Onitsha-based cleric Chukwuemeka Odumeje has publicly challenged Nigerian pastors — referencing RCCG General Overseer Pastor Enoch Adeboye by name — to rebuke bad governance rather than seek personal benefits from those in power, according to Premium Times.
ODUMEJE FIRES AT ADEBOYE — AND NIGERIA’S SILENT PASTORS
Nigeria’s most flamboyant cleric has entered the country’s growing debate over the role of the church in holding government accountable — and he has names.
Chukwuemeka “Odumeje” Ohanaemere, the Onitsha-based founder of the Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention and Deliverance Ministry, used a recent sermon to challenge Nigerian pastors to speak against bad governance, citing a biblical obligation to hold leaders accountable rather than profit from proximity to power, Premium Times reports.
The remarks came directly in the wake of Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s widely-discussed statement that President Bola Tinubu was “doing his best” to address Nigeria’s worsening security situation. Odumeje did not tiptoe around the reference.
“I don’t want to talk to Adeboye; I don’t want to talk to that man,” he said pointedly. “Do you know what they call a pastor? Go to the Bible, a pastor must rebuke a bad government. They shouldn’t look to benefit from it. We are fathers in the Lord.”
The Onitsha cleric extended his challenge beyond the pulpit, urging ordinary Nigerians to stop applauding elected officials simply for doing what they were elected to do. Governors, senators and presidents, he argued, are servants of the people — not benefactors deserving of celebration for managing public resources.
Odumeje also acknowledged the personal cost of speaking truth to power, noting that those who publicly challenge what he described as an evil government frequently face persecution as a consequence.
Premium Times reported that the sermon has reignited a broader national conversation about the responsibility of Nigeria’s influential religious leaders to prioritise public accountability over political access — a debate that shows no sign of quieting down.
NEWS NOW:
