Promise  Adiele

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye means many things to different people. To dedicated members of his church, he is simply Daddy G.O, which is their own way of showing reverence to the venerable man of God. To other Christians who do not attend his church, he is a sacred potentate whose words emanate from the hallowed sanctuary of divinity.

To many others whose claims to Christianity reside in personal convictions of the Godhead, he comes across as a phenomenon who bestrides Nigeria’s Christian religious hemisphere with honest, saintly grandeur.

To non-Christians, he is a pious and dedicated man of God without the usual boisterous fanfare displayed by other men of Sunday pulpit. Although politicians have fraternized with him in the past in their search for supernatural endorsement, an act, which drew the ire of many, his spiritual commitment to improving a lot of humanity sets him apart in a celestial class. Today, he ranks among the most popular men across the world, recognized and revered in all parts of the globe.

In many ways, one can say that various religious denominations, individuals and corporate entities are not doing enough in terms of fulfilling their social responsibility obligations. Although it is easy for us to berate and identify deteriorating aspects of our society, the truth is that this same society has been very kind to some people.

In the midst of poverty, in the midst lack and excruciating need, some people have benefitted from our society not because they are more hardworking than others, not because they are more intelligent than others, and certainly not because they have done anything extraordinarily different that other people haven’t done.

It is simply because the society and all the unseen elementals have been kind to them. It is therefore imperative for such people and bodies, to give back to the society in some ways, to show appreciation and to alleviate the constant pain that assails the souls of millions of people. In the aspect of social responsibility, some individuals have failed woefully and it is in this respect that we must all applaud and appreciate Pastor A.E Adeboye.

Recently, the revered preacher, through the church’s Christian Social Responsibility Unit sponsored and inaugurated a fully equipped Intensive Care Unit at the Plateau State specialist hospital Jos. The gesture marked the second in the series of such interventions in the healthcare sector in Nigeria. Pastor Adeboye is not from Plateau State and his amiable wife is not from the state either.

It simply demonstrates his commitment to giving back to society without such mundane considerations as ethnicity or regional loyalty. It classifies him as a true nationalist committed to seeing various sectors of the society blossom irrespective of the region or ethnic locale. To such a man, I will always respect and posterity will judge him kindly. Before the intervention in Jos, Pastor Adeboye had previously donated a similar facility to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Lagos.

In the same vein, the pastor, through his church’s social responsibility unit, recently redeveloped the Nigeria Police Force Canine Unit in Area F, Ikeja Lagos. Also, renovated at Area F was the K9 building, a newly sunk borehole, training facility for dogs and a 5KVA generator to power the surface tank and also the provision and replacement of all the metal gadgets at the police unit.

Related News

With these kinds of initiatives, Pastor Adeboye has demonstrated a passion for humanity, a love for his country and a concretization of the abstract teachings of a religious sermon. This is what true gospel is all about, to affect the lives of fellow human beings and put smiles on their faces. This is in line with the injunction of the Bible in Deuteronomy 15:7-8 “if anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving to you, do not be hardhearted or tight-fisted towards them. Rather, be open-handed and freely lend them whatever they need”.

Regrettably, some men of God who prefer to be recognized and addressed with outlandish titles do not share this vision of the Bible. They prefer to amass wealth, live largely and display obscene, crass materialism before the whole world and before beleaguered church members. 

These pastors are more interested in devising various treacherous means to invade the pockets of their audience through manipulation and subtle cajoling. They find it difficult to identify areas of need in their churches and within their community to offer a hand of help no matter how small.

Some people reading this piece will argue that Pastor Adeboye’s church is large enough and has the financial muscle to undertake any social intervention program. This kind of argument is anaemic. There are other mega-churches that have not in the least engaged in any social responsibility intervention in the land. Also, the idea of social responsibility or community help does not dictate dimensions or quantity. It could be small, but as long as it helps to alleviate the pain in the lives of people. Many churches in Nigeria are guilty of this practice. There are widows in some churches who need intervention of some kind. There are many jobless people in many churches who barely struggle to feed. Worst of all, the roads leading to some churches are so bad that one’s car will always recoil in difficulties each time one drives to the church. It is really a thing of shame that while such churches collect huge sums of money from worshippers every Sunday and during other church programs, they cannot afford to repair the roads leading to their churches.

Pastor Adeboye has set a very good example which other churches should emulate. I am aware that Pastor Kumuyi, Pastor Oyedepo, Pastor T.B Joshua and a few other men of God have in the past been involved in various social responsibility initiatives, but they should do more and other churches should take a cue from them. In the present time, the church of the living God has a role to play.

It goes beyond speaking big grammar on the pulpit, it goes beyond cultivating a guttural voice to create a numinous atmosphere in the church, it goes beyond criticizing the government every Sunday, and it certainly goes beyond the pastor as a mega superstar who wears the best clothes, travels around the world, basically living off the offerings and tithes of members of his church.

The churches should be more involved in social interventions of all kinds, to put smiles on the faces of people whether they are members or not. In this way, many more people will be motivated to attend churches, willing to part with their money knowing that it will be committed to uplifting humanity in one way or another. For now, we say a big thank you to Pastor A.E Adeboye and we encourage him to do more.

Dr. Adiele writes from Lagos via

[email protected]