Finally, the General Overseer of the Redeem Christian Church, Enoch Adeboye, has, formally, come out to state his position on his choice among the Front Runners in the 2023 presidential race. He said he would not name or endorse any candidate.
In principle or from a distance, that seems to make sense; but on closer scrutiny and ESPECIALLY amid a GROWING OPEN declaration by other PROMINENT Pastors in the country, Adeboye’s latest declaration of neutrality is SUSPECT!
Here is why…
First, the Top contenders are Atiku Abubakar, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Peter Obi.
Of these top three, Peter Obi has been ADJUDGED the MOST DECENT and QUALIFIED for the office of the President of the country. The other two candidates have made their disqualification an easy task for all. First, Atiku BLATANTLY disregarded and messed up the zoning arrangement that would have seen a South Easterner fly the flag of the PDP. Tinubu, in UTTER disrespect of the CHRISTIAN FAITH has DARED to run a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
For these two, if the elections were to be conducted today, Peter Obi will defeat them with a definitive landslide victory; and barring any unforeseen circumstance, the guarantee for his victory continues to grow in leaps and bounds every day.
Note that I have not looked at the moral stance of the two; to stand for any election anywhere in the world considering their WONDERFUL PEDIGREE WITH PUBLIC WEALTH (if you get ma drift).
So, the question would be why would a highly revered and respected GO as Adeboye declines to endorse an OBVIOUS choice here?
I am sure his Fans and fanatics would quickly tell you it is a WISE decision by their Papa to take; since he must not be seen to be involved in politics.
But they forget that every member of Redeem is AFFECTED by the policy decision made by the politicians he refused to support or the ones he may have endorsed privately.
I am yet to hear a testimony where a Redeem member is spared in a kidnap situation or in the many other terror situations going on in the country.
I am still waiting to hear that because HUMBLE Adeboye is NEUTRAL, Redeem members buy things CHEAPER and their children and families are saved from the catastrophe the Mohammadu Buhari government has VISITED on this nation.
For me, I believe the GO is BEING SMART; standing on the fence.
You know why…?
It was easy for him to endorse the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket in 2015 and keep quiet in 2019 because Yemi Osibajo is one of his beloved Pastors; while the APC Leader and the CHIEF FACILITATOR of the Buhari government, Tinubu is close to the church even though he is a Muslim; because his WIFE, Remi, is one of the VIP Deaconesses in Adeboye’s Church.
Now that APC is out of reckoning and Tinubu is contesting, it has become a challenge for him.
If he endorses Tinubu because his wife is a Worker in his church, Nigerians and even members of his Church will come down on him. If he endorses Atiku, for whatever reasons best known to him and I am sure there will be many (knowing the kind of a person Atiku is particularly when and where it comes to STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPY); he will lose his CHERISHED goodwill with Nigerians. If he endorses Peter Obi, he RISKS LOSING his RELATIONSHIP with the Tinubus and the Atikus; even though his goodwill will blow the roof with Nigerians as virtually all Nigerians at home and abroad will be OVERWHELMED with excitement.
They will take his backing as the FINAL DIVINE ENDORSEMENT as pronounced through the nation’s most respected Cleric.
This is the dilemma confronting Adeboye. So, it is not about wisdom but about being a smart adult in a tacky situation that threatens TREASURED PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS!
Unfortunately for the Redeem GO, this is no time to sit on the fence; Sarah Omaku of Family Worship Church in Abuja expressed the wishes of many Christians across the country; when she said she wished there would be ONE among the TOP Pastors in the country that will give a DIRECTIVE to back the STRUCTURELESS candidate as she jokingly describes the Peter Obi candidacy. She came short of mentioning names; like that of Adeboye’s, Oyedepo’s among others.
When and where nations found themselves at crossroads, a clear path is carved out for the people through the INTERVENTION of the clergy. Rev. Martin Luther King Jnr. Left the Church and hit the streets to liberate the blacks from white oppression in America and today, the impact of that intervention continues to resonate in the United States. A Catholic Priest in the Philippines led the revolution that ousted Fidel Marcos from power as President of that country.
So, telling people that the church is not supposed to dabble into politics is a demonic lie from the pit of hell.
Truth be told; any Nigerian, intellectual, politician, Educationist, Traditionalist, Cleric, man or woman, young or old; regardless of religion or ethnicity who turns a blind eye to the political phenomenon and movement that have taken over our nation’s political space today and thus DECLINES to ENDORSE the man who EMBODIES that movement is AN ENEMY of Nigeria and Nigerians.
I don’t care who the heck you are; the stakes in this election are too high for anyone to contemplate a RETURN to the old order.
We are talking about a nation where the people are no longer safe; a nation where the citizens are TERRORIZE at home and TREATED as TRASH abroad; a nation where food and fuel are FAST RUNNING out; yet the OPPRESSED, SUPPRESSED and IMPOVERISHED citizens still have to SQUEEZE out of their DWINDLING resources to pay their TITHE and give offerings.
Now that those same people have seen some LIGHT in one of the candidates; and are CLINGING onto that ONE candidate for their dear Lives; their religious leader is saying to them he cannot ENDORSE the man they have CHOSEN to RALLY around!
Mind you, the people are not rooting for the candidate just to fulfill the man’s presidential aspiration; but more to SAVE the Lives and FUTURE of their families and generations; for the now and for all time.
They are CONVINCED that they WILL finally have a BREATH OF FRESH AIR!
This is not about positioning the Peter Obi candidacy in the limiting sectional orbit of religion; but about stating a position of fact rooted in VERIFIABLE evidence. There is no doubt today, that ALL Nigerians across religious and ethnic divides are OBIDIENT as we speak.
To save himself the embarrassment of sitting on the fence, why can’t Adeboye announce publicly that any candidate Nigerians want to vote for should be INVESTIGATED thoroughly to avoid the TRAGEDY Buhari and his co-travellers have plunged our nation today from being visited on us in 2023 and beyond…
This is no time to play smart; as doing so may cost the man the precious goodwill he has built for himself over the years. I am aware Peter Obi has visited Bishop David Oyedepo; I hope he replicates that gesture with Adeboye.
As things stand today is that with or without their platforms, God has ALREADY BLESSED the Peter Obi movement with a phenomenal platform that can neither be diminished nor defeated.
If both men choose to lend their platforms to the movement, it is to their own benefit; because history and posterity will want to know whether they stood up to be COUNTED when it MATTERED MOST in the life of the country.