Pastor Adeboye reacts to Buhari's action:
To many, Buhari’s government has been a
slow and steady race. Critical issues
demanding urgent national attention are
oftentimes, slept on. It was like silence
became the buzzword of the administration.
The government seemed to practically keep
mum over several issues in the country that
affects the citizenry. Even when a matter
needed immediate attention, the government
was perceived to have deliberately taken its
time.
From the situation in Niger delta, to problems
of Fulani herdsmen and farmers, rejigging of
cabinet, the need for brilliant economic team
etc, the president had basically kept silent or
delayed in taking decisions. When certain
individuals erred, the weight of their
punishment was seen to depend on where
they were coming from.
President Buhari and Pastor Enoch Adejare
Adeboye,
In some quarters, it was believed the president
protects his loyalists.
Since he came aboard on May 29, 2015, delay
in taking decisions on crucial national issues
appeared to have been the hallmark of the
Buhari regime. It took months to constitute his
cabinet. He kept silent in many cases where
the citizens were awaiting his comments on
critical issues.
Like they did to former president Yar’Adua
who was slowed down by illness, Buhari
became nicknamed ‘Baba-Go-Slow’.
But events had shown that the President could
respond swiftly to situations if he so desired.
For instance, when the General Overseer of
the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor
Enoch Adeboye recently ‘coughed’ , Buhari
caught ‘cold.’
The resignation of Pastor Enoch Adeboye as
the General Overseer of RCCG was greeted
with an outrage by both the Christendom and
the political circles and with 2019 apparently
staring at him, Buhari jumped-started and
quickly took a decision in the fastest time limit
ever in his regime. He sacked the man
perceived to have caused Adeboye’s
resignation and suspended the obnoxious law
that influenced Adeboye’s decision to step
aside in Nigeria.
But that was just the beginning.
Will Adeboye’s resignation affect Buhari’s
victory at the polls in 2019?
The answer is blowing in the wind.
But the fact remains that if the president
could take decisions as fast as this, then he
shouldn’t be silent on critical national issues
he was supposed to act on?
Obayemi and Adeboye
Since he assumed office, the president had
been slow in taking crucial decisions and one
cannot say for sure if his delays were
strategic.
The change mantra of the APC-led Fedefal
Government has been perceived and
interpreted by Nigerians in ways that it suited
them, making change the buzzword in the
Nigerian social media arena.
The beginning
For over six months in office as president,
Buhari did not constitute his cabinet or make
any categorical statement regarding the
direction his government would take. Even
when the repercussion was hitting hard on the
economy, and despite criticisms from foreign
investors and Nigerian economists who were
swayed by non-installation of ministers, or
laying out a fiscal policy to guide Africa’s top
oil producer through an economic crisis,
President Buhari delayed in the face of
obvious suffering of the citizens.
In the heat of the criticisms, the president told
Nigerians through a televised speech on
Nigeria’s independence day that “impatience is
not a virtue”, reiterating the vow in his
inaugural speech in May to carefully manage
the country as he implemented reforms.
“Careful and deliberate decisions after
consultations get far better results,” he had
said.
It was at some point believed that part of the
reasons he delayed in appointing his cabinet
was to find individuals who met his high
ethical standards and shared his reputation for
being “clean”— a byword for not having stolen
in public or private office. Eventually, when he
appointed the ministers , many Nigerians were
disappointed as they could not vouch for the
people in his cabinet.
Why then the long wait?
Bleeding economy
The prosperity of a nation’s economy is
measured by its ability to create jobs. But that
has not been the case in Nigeria. Nigeria is on
the verge of economic suicide. The recession
that gripped the nation shortly after the take-
over of the APC regime caught Nigerians
unaware .
President Buhari had urged his economic team
to think out of the box in developing the most
effective strategies for pulling the nation out
of its current economic recession. So far,
President Buahri’s economic team headed by
the Vice president has failed to leverage on
this. Again, Nigerians began to ask the
President to change his economic team . But
he looked the other way.
Unnecessary blood-letting
Since the killings in southern Kaduna by
herdsmen who even adopted the president as
their patron started , nothing serious so far
was said about it. In fact, Buhari’s silence was
so loud that it generated an outrage
necessitating presidential aides to make
efforts to explain this silence to Nigerians.
While the Christian Association of Nigeria,
CAN, and the Jama’atu. Nasril Islam, JNI,
are throwing stones at each other, Mr
President still believes that the Kaduna State
Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai is on top of
the situation.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media
and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, had told
Nigerians that it was needless for the
president to speak on the bloodletting in the
restive part of the North-western state since
the governor assured that he was in full
control of the violent crisis and had been
briefing his boss regularly.
Even while Buhari was always quick to issue a
statement when killings happened abroad, he
had been quiet when such killings took place
in Nigeria.
In his defence of the President, Adesina had
said Nigeria was a federal state, explaining
that there was no need for Buhari to speak
since El-Rufai said he was on top of the
matter. The President adopted the same
approach in many killings and destruction of
houses and farms from Benue to Enugu and
Delta states among others.
Niger Delta peace talks: Delay is dangerous
The issue of peace talks between the
presidency and the Niger Delta leaders
seemed to be deadlocked as the president is
still on the voyage of seeking out genuine
Niger-Delta leaders even as the avengers are
threatening resumed pipeline bombing.
The perception in many quarters is that
President Buhari is not seriously looking for
solution to militancy in the region but rather,
preferred the allocation of a colossal N29
billion for military warfare in the region, a sign
the people perceived as being hypocritical on
his call for dialogue.
The Niger Deltans think there is no sincerity
on the part of the president in addressing the
Niger Delta issues, despite the preparedness
of Niger Delta leaders and stakeholders to
commence the negotiation process.
The delay, according to calculation in some
quarters, is already creating tension.
However, Special Adviser to the President on
Media, Mr. Femi Adesina, had dismissed
insinuations of a disconnect between the
President and the Niger Delta, expressing
concern that repeated efforts by the
Presidency to engage leaders of the region
were yet to bear fruit.
A case against the military
The allegation that the military might have
mismanaged funds meant for the purchase of
military vehicles had sparked outrage among
soldiers and officers, especially those from the
northeast part of the country.
In a petition, the aggrieved soldiers and
officers, under the umbrella of Concerned
Soldiers and Officers From the North East, had
accused their top shots of executing the
contract through a proxy .
. This allegation published by an online
medium generated national outrage and
discourse.
While the allegation became rife and demands
were made on Mr President to do something,
he looked the other way.
SGF under investigation
Similarly, when allegation of corruption was
levelled against the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr
Babachir Lawal, for allegedly soiling his hands
in corrupt practices, the call for his sack
lingered without president Buhari saying
anything. The call for his sack was anchored
on alleged contravention of the provisions of
the Public Procurement Act, 2007, and the
Federal Government Financial Rules and
Regulations on the award of contracts under
the Presidential Initiative on North-East. The
SGF dismissed the allegation as utter rubbish,
necessitating the Senate’s insistence that
Lawal be sacked by President Buhari .
Then, the president reluctantly ordered
investigation into the allegations.
Nigerians are still awaiting the outcome of it.
Enter Adeboye
But the resignation of Pastor Enoch Adeboye,
the General Overseer of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God, RCCG, appeared to
be a matter President Buhari could not delay
over. Despite his continuous silence on several
issues afflicting the polity, Mr president sure
knows when silence is not golden. Definitely,
not with 2019 staring him in the face. Pastor
Adeboye had resigned over the corporate
governance code issued by the country’s
Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRC.
Adeboye, arguably one of Nigeria’s most
influential Christian clerics, had complained
about the government’s interest in Church
activities and told his congregation that the
reason he handed over the mantle of
leadership to another was because of the new
legal requirement, guiding all registered
churches.
The governance code among others, provided
that founders or leaders of not-for-profit
organizations would not head governance of
their organisations for more than 20 years, and
could not also pass baton to their family
members.
While the code received positive reactions by
people who consider it necessary to ensure
accountability, it also suffered knocks by
those expressing concerns it was targeting
faith organisations, especially the Church.
But the outrage across Nigeria and overseas
caused the president to take a swift decision
and had the controversial law suspended, and
also sacking the FRC’s henchman, Jim
Obazee.
Below are some of the reactions of politicians.
What Adeboye said
While announcing his decision to step aside as
the overseer in Nigeria last Saturday, Adeboye
said the following: “The government has been
showing increasing interest in church affairs
and unfortunately, for us in RCCG, it might not
be very helpful. For example, when I decided
on what will be the pension of our pastors,
what I decided is not done anywhere in the
world that somebody will retire and continue to
earn full salaries all his lifetime.
