Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe, PhD, DD
Odogwu of Ibusa
President, International Coalition against Christian Genocide in Nigeria (ICAC-GEN)
Visit us at https://icac-gen.org Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
The Holy Bible in 1 John Chapter 4, verse 1, explicitly states: “Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
Pastor Enoch Adeboye is by every outward standard of the world a Man of God who has the witty sense of a Prophet and the eloquence of an adroit teacher. But whether the same qualities apply to his spirit is a subject of audacious debate, which is endorsed above by 1 John 4: 1. And to do this, we must first define Pastor Adeboye’s status in the context of the Bible.
Prof Yemi Osinbajo has described Pastor Adeboye’s Redeemed Christian Church of God as second only to Coca Cola in in terms of global spread. But the question is does size or spreads determine the quality of godliness and spiritual efficacy of a church? After all, the Bible in Matthew 7:13-14 informs us that narrow is the road that leads to eternal life, while wide is the road that leads to eternal destruction:
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye holds the title of the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God. The Book of 1 Timothy Chapter 3, verses 1-3 expressly sets out the qualities of an Overseer in the following words:
“Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.”
Among the foregoing qualities of an Overseer, we are customarily concerned with the first and last—“Now the Overseer must be above reproach” and “not a lover of money”, both of which impact greatly on any Church vis-à-vis Pastor-public relations. It is against the background of these two qualities that we are going to look at how Pastor Enoch Adeboye fully fits into the biblical qualities of an Overseer.
What does reproach mean in the context of its biblical application? According to Holman Bible Dictionary, the term “reproach” is variously defined in different Bible contexts to mean “a source of blame, discredit, or disgrace; a state of shame, or humiliation; an object of scorn, and an expression of rebuke or disapproval’ a taunt.”
In fact, looking at the foregoing definition of the word “reproach” as it applies to Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s role as a General Overseer, what readily comes to mind is the Book of Matthew Chapter 7, verses 21-23, which reads inter alia:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
In applying these indices, let us begin with the obvious in terms of open desecration of the Word of God. During the 2021 Annual Youth Convention of Redeemed Christian Church of God Pastor Enoch Adeboye was reported to have prayed the most unspiritual discordant prayer ever to be uttered by any Christian leader— sowing the seed of discord among the body of Christ, when he prayed:
“I decree by the name greater than every other name, Christians from all other denominations will bow before you.”
The first question attending the above prayer of Belial is how does it apply to the Book of Galatians Chapter 3, verses 26-28?
“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Unfortunately Pastor Enoch Adebayo is telling us that before Our Lord Jesus Christ there are members of his Redeemed Church of God and there are members of other denominations. Does this define the proper role of an Overseer as defined by the Bible?
In the Gospel according Saint John Chapter 17 verses 20-21, Jesus prayed:
“Not for these only do I pray, but for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
Further in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 10, Apostle Paul stated. “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” He then concluded in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 1-3 by advising the Pastor Enoch Adeboye in the following words:
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
The Word of God through the Book of James Chapter 1, verse 17 not only nullifies Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s prayer in the above respect but proves further that Pastor Adeboye was not speaking as the oracle of God but that of Belial in the following words: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
If that prayer by Pastor Enoch Adebayo was predicated on the fact that in 2021 when the prayer was decreed a Redeemed Church Pastor, Prof Yemi Osinbajo was the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, then he had forgotten that Nnamdi Azikiwe was President of Nigeria without the prayer of the Head of Methodist Church that Methodists should be greater than every other Christian from other denominations; Aguiyi-Ironsi was Head of State without the prayer by the Head of Methodist Church that Methodists should be greater than every other Christian from other denominations; that General Yakubu Gowon became Head of State without the prayer by the Head of Anglican Church that Anglicans should be greater than Christians from any other denomination; President Olusegun Obasanjo became both Head of State and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria without the Head of Baptist Church praying that members of the Baptist Church should be greater than members of other denominations; that President Jonathan became both Vice President and President without the Primate of Anglican Church praying that members of the Anglican Church should be greater than members of other denominations.
Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s insatiable hunger for prayers of spiritual disrepute goes without bounds. On December 30, 2019, Pastor Enoch Adeboye had during a Church service prayed in Yoruba, “Anyone that does not want you to get to where God is taking you to, will not see the new year.”
