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General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take decisive action against terrorism in Nigeria, calling for the elimination of not only the terrorists but also their sponsors, regardless of their influence or position in society.
Pastor Adeboye made the call during the November Holy Ghost Night at the Redemption Camp along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, where he addressed pressing national security concerns and offered counsel to the Nigerian government on how to respond to the growing threat of terrorism and international pressure.
“When giving orders to the service chiefs this time round, we should make it clear to them that they are not only to eliminate the terrorists; they should also eliminate their sponsors, no matter how influential they may be,” Adeboye declared to thousands of worshippers.
He advised the Federal Government to act swiftly, diplomatically, and wisely in handling national and international matters. According to him, Nigeria must engage in strategic dialogue with the President of the United States to delay any potential military action against the country. “Move fast. Move diplomatically. Move wisely. Find a way to convince the President of America to please delay his actions for about 100 days,” Adeboye urged.
Drawing from his experience with past administrations, the revered cleric recalled advising former President Muhammadu Buhari to give service chiefs a time frame to tackle insurgency during his tenure. He revealed that while Buhari acted on the advice by giving security heads three months to eliminate Boko Haram, he failed to follow through when the deadline expired.
“I went to see him then, though it wasn’t in the news. Unfortunately, he’s no longer alive. I would have asked him, ‘Sir, why didn’t you follow through?’” Adeboye said. “He gave the order as the Commander-in-Chief, but after three months and the work wasn’t done, the issue was dropped.”
Adeboye warned that Nigeria should not expect foreign help if its internal crises escalate, stressing that no global power would come to the nation’s aid in the event of an external confrontation. “If America should attack us, China will not come to defend us. Russia will not come to defend us. All the so-called world leaders will only talk. They will condemn what America has done in the strongest terms, and that’s all,” he cautioned.
He noted that this was not a time for rhetoric or political grandstanding but a period that demanded urgent, coordinated action. “This is not the time for grammar or semantics. It’s not a time to argue over definitions or to say it’s not only Christians but Muslims too. The point is, people are dying — innocent people are dying,” he lamented.
Adeboye also expressed concern about what he described as misleading information being fed to the President, referencing a section of President Tinubu’s recent speech claiming that all internally displaced persons had returned to their homes. “I almost said that the one who wrote that speech for my president, my in-law, does not like him,” he said. “If you say that all displaced people have returned to their villages, that cannot be true,” he said, noting a report of a traditional ruler who was killed while his wife escaped by hiding in the house.
Acknowledging that President Tinubu inherited Nigeria’s security challenges, Adeboye urged his administration to focus on solutions rather than blame. “Our President inherited this problem. It started before him. As an applied mathematician, I’m more interested in just getting the problem solved — that’s all,” he stated.
Reiterating his belief that Nigeria would overcome its challenges, Adeboye expressed faith that divine intervention would bring peace to the nation. He likened the situation to Newton’s Law of Motion, explaining that Nigeria would eventually find stability through an external divine force. “A body will remain at rest or continue in uniform motion in a straight line unless an external force compels it to do otherwise. Whatever method God wants to use, at the end of it all, there will be peace in Nigeria again,” he said.
The cleric reminded congregants that the upcoming Holy Ghost Service in Abuja would focus on the theme “Fear Not,” which he said God gave him months before recent global tensions. “Anybody who knows the Bible knows that the only time God says ‘fear not’ is when there is something to fear,” Adeboye noted, assuring Nigerians that despite present fears, peace would eventually return.
Encouraging members of the church and the nation at large to remain steadfast in faith and prayer, he concluded, “All these years, we have been praying for Nigeria. We can’t pray all these prayers without something happening, unless God is no longer on His throne. And this one is true. So, my children, Daddy says: fear you not.”
*Report by Dayo Emmanuel