This, I started, but government stepped in and
made a law that we should be contributing to
pension fund. We have to obey and we started
doing that. The result is that pastors don’t get
as much as they were getting under our own
previous arrangement. But, what can we do?
We have to obey the law”.
Adeboye further disclosed other fresh laws
which had been enacted by the government to
ruffle the feathers of the church in the
country, and which were particularly targeted
at the RCCG.
According to him, “Now there are fresh laws.
In the new law that has been announced, they
said that nobody can be overseer for more
than certain number of years. And according
to that law, people like me, Bishop David
Oyedepo, Pastor W. F. Kumuyi, Bishop Mike
Okonkwo were already gone.”
Charging all the members of the church to be
fully involved in partisan politics henceforth,
Pastor Adeboye said, “some people believe
that RCCG is becoming too influential and
we’re going to be more influential. When you
get home, tell all the members to join a
political party. Join a party and become a
card-carrying member of any party. Just join
any party. We shall decide issues right from
the ward level. If you are not active at ward
level, you’ll do what they plan and say at the
top.
Enroll in any party of your choice and have a
card. When holding meetings at ward level to
choose delegates, be there. One Muslim in
Ibadan said years ago that he didn’t know
what’s wrong with Christians; that we helped
them to occupy political positions but refused
to capitalise on our population. That’s going to
change from now,” Adeboye stated.
Adeboye, thereafter presented Pastor Joseph
O. Obayemi, as the National Overseer of RCCG
(Nigeria); Pastor Johnson Odesola as
Secretary and Pastor Adeyokunnu as Treasurer
of the mission. Pastor Obayemi and Odesola
were former Special Assistant to the General
Overseer on Finance and Special Assistant on
Administration and Personnel respectively.
After announcing the new offices, Adeboye
said he has no problem performing his God-
given role.
“About me, no problem. RCCG is in 192
nations of the world and the Overseer in
Nigeria will not drive me out of the camp. He
won’t stop me from doing the Holy Ghost
Services, and he won’t stop me from visiting
you,” he said
slow and steady race. Critical issues
demanding urgent national attention are
oftentimes, slept on. It was like silence
became the buzzword of the administration.
The government seemed to practically keep
mum over several issues in the country that
affects the citizenry. Even when a matter
needed immediate attention, the government
was perceived to have deliberately taken its
time.
From the situation in Niger delta, to problems
of Fulani herdsmen and farmers, rejigging of
cabinet, the need for brilliant economic team
etc, the president had basically kept silent or
delayed in taking decisions. When certain
individuals erred, the weight of their
punishment was seen to depend on where
they were coming from.
President Buhari and Pastor Enoch Adejare
Adeboye,
In some quarters, it was believed the president
protects his loyalists.
Since he came aboard on May 29, 2015, delay
in taking decisions on crucial national issues
appeared to have been the hallmark of the
Buhari regime. It took months to constitute his
cabinet. He kept silent in many cases where
the citizens were awaiting his comments on
critical issues.
Like they did to former president Yar’Adua
who was slowed down by illness, Buhari
became nicknamed ‘Baba-Go-Slow’.
But events had shown that the President could
respond swiftly to situations if he so desired.
For instance, when the General Overseer of
the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor
Enoch Adeboye recently ‘coughed’ , Buhari
caught ‘cold.’
The resignation of Pastor Enoch Adeboye as
the General Overseer of RCCG was greeted
with an outrage by both the Christendom and
the political circles and with 2019 apparently
staring at him, Buhari jumped-started and
quickly took a decision in the fastest time limit
ever in his regime. He sacked the man
perceived to have caused Adeboye’s
resignation and suspended the obnoxious law
that influenced Adeboye’s decision to step
aside in Nigeria.
But that was just the beginning.
Will Adeboye’s resignation affect Buhari’s
victory at the polls in 2019?
The answer is blowing in the wind.
But the fact remains that if the president
could take decisions as fast as this, then he
shouldn’t be silent on critical national issues
he was supposed to act on?
Obayemi and Adeboye
Since he assumed office, the president had
been slow in taking crucial decisions and one
cannot say for sure if his delays were
strategic.
