EARLY STEPS
Bishop Michael Olatunji was born on 17th April, 1935. His father, Theophilus Fagun Oganla and his mother, Rebecca Fakolade [both deceased] hailed from Akure in Ondo State. It is good to note that both parents of Bishop Fagun were not Catholics but later converted to Catholicism. By providence, Bishop Fagun is the last child of both of them till today [Bishop Fagun sometimes jokes that he came to block the passage of other children for both of his parents].
SCHOOLS ATTENDED
The elementary education took the Bishop through Sacred Heart Catholic School, Akure from January 1943 to December 1950. Since he already had the insight to become a Catholic priest, the boy Michael Fagun opted for St. Theresa's Minor Seminary, Ibadan for his secondary education between January 1952 and June 1957. Having fully decided to be a priest, the young Michael entered Saints Peters and Paul Major Seminary, Ibadan. His training in the seminary lasted from September 1957 till June 1965. Still fresh from Priestly Ordination, Rev. Fr. Fagun embarked on study in the premier University of Ibadan, Nigeria from October 1966 to June 1969. Further studies took him to the Universite de Dakar in Senegal from October 1967 to May 1968. Finally, Fr. Fagun proceeded to the University of Toronto, Canada from 1970 to 1971 where he bagged a Master of Arts degree in French Literature in 1971.
INITIAL PASTORAL ENGAGEMENTS
As a priest he engaged in pastoral activities in Oka and Ondo parishes were he assisted various SMA priests. His records in these places were unprecedented. While in Ondo, His Lordship also taught in St Joseph‘s Grammar School, Ondo and served simultaneously as chaplain in the same school. After a while, his Local Ordinary asked him in January 1971 to be the Educational Secretary. His duty was to supervise and direct policies in all the Catholic Schools in the Diocese [the then Ondo Diocese which comprised present Ekiti and Ondo Dioceses]. On his return from schooling abroad, he was posted to Ikere-Ekiti as the first resident priest.
THE CALL TO HIGHER DUTY
After much prayer and reflection Rev. Fr Fagun accepted the challenge of being made a Bishop in 1971. Precisely on the 28th of June 1971, he was announced as the Auxiliary Bishop of old Ondo Diocese with the title of the Titular Bishop of Casanigra, [an extinct diocese of the North Africa]. Bishop Fagun visited His Holiness Pope Paul VI in Rome to acknowledge his elevation to the episcopacy. He was ordained Bishop on October 10th, 1971.
On July 20th 1972, Pope Paul VI carved out a new diocese from Ondo diocese naming it the Diocese of Ado-Ekiti. Bishop Fagun was appointed as the Local Ordinary of the new diocese. On October 22nd 1972 Bishop Fagun was installed in St Patrick’s Cathedral Ado- Ekiti by the then Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Poggi. Remarkably, the first thing Bishop Fagun did was to request that the new diocese be simply called ‘Ekiti Diocese’, which was promptly accepted by the Holy See.
RETIREMENT FROM ADMINISTRATION
On his birthday April 17th 2010, after 75 years of active and joyous service in administering the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti as the pioneer Local Ordinary, Bishop Michael Olatunji Fagun's retirement was accepted by the Holy See in accordance with Canon 401 §1. He was succeeded by Most Rev. Felix Femi Ajakaye, a priest of the same diocese ordained Co-adjutor bishop on July 12th, 2008. Most Rev. Michael Fagun (Bishop-Emeritus) now lives happily at his retirement home (fondly named by him 'Porta Caelis') after years of sacrificial service to the Church in Ekiti.
NUMEROUS POSITIONS OF SERVICE
Since his installation as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti, Bishop Fagun has held the following positions within and outside the circles of the Catholic Church:
- Member, Ekiti State Zonal Health Board in the Western State Health Management Board, 1975-1977;
- Member, Ondo State Health Management Board of Directors, 1978-1979
- Member, Ondo State Judicial Commission, 1979-1984
- Co-Chairman, National Inter-Religious Council
- Being the Bishop of Ekiti he was the proprietor of seven Secondary Schools, one Technical College and 42 Primary Schools which unfortunately, were forcefully taken over by the Military Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1975.
- In his bid to further the spread of the gospel and enhance pastoral work in the Southwestern region of Nigeria, Bishop Fagun initiated and built the Pope John Paul II Pastoral Centre, Ado-Ekiti, which is an enviable edifice for retreats, conferences, seminars to mention but a few purposes.
- Notably in 1986, he became the father founder of the first indigenous female Religious Congregation in Yoruba nation called Sisters of St. Michael The Archangel.
- Bishop Fagun represented the Catholic Bishops conference of Nigeria [CBCN] as the Chairman, Governing Council and the Pro-Chancellor of the Catholic Institute of West Africa [CIWA], Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. This is a position he firmly and fairly held for long.
- In addition, for two terms, he was Pro-Chancellor, Catholic Institute of West Africa, Port-Harcourt, March, 1999 - March, 2007.