‘an immigrant alien of extraordinary ability’, an exclusive privilege in the same league as the Nobel Laureates’ visa class. This informed his relocation to the US in March 2022.
For Akin, faith through his Christian lenses played the pivotal and cross-cutting role in shaping his art mission and journey, and steered his passion for our Lord Jesus and the understanding of the purpose of His kingdom. In the last seven years of his life, Akin began a series of abstract paintings borne out of a deep commitment to some divine encounters he had, with visions and revelations of Jesus Christ. In several contemporary works, created in awe-inspiring and vivid forms, Akin visually expressed the gospel and its implications, as well as the end-of-time events, including the urgency of the imminent biblical rapture. His website holds some of these collections. This intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ through His word, was an attestation to Akin’s unshakable faith in the infallible realities of God's kingdom, and was what Akin commended to humanity. Though sorely missed, his faith footprints remain large and comforting among the high and low.
He is survived by his darling wife, Toyin; and dear sons, Tosin and Dara; his siblings; cousins; family; friends; neighbors; and his church family.
A visitation for Tony will be held Monday, February 5, 2024 from 11:00am to 12:00pm at New City Church, 3355 Old Jonesboro Rd, Fairburn, GA 30213. A Celebration of Life Funeral Service will follow the visitation at 12:00pm, with Burial at Westminster Memorial Gardens, 2090 Hwy 54 W, Peachtree City, GA 30269, following the service.
Live Streaming of the service from 12:00pm-2:00pm (EST) United States Time / 6:00pm-8:00pm (GMT+1) Nigerian Time, via this link: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj0IGPb2EnxOeNMXaHicqGg
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the Akinbola family at: www.carmichaelhemperleypeachtree.com
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