The change mantra of the APC-led Fedefal
Government has been perceived and
interpreted by Nigerians in ways that it suited
them, making change the buzzword in the
Nigerian social media arena.
The beginning
For over six months in office as president,
Buhari did not constitute his cabinet or make
any categorical statement regarding the
direction his government would take. Even
when the repercussion was hitting hard on the
economy, and despite criticisms from foreign
investors and Nigerian economists who were
swayed by non-installation of ministers, or
laying out a fiscal policy to guide Africa’s top
oil producer through an economic crisis,
President Buhari delayed in the face of
obvious suffering of the citizens.
In the heat of the criticisms, the president told
Nigerians through a televised speech on
Nigeria’s independence day that “impatience is
not a virtue”, reiterating the vow in his
inaugural speech in May to carefully manage
the country as he implemented reforms.
“Careful and deliberate decisions after
consultations get far better results,” he had
said.
It was at some point believed that part of the
reasons he delayed in appointing his cabinet
was to find individuals who met his high
ethical standards and shared his reputation for
being “clean”— a byword for not having stolen
in public or private office. Eventually, when he
appointed the ministers , many Nigerians were
disappointed as they could not vouch for the
people in his cabinet.
Why then the long wait?
Bleeding economy
The prosperity of a nation’s economy is
measured by its ability to create jobs. But that
has not been the case in Nigeria. Nigeria is on
the verge of economic suicide. The recession
that gripped the nation shortly after the take-
over of the APC regime caught Nigerians
unaware .
President Buhari had urged his economic team
to think out of the box in developing the most
effective strategies for pulling the nation out
of its current economic recession. So far,
President Buahri’s economic team headed by
the Vice president has failed to leverage on
this. Again, Nigerians began to ask the
President to change his economic team . But
he looked the other way.
Unnecessary blood-letting
Since the killings in southern Kaduna by
herdsmen who even adopted the president as
their patron started , nothing serious so far
was said about it. In fact, Buhari’s silence was
so loud that it generated an outrage
necessitating presidential aides to make
efforts to explain this silence to Nigerians.
While the Christian Association of Nigeria,
CAN, and the Jama’atu. Nasril Islam, JNI,
are throwing stones at each other, Mr
President still believes that the Kaduna State
Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai is on top of
the situation.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media
and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, had told
Nigerians that it was needless for the
president to speak on the bloodletting in the
restive part of the North-western state since
the governor assured that he was in full
control of the violent crisis and had been
briefing his boss regularly.
Even while Buhari was always quick to issue a
statement when killings happened abroad, he
had been quiet when such killings took place
in Nigeria.
In his defence of the President, Adesina had
said Nigeria was a federal state, explaining
that there was no need for Buhari to speak
since El-Rufai said he was on top of the
matter. The President adopted the same
approach in many killings and destruction of
houses and farms from Benue to Enugu and
Delta states among others.
Niger Delta peace talks: Delay is dangerous
The issue of peace talks between the
presidency and the Niger Delta leaders
seemed to be deadlocked as the president is
still on the voyage of seeking out genuine
Niger-Delta leaders even as the avengers are
threatening resumed pipeline bombing.
The perception in many quarters is that
President Buhari is not seriously looking for
solution to militancy in the region but rather,
preferred the allocation of a colossal N29
billion for military warfare in the region, a sign
the people perceived as being hypocritical on
his call for dialogue.
The Niger Deltans think there is no sincerity
on the part of the president in addressing the
Niger Delta issues, despite the preparedness
of Niger Delta leaders and stakeholders to
commence the negotiation process.
The delay, according to calculation in some
quarters, is already creating tension.
However, Special Adviser to the President on
Media, Mr. Femi Adesina, had dismissed
insinuations of a disconnect between the
President and the Niger Delta, expressing
concern that repeated efforts by the
Presidency to engage leaders of the region
were yet to bear fruit.
A case against the military
The allegation that the military might have
mismanaged funds meant for the purchase of
military vehicles had sparked outrage among
soldiers and officers, especially those from the
northeast part of the country.
In a petition, the aggrieved soldiers and
officers, under the umbrella of Concerned
Soldiers and Officers From the North East, had
accused their top shots of executing the
contract through a proxy .
. This allegation published by an online
medium generated national outrage and
discourse.
