Why is it that you need to call the super class in the android lifecycle? For example, in onCreate you need to call super.onCreate, or onDestroy super.onDestroy.
It makes sure that any relevant lifecycle management code across the full class hierarchy gets invoked.
If you have MyBaseActivity that extends Activity, and MySpecificActivity that extends MyBaseActivity, calling through to the lifecycle methods in the superclass at each level means MyBaseActivity will still be able to respond to lifecycle events.