But contrary to the spirit of the above prayer, when in 2021 he prayed the most spiritually responsible prayed ever to be uttered by his word of mouth, he quickly recoiled to deny it following complaints from his Fulani political guardians in Aso Villa. Pastor Adeboye had prayed against the increasing kidnapping and killing of Christians in the following words:
“The Fulani Moslems, well-organised, have encircled us with high calibre arms and ammunition pretending they are cattle-rearers, wait for orders to overrun our land and kill our people. They have perfected their strategies. Now, Oh Lord, arise and defend us; contend with those that contend with us. Oh, Lord, protect us. Stop them from destroying our farmlands, raping our women, killing our people, burning our houses, kidnapping and robbing us.”
In his denial of the above prayer, Pastor Adeboye went to state:
“Calvary greetings! Please ignore this prayer point titled, ‘Prayer from Daddy G. O. Adeboye.’ It is not from me, and I have not assigned anyone to come up with it. I am not associated with the content neither the author of the content. Please beware of such! God bless you!”
Just in January 2024, Pastor Adeboye uttered the following prayer which no doubt has become a fait accompli in the real context of the present chaotic Nigerian economic situation:
“Before this time next year, your colleagues will be coming to you for food. They will be coming to you for refreshment. I decree that in your family, you will be the go-to person in Jesus’ name.”
Why is this prayer a fait accompli? Today, with Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, a pastor of Redeemed Church of sitting as the wife of President Ahmed Tinubu, are Nigerians not going to her for Food? And for Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Nigerians including members of his Redeemed Christian Church of God, going about hungry and begging for food in a country blessed with abundance of arable lands, agricultural food and human resources does not bother him, but rather acts as his best gift to Nigerians at his 82 years birthday.
But what do Nigerians expect from Pastor Enoch Adeboye under the present trying economic circumstances, given that he was tacitly privy to the present state of political impunity in Nigeria? This for sure we can adequately trace to his Philistine disposition towards President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. Arising from the foregoing therefore, we will further ask the question, how did Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s relationship with former President Goodluck Jonathan properly define the above two qualities of an Overseer?
No matter how pious a coffin-maker looks and acts, asking him to lead a prayer-point for long life or against untimely death will always be considered an anathema. This is the unfortunate case between Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye and former President Goodluck Ebelle Jonathan. Again, why was Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan that of a coffin-maker praying against untimely death?
On October 10, 2010, that was less than four months to President Goodluck Jonathan’s first election as President, Pastor Enoch Adeboye acting at the behest of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with whom he belongs to one common secret blood-cult, not only personally wrote a petition to President Goodluck Jonathan but embarked on the collection of one million signatures of the members of his Redeemed Church of God to organize an anti-President Goodluck Jonathan rally against what he described as increasing incidents of kidnapping. His petition read in part:
“We, your subjects and citizens of this nation whose signatures appear hereunder, greet you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and congratulate you and every Nigerian on this auspicious occasion of the Jubilee of our nation. As we mark our 50th anniversary as an independent nation, we are faced with the emergence of kidnapping as the latest Nigerian night mare and one of the most serious threats to our common wellbeing, no one is safe. We cannot afford to celebrate, clinking glasses and congratulating each other when a horrendous decimation of the most vulnerable is picking up a pace and our stock of human capital heading for the abyss.”
There is no doubting the fact that today Pastor Enoch Adeboye is before the verdict of history like the false prophets of old. As Santayana evocatively said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If Pastor Enoch Adeboye cannot remember his pasts, we will remember them for him, so that the onus will be on him to judge if he has lived his ripe age of 82 years to the better or best standard of an Overseer as defined by 1 Timothy 3: 1-3 in line with his differing relationships with Presidents Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari, and now Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Nigerians, including Pastor Enoch Adeboye will agree with me that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was never close to the road of political purgatory; rather it was indeed the succeeding Government of President Muhammadu Buhari that was not just on the road to purgatory but a purgatorial Government itself. Nigerians, including Pastor Enoch Adeboye will equally agree with me that in the current Government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigerians have found themselves moving from purgatory to real hell-fire; one that appears to have no route of solution.
