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By Chinelo Obogo
The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi and former Education Minister, Obiageli Ezekwesili, have appealed to Nigerians, urging them to stop directing their anger at the General Superintendent of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, over the country’s worsening insecurity and economic hardship.
In a post published on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Thursday, Obi compared the current attacks on Pastor Adeboye and the wave of ethnic and religious tensions that he said nearly derailed Nigeria’s 2023 electoral process, particularly in Lagos State.
Obi recalled that in the days following the 2023 presidential election and ahead of the governorship poll, conversations that should have focused on competence, governance, development, and the future of the nation were gradually diverted towards tribal sentiments, ethnic divisions, and unnecessary suspicion among citizens, noting that many well-meaning Nigerians were unknowingly drawn into carefully orchestrated narratives.
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He warned that similar divisive tactics were re-emerging in more subtle and sophisticated ways as planted and amplified narratives circulated, often carried by individuals he said genuinely believed they were defending a worthy cause.
On Adeboye, he said: “Pastor Enoch Adeboye remains one of the foremost fathers of faith in our nation. For decades, he has consistently preached the virtues of peace, prayer, love, reconciliation, and national unity. Even when faced with provocation, his response has always reflected humility, restraint, wisdom, and grace. It is unfair to transfer to an 84-year-old man, responsibilities that rightly belong to the younger generation. The task of building a better Nigeria rest primarily on the shoulders of the younger generation. We must be careful not to become instruments in the hands of those who secretly nurture division while publicly preaching unity.
In the same vein, a former Minister for Education and ex-World Bank Vice President, Oby Ezekwesili, said she acknowledges the deep-seated frustrations driving public anger but that Pastor Adeboye who she described as rooted in scriptural and spiritual wisdom, had often chosen silence in the face of attacks, a practice she said she personally learned from him.
She said: “Pastor Adeboye is not our problem. He speaks. He spoke in the 1990s.He spoke in the early 2000s. He spoke in 2010. He spoke in 2020. He spoke in 2025. He has spoken across administrations, regardless of who governed or governs as President. The real question is: How many of us were listening?”
