13th February, 2024
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta State, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has countered the claim by the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, that Nigeria’s problems are spiritual.
Reacting to the cleric’s claim, Onuesoke stressed that “prayers can’t solve economic hardship” in the country.
Onuesoke, an environmentalist, added, “Only a planned system with good governance can solve the economic problems in the nation.”
He stressed that Nigeria needs political solutions and not prayers to come out of its present challenges.
The Delta PDP leader urged President Bola Tinubu to wake up and take Nigerians out of hunger, hyper inflation and poverty.
Onuesoke’s reaction is coming after human rights lawyer, Malcom Omirhobo, opposed the cleric on the same issue.
The legal practitioner had pointed out that political leaders including Tinubu and the governors were elected to fix Nigeria and not to rely on prayers for solutions.
“Tinubu and governors are mandated to fix Nigeria, not to resort to prayers as a substitute for governance.”
Omirhobo enjoined Adeboye to refrain from misleading the public by attributing Nigeria’s challenges to spiritual factors.
He argued that if prayers were the solution, Adeboye’s fasting and prayers would have already resolved the nation’s issues.
“Our nation’s problems are rooted in political inadequacies, not spiritual deficiencies. It is time to confront reality and demand accountable governance, rather than turning to prayers as a panacea,” the lawyer said.
It would be recalled that Adeboye, who was on Sunday hosted by Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, had urged Nigerians to resort to fasting and prayers, emphasising the need for spiritual intervention to address the nation’s economic crisis.
He said , “It has become more and more clearer (sic) to us that the problem our nation is facing is more than political. Our problems will require a bit of spiritual solution.
“Then we found out that when you have problems that are beyond human ability to solve, you call on the Almighty. The reason we call Him Almighty is because He has the power to solve all problems.”