“And ... the scribes
and the Pharisees began to urge him
vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch
something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him. “ Luke 11:53-54
Barely 48
hours after his passing a scriptures-coated comment
on the COZA rape saga (Saturday July 6), elements of the Hypergrace
(once-saved-always-saved) movement launched a vicious counter-attack on the
revered Pastor E.A. Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (Monday
July 8). Mobilizing substantial
resources, and garnering considerable media presence at very short notice, some
motley crowd staged a protest outside the Redemption Camp demanding that Pastor
Enoch Adeboye must plainly speak out against President Buhari! https://dailypost.ng/2019/07/08/protested-rccg-pastor-adeboye-charly-boy-idris-abdulkareem-others/
As comical as
this show ought to be, a good number of Christian folks, especially on social
media, betrayed their inner grouse against the man of God with the way they celebrated
this railing, with some even hailing it as the beginning of revival and
purification of the Church! This sad
reality alone would be a good reason for a discerning Adeboye to mind what he
says publicly!
Adeboye’s
positions on national issues have always been clear to any of his followers
both within and outside the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), however. Right from the build-up to the Church’s 2018 Convention
themed “Dominion” (which theme Pastor Adeboye introduced with the so-called herdsmen-farmers
“clashes,” citing Gideon and his countrymen as farmers being impoverished by ravaging
Midianites herdsmen – Judges 6:5); to the explosive 3-hour
prayer for the nation, broadcast live throughout the whole world in
February 2018; as well as regular public prayers at each Holy Ghost service
asking for speedy Divine judgement on those persecuting the Church in Nigeria and
those bent on disrupting God’s agenda for the nation at large; Adeboye’s
position on the marauding herdsmen in Nigeria is certainly clear to those who
care to know.
And without
any iota of doubt, the federal government is most certainly acquainted with
this position!
Adeboye’s prescription
on the way out of the dire situation is also very clear and without any
ambiguity. His position is that the
problem confronting the nation is unprecedented and utterly hopeless to the
extent that only God’s mercy can save the nation. To underscore this position, all parishes of
the RCCG were mandated to add to their regular schedules, formal DAILY prayers
requesting God’s mercy for Nigeria. In plain terms, that amounts to putting troops under his command at maximum state
of alert possible!
Unfolding
revelations and developments are showing very clearly how bad indeed the
situation in Nigeria is. With the news now in the public domain that over
a thousand cells of foreign Fulani mercenaries, wielding sophisticated military-grade
weapons, are already ensconced in various forests in Yorubaland (alone!) in the
guise of being herdsmen; several in-depth analyses and commentaries have
concluded that war is simply inevitable in Nigeria. One commentary by Basil
Okoh, and another
– attributed to the respectable Nuhu Ribadu, himself a Fulani, convincingly
argued that even the Nigerian masterminds and paymasters might not be able to
call these foreign mercenaries to order or request them to back-up from their
mission to replicate down south the ravages being inflicted on communities in
the middle belt region of Nigeria. It is clear these desperate homeless foreign
mercenaries would rather see Nigeria burn than return to the Mali, Chad, CAR,
or wherever they came from now that they are already at the borders of their
promised lebenstraum. (see our
write-up on the drivers of the herdsmen-farmers clashes here).
As the
various ethnic groups publicly announce their counter-mobilization for war
to preserve their own nationalities, what other hope for corporate Nigeria
except God’s mercy and intervention? What other word should come out from a
revered man of God, of the stature of Pastor E.A. Adeboye, than to call for and
lead prayers for God’s mercy?
Even then, it
is open knowledge that the two key arrow-heads of the opposition against
General Buhari’s fundamental agenda of establishing the infamous Fulani Rugas (now
deceptively being portrayed as mere Cattle Ranches) in the country are the
executive governors or Benue (Samuel Ortom) and Akwa Ibom (Udom Emmanuel)
states. Very publicly
these two-some affirm that it is Adeboye’s counsel, prayers, and encouragements
that is providing them strength to withstand the enormous pressures they
constantly have to bear. (see here,
for example). This is not to mention
ex-Governor Ambode of Lagos, a Worker in the RCCG, who so demonstrated his
independent-mindedness that despite being lauded as one of the best-performing
governors of his time, his party chieftains bluntly refused him a second-term!
Similarly, outside
of government, arguably the most outspoken and extremely influential duo who
are confronting the federal government today on issues of governance are
retired Generals Olusegun Obasanjo
(former President) and T.Y. Danjuma
(former Defence Minister). It is an open
secret that these are long-time confidantes and associates of Pastor Adeboye.
Can two walk
together unless they agree?
Yet all the
opponents point out is the nation’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who is a
senior Pastor in the RCCG. Would they he
share his dissenting opinions (if he has some) against his boss through the open
media? What makes this expectation most
nauseating is the fact that, considering the desperation with which many of
these critics (or their associates) lobby even for ministerial or lesser
appointments with the government of the day, they would certainly be happy to
replace the Vice President in that office! The precarious office of the Vice President is
like a dormant volcano, and there could be little doubts the Islamists
currently at the helm of affairs in the country would feel more comfortable
with a fellow Islamist in that space.
As a sad
example of these realities, Femi
Gbajabiamila, an elder in a well-respected Pentecostal Church in Nigeria
shamefully converted to Islam and went on Hajj to Mecca in order to be
considered for the position of Speaker of the Junior Legislative Chamber. By
the way, nobody is holding his eminent Pastor responsible for this action!
It is clear
that a media quote from Pastor Adeboye, as being irrationally demanded by this
motley crowd, would only be reflected onto the Vice President for whatever
nefarious agenda they had in mind. And the timing of this rabble-rousing coming
on the heels of the comments by Adeboye on the deadly hypergrace doctrine is
surely not coincidental.
Even more
astonishing is the fact that the man chosen to lead the “protest” against
Pastor Adeboye was none other than the controversial Charly Boy who lays no
pretension to being a Christian, nor care about basic integrity. Why, only a
few weeks earlier, Charly Boy was forced to admit in the media that he
collected an unnamed “nine
figures” amount (that is 100 million naira at the least) from Buhari
Campaign team for the “proprietary right” to use his song in Buhari’s
campaign. While this was unknown to the
public, he was also leading the highly publicized “Our Mumu don do” protests
against the same Buhari! And this same
man is taking to the streets with no other gripe against Pastor Adeboye other
than to demand the man of God should engage in such public stunts himself!
It is a sad
reflection on the state of the Church in Nigeria, that any Christian at all
will for a moment give heed to this charade of a protest, talk less of gleefully
hailing it. Ouch!
We close this
piece by pointing out what is now public knowledge. How the late dictator Sanni
Abacha felt compelled to order the arrest of Pastor Enoch Adeboye early June
1997 (https://dailypost.ng/2016/12/13/god-saved-sani-abachas-hit-men-pastor-adeboye/)
. As the story goes, Abacha was
pointedly advised by his marabouts that as long as Pastor Adeboye is praying in
“that bush” in the Redemption Camp, Abacha could forget the idea of
successfully transmuting to a civilian president! It’s much like the case of another
power-drunk leader, Queen Mary of Scotland who a couple centuries ago publicly lamented
concerning another praying Christian: “I fear the prayers of John Knox than all
the assembled armies of Europe!”.
CA! enjoins
all Christians of good conscience to join in the prayers for God’s mercy for
our nation. Of course, from the Biblical
injunction to Watch and Pray, this does not suggest at all that other options for
self-defense should be neglected.