While the allegation became rife and demands
were made on Mr President to do something,
he looked the other way.
SGF under investigation
Similarly, when allegation of corruption was
levelled against the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr
Babachir Lawal, for allegedly soiling his hands
in corrupt practices, the call for his sack
lingered without president Buhari saying
anything. The call for his sack was anchored
on alleged contravention of the provisions of
the Public Procurement Act, 2007, and the
Federal Government Financial Rules and
Regulations on the award of contracts under
the Presidential Initiative on North-East. The
SGF dismissed the allegation as utter rubbish,
necessitating the Senate’s insistence that
Lawal be sacked by President Buhari .
Then, the president reluctantly ordered
investigation into the allegations.
Nigerians are still awaiting the outcome of it.
Enter Adeboye
But the resignation of Pastor Enoch Adeboye,
the General Overseer of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God, RCCG, appeared to
be a matter President Buhari could not delay
over. Despite his continuous silence on several
issues afflicting the polity, Mr president sure
knows when silence is not golden. Definitely,
not with 2019 staring him in the face. Pastor
Adeboye had resigned over the corporate
governance code issued by the country’s
Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRC.
Adeboye, arguably one of Nigeria’s most
influential Christian clerics, had complained
about the government’s interest in Church
activities and told his congregation that the
reason he handed over the mantle of
leadership to another was because of the new
legal requirement, guiding all registered
churches.
The governance code among others, provided
that founders or leaders of not-for-profit
organizations would not head governance of
their organisations for more than 20 years, and
could not also pass baton to their family
members.
While the code received positive reactions by
people who consider it necessary to ensure
accountability, it also suffered knocks by
those expressing concerns it was targeting
faith organisations, especially the Church.
But the outrage across Nigeria and overseas
caused the president to take a swift decision
and had the controversial law suspended, and
also sacking the FRC’s henchman, Jim
Obazee.
Below are some of the reactions of politicians.
What Adeboye said
While announcing his decision to step aside as
the overseer in Nigeria last Saturday, Adeboye
said the following: “The government has been
showing increasing interest in church affairs
and unfortunately, for us in RCCG, it might not
be very helpful. For example, when I decided
on what will be the pension of our pastors,
what I decided is not done anywhere in the
world that somebody will retire and continue to
earn full salaries all his lifetime.
This, I started, but government stepped in and
made a law that we should be contributing to
pension fund. We have to obey and we started
doing that. The result is that pastors don’t get
as much as they were getting under our own
previous arrangement. But, what can we do?
We have to obey the law”.
Adeboye further disclosed other fresh laws
which had been enacted by the government to
ruffle the feathers of the church in the
country, and which were particularly targeted
at the RCCG.
According to him, “Now there are fresh laws.
In the new law that has been announced, they
said that nobody can be overseer for more
than certain number of years. And according
to that law, people like me, Bishop David
Oyedepo, Pastor W. F. Kumuyi, Bishop Mike
Okonkwo were already gone.”
Charging all the members of the church to be
fully involved in partisan politics henceforth,
Pastor Adeboye said, “some people believe
that RCCG is becoming too influential and
we’re going to be more influential. When you
get home, tell all the members to join a
political party. Join a party and become a
card-carrying member of any party. Just join
any party. We shall decide issues right from
the ward level. If you are not active at ward
level, you’ll do what they plan and say at the
top.
Enroll in any party of your choice and have a
card. When holding meetings at ward level to
choose delegates, be there. One Muslim in
Ibadan said years ago that he didn’t know
what’s wrong with Christians; that we helped
them to occupy political positions but refused
to capitalise on our population. That’s going to
change from now,” Adeboye stated.
Adeboye, thereafter presented Pastor Joseph
O. Obayemi, as the National Overseer of RCCG
(Nigeria); Pastor Johnson Odesola as
Secretary and Pastor Adeyokunnu as Treasurer
of the mission. Pastor Obayemi and Odesola
were former Special Assistant to the General
Overseer on Finance and Special Assistant on
Administration and Personnel respectively.
After announcing the new offices, Adeboye
said he has no problem performing his God-
given role.
“About me, no problem. RCCG is in 192
nations of the world and the Overseer in
Nigeria will not drive me out of the camp. He
won’t stop me from doing the Holy Ghost
Services, and he won’t stop me from visiting
you,” he said
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