The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has urged the federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to go beyond fighting terrorists on the battlefield, but also attack those who sponsor them, no matter how influential they may be.
Speaking during the November Holy Spirit Service at the Redemption City Campground, Adeboye said: “This time, when you give orders to the service chiefs, you must make it clear to them that they must not only eliminate the terrorists but also the sponsors, no matter how influential they may be.”
He called on President Tinubu to act quickly and strategically to end the ongoing killings and restore peace to the country.
“What should we do now? If you asked me to make suggestions, I would quietly say to our government: act quickly, act diplomatically, act wisely. Find a way to convince the President of the United States to delay his actions for about 100 days and then go home and tell our security chiefs to get rid of these terrorists within 90 days or resign.”
Adeboye said former President Muhammadu Buhari once issued a similar directive but it was not properly enforced.
“There was a president, Buhari, who issued such an order. He summoned the service chiefs and said, ‘Get rid of these Boko Haram people or resign.’ He ran with that advice, but he did not carry it out because he gave the order as Commander, but he did not carry it out. The work was not finished after three months, so I went to see it. I asked him, ‘Why didn’t you follow through on your threat?’ Something emerged from the meeting that will lead me to give this advice.”
The cleric warned that Nigeria must act wisely and diplomatically, especially in its relations with major world powers, stressing that no country would come to its aid if an international conflict arose.
“When I say that our leaders should act diplomatically, we must take note of the fact that if the United States attacks us, China will not come to defend us. The same goes for Russia and Britain. All the so-called world leaders will speak out and condemn what the United States has done, but they will not help us.”
He added that the country could no longer afford to waste time arguing about the nature of the current crisis while innocent lives continued to be lost.
“This is not the time to joke. This is not the time for grammar, this is not the time to argue, is it suicide or kidnapping? This is not the time to say it’s not just Christians, Muslims are also involved. Innocent people are dying.”
Adeboye said he was disturbed by a section of a recent speech by President Tinubu, whom he referred to as his brother-in-law, where he (Tinubu) claimed that the security situation in Nigeria had improved.
“I almost spoke last month when I heard my brother-in-law’s (Tinubu) speech, particularly the section that talked about security. I heard him say, everything is fine now, that the displaced people have returned to their villages. I almost said that whoever wrote that speech does not like it. Someone wrote it, but it was the President who read it. There are several people around Tinubu who are not telling him the truth. The next day we read that a traditional ruler was killed in Kwara or Kogi.”
He said while Tinubu inherited the country’s security problems, he must now focus on results rather than rhetoric.
“Our president inherited this problem. I am an applied mathematician; I am only interested in solving the problem.”
Adeboye also called for diplomatic engagement with the United States and said the Nigerian government should ask for more time to deal with the crisis.
“Let the administration use diplomatic methods to convince Trump to give us 100 days grace to call our service chiefs to act within three months or resign. Now where do you come in?”
He explained that his call to diplomacy was rooted in experience and faith, recalling a time when Christians and Muslims lived together peacefully before politics divided them.
“If I am asked to make suggestions, I will quietly tell governments to act wisely and diplomatically. I have cousins. There were times in Nigeria when Christians and Muslims lived together. I have families who are Muslims to this day. When I was little, I ate sari with them and I still have breakfast, but the question of religion started when politics entered religion.”
Adeboye said he had long made behind-the-scenes efforts to advise national leaders on security and unity.
“All the presidents who were present when this problem began, everything I discussed is absolute privacy. I have done the best I could behind the scenes, but as I have always told them, you can only advise a Commander in Chief; you cannot command him. But I have tried. God is my witness.”
Concluding his message, he expressed confidence that peace will finally return to Nigeria.
“I shared with you, my children, that God said that this will be an extraordinary year, that the wind that blew last year will be more violent this year. Every time we have meetings like this, God chooses the topic. This time next week, we will have the Holy Spirit service in Abuja. He gave us the topic, ‘Do not be afraid,’ which months ago before Trump spoke. One way or another, there will be peace again in Nigeria.”
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