Pastor Enoch Adeboye has failed to tell Nigerians why he did not deem it expedient to either petition or lead a one million-man protest against first President Muhammadu Buhari’s purgatorial Government; and second, the current state of Government by hell-fire by Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu? Does this position not indicate that Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye has failed that fundamental quality of an Overseer being above reproach as defined by the Bible? Of course, there is no doubting the fact that Pastor Enoch Adeboye is not above reproach in line with the Biblical requirements of an Overseer.
In the Book of Ezekiel Chapter 13, verses 10-15, God spoke through Prophet Ezekiel in respect of the likes of Pastor Enoch Adeboye in the following chastising words:
“‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, ‘Where is the whitewash you covered it with?’ Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord. So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it’.”
Proverbs 14:34 tells that, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a REPROACH to any people.” Again, the Bible tells us in the Book of James Chapter 5, verse 16 that, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Could this be the case of a Pastor Enoch Adeboye praying for a President Goodluck Jonathan? Could Pastor Enoch Adeboye assert that he had been righteous in his relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan? Can Pastor Enoch Adebayo swear in the name of the Holy Spirit that his successive prayers to President Goodluck Jonathan have been as righteously intended and effectually delivered as was expected from an Overseer above reproach?
It should be recalled that, either by omission of political naivety or commission of spiritual bankruptcy, immediately after his election in 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan rushed to Pastor Enoch Adeboye and knelt down for prayers in the following words:
“It is only God that can help me change things. Pray for me now that I am the sitting President of your country. Pray for me not to deviate from the fear of God.”
The question is how could President Jonathan have expected any positive result from the prayers of such a man—a man who clandestinely organized a popular revolt against his Government at the nick of his election? There is no gainsaying the fact that it was indeed from that moment of Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s reproachable prayers that President Jonathan’s re-election chances began to slide backwards with geometric progression. Indeed the climax came when on January 4, 2015 President Goodluck Jonathan not only appeared again before Pastor Enoch Adeboye asking for prayers for his re-election bid, but at the same time with Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the Muhammadu Buhari’s Vice Presidential running-mate, who had already been endorsed by Pastor Adeboye.
Meanwhile before then, Pastor Adeboye could not by any tincture of moral index claim to be non-partisan against President Goodluck Jonathan, even though being placed on huge monthly grant by the same President Goodluck Jonathan, yet he went ahead to offer his hypocritical prayers for his Presidential bid. Was that not an act of witchcraft? To prove this stance and in a bid to make mockery of President Jonathan, Osinbajo went on air the same day at Channels Television, Lagos to confirm that Pastor Adeboye’s real prayers went to him and not to President Jonathan, by asserting his endorsement by Pastor Enoch Adeboye in the following words:
“I certainly will not do anything without seeking the consent of Pastor E. A. Adeboye. I discussed with him in full.”
Prof Osinbajo further re-echoed Pastor Adeboye’s endorsement of his candidature with Muhammadu Buhari during the presentation of a book on Pastor Adeboye in August, 2017 when he stated: “I consulted Daddy and he gave the go-ahead to accept the VP position; before then I was not a politician.”
The question here is, if truly Pastor Enoch Adeboye is an ordained man of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit, what stopped him from telling President Goodluck Jonathan than he was not in support of his Presidential ambition, rather than engaging in Pharisaical cowardice because of the enormous money he was collecting from him?
Like Biblical Samuel telling King Saul that God has rejected him, President Olusegun Obasanjo told his Vice President Atiku Abubakar that he was not supporting his presidential bid, and Atiku Abubakar knew that. President Olusegun Obasanjo told President Goodluck Jonathan that he was not supporting his re-election bid, and President Goodluck Jonathan knew about it. President Olusegun Obasanjo told Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he was not supporting his Presidential bid, and Bola Ahmed Tinubu knew about it.
Indeed the indefatigable President Olusegun Obasanjo, to prove the continued virility of his anti-Tinubu stance, acting in a manner that profoundly defines his title of Balogun of Owu Kingdom and a General that worth his stature, marched off the stage at Owerri venue of the second-term inauguration of Hope Uzodinma while Bola Ahmed Tinubu was delivering his speech. This is true carriage and quality of a true man of God not by the act of clandestine worldly ordination as in the case of Pastor Enoch Adeboye, but by the act of instinctual providence as in the case of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
Can Pastor Adeboye as a man of God and an Overseer above reproach deny that he was not privy to the election of President Muhammadu Buhari and by extension the inauguration of the present state of political precipice in Nigeria?
To be continued.
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