Revered cleric and General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has spoken on the miracle behind sustained oneness of Nigeria till date.
According to him, that the West African country is still together as one country is a sign that God still answers prayers.
“I will tell you the truth: That Nigeria is still one up till this moment is a sign of a miracle, it shows God still answers prayers,” he said on Friday night at the 2022 International Youth Convention of the church.
Speaking at the Redemption City, he added, he believes that one day, “our joy will be full.”
“But if you want something and you haven’t got it yet, you will pray more. After all, He (God) said pray till your joy be full, whether you believe it or not, one day, and I believe it won’t be long, our joy will be full,” the octogenarian said, declaring seven days of fasting and prayer.
Pastor Adeboye said, “there is a God on His throne and he still answers prayers”.
“From November 26 to December 2, as many of you as possible are invited to fast and pray with me. It’s only for seven days. We want to pray surprisingly for ourselves. I will tell you more details later but whatever is going in Nigeria today is the fault of us Christians.
“Why? Because God said if my people who are called by my name that are called by name will humble themselves and pray, He said He will hear from heaven and heal our land. Who are the people to pray? My people.
“The church is the only organisation in the world that is bold enough to say we are children of God. So, we are the people called by His name that is why they call us Christians. We are the ones to pray if we want our land to be healed,” he explained.
Pastor Adeboye had in October 2020 warned President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigeria must restructure or risk breakup of the country, an advice the Buhari administration considered as unpatriotic.
He had spoken two years ago, saying that there was an urgent need to restructure Nigeria 60th Independence Day Celebration Symposium organised by RCCG and the Nehemiah Leadership Institute. The General Overseer spoke on the theme, “Where will Nigeria be in 2060.”
Adeboye, who had added his voice to the then growing clamour for restructuring of the country, spoke at the He, however, suggested a merger of the British and American systems of government for Nigeria, stressing that the country should develop a system peculiar and unique to it.
The cleric, who had always been reluctant to criticise the president, said the Buhari administration must carry out the restructuring of the country “as soon as possible” to avoid a breakup of the various social and ethnic components.
The then 78-year-old had stated, “Why can’t we have a system of government that will create what I will call the United States of Nigeria? Let me explain. We all know that we must restructure. It’s either we restructure or we break, you don’t have to be a prophet to know that one. That is certain – restructure or we break up.
“Now, we don’t want to break up, God forbid. In restructuring, why don’t we have a Nigerian kind of democracy? At the federal level, why don’t we have a President and a Prime Minister? “If we have a President and a Prime Minister and we share responsibilities between these two so that one is not an appendage to the other. For example, if the President controls the Army and the Prime Minister controls the Police.
“If the President controls resources like oil and mining and the Prime Minister controls finance and inland revenue, taxes, customs etc. You just divide responsibilities between the two.
“At the state level, you have the governor and the premier, and the same way, you distribute responsibilities to these people in such a manner that one cannot really go without the other. Maybe we might begin to tackle the problems.
“If we are going to adopt the model, then we need to urgently restore the House of Chiefs. I have a feeling that one of our major problems is that we have pushed the traditional rulers to the background and I believe that is a grave error.
“Without any doubt, we must restructure and do it as soon as possible. A United States of Nigeria is more likely to survive than our present structure”, he had said.
In a reaction, the presidency had described his comment as unpatriotic, saying in a statement by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, berating the cleric for making “unpatriotic comments”, the presidential spokesman stated that the President will not give-in to the pressure of the critics calling for a breakup of the country.
Shehu said, “The Presidency responds to the recurring threats to the corporate existence of the country with factions giving specific timelines for the President to do one thing or another or else, in their language, “the nation will break up”.
“This is to warn that such unpatriotic outbursts are both unhelpful and unwarranted as this government will not succumb to threats and take any decision out of pressure at a time when the nation’s full attention is needed to deal with the security challenges facing it at a time of the COVID-19 health crisis.
“Repeat: this administration will not take any decision against the interests of 200 million Nigerians, who are the President’s first responsibility under the constitution, out of fear or threats especially in this hour of health crisis”, the presidency stated.
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