How Adeboye’s marriage teachings caused stir

The ongoing annual convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, on Tuesday, received enormous publicity. The publicity, however, came in a controversial manner.

The General Overseer of the church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, in a message on marriage, stirred a widespread debate on social media, with thousands taking to the Internet to protest or support his positions on the categories of people Christians should not marry.

Adeboye, who is fondly called Daddy G.O. by members of his church, advised a congregation of bachelors and spinsters at the convention to avoid marrying certain individuals in order to enjoy their marriages.

 

Videos of the teachings, which were uploaded on different social media sites, received huge ‘share’.

 

The pastor urged bachelors to shun ladies who could not pray “non-stop” for at least an hour. He also advised them against marrying “lazy” women as well as those who could not cook.

 

The cooking aspect particularly caught the attention of feminists. They took protested the pastor’s remark, saying they were not supposed to be consigned to kitchens just because they were women.

 

Adeboye also warned ladies against accepting marriage proposals by “jobless” bachelors. He said those who could not earn incomes should not marry.

A social media activist, Asuquo Ulo, said the teachings were part of unacceptable thinking that characterised the age.

The tweeter disagreed with the cleric’s position, saying “marriage is really beyond jobs, cooking and prayers”.

As far as Chinye Onwordi, a Twitter user, is concerned, Adeboye’s advice had solved a persisting puzzle on the social media.

“Whether Nigerian ladies agree to cook when they marry or not, Adeboye has spoken the truth nobody should shy away from,” he tweeted.

One Ahmed Isah also wrote, “Adeboye, we thank you for ending this long debate. You spoke from a spiritual realm, not as a mere mortal.”

As of Tuesday evening, many sites had unveiled online polls with a view to assessing the acceptability of Adeboye’s marriage ‘prescriptions’.

In one of the videos, Adeboye advised, “Marry a prayer warrior! Don’t marry any girl who cannot pray for one hour non-stop. Don’t marry a girl who is lazy! If she is lazy when she is single, what will happen if she is married?”

In another one, he warned, “Don’t marry a man who has no job. Before God gave Adam Eve, he gave him a job. He said, ‘This is the garden, keep it.’ So when anybody comes to you and say, ‘Sister, thus saith the Lord, you are going to be the star in my firmament,’ ask him — ‘What is your job?’

“If he tells you he is a contractor, ask him to show you evidence of all the contracts he has done because the contract he is talking about is you. He wants to live off you.

“Don’t be a fool. If he hasn’t got a steady income, don’t marry him. A man is to provide for the house and not the other way round. If he has no income, he should not marry. Those who do not work should not eat. And if they can’t eat, they can’t even marry.”

Adeboye trended widely on social media platforms as the issues he raised were scrutinised by his fans and foes. The videos became the toast of members of the online community.

Adeboye’s popularity rating, by online metrics, soared. He also enjoyed a huge Google search, as bloggers dissected thousands of comments for catchy headlines for their posts.

 

Culled from The Punch newspaper,Nigeria

Mbaka attacks Buhari, says Nigerians may not vote for him in 2019

Enugu Catholic priest, and Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu State, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, has warned President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigerians will not vote for him in 2019 if he does not address the high level of hunger and suffering  in the country.

Mbaka has been one of Buhari’s most vocal supporters since he asked Nigerians to reject the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party during the 2015 presidential pol and predicted Buhari’s victory.

But, in a surprising turn of events, Mbaka attacked Buhari in a recent message, details of which were obtained by journalists on Tuesday night.

 

In the message, Mbaka noted that there was too much suffering in the country, and faulted the President for not appointing the right people.

 

He also accused the President of listening to the wrong advice.

 

The message partly read, “The issue is that Mbaka is speaking as the Spirit leads him – there is hunger everywhere.  My job is to tell leaders the truth, the landlords are crying, the tenants are lamenting, sellers are crying, buyers are lamenting – there is hunger on the streets.

 

“I can’t keep quiet when things are going wrong.

“I am telling the President to look around him and know those who are advising him rightly and those who are telling him that there is no trouble.

“The President should know that there is trouble – if things continue like this, in the next election, nobody will vote for him.

“Whether they like it or not, I am speaking the raw truth.

“If the President should have somebody like me and he cannot be talking with me, then there is a problem.

“There is a problem somewhere; somebody who can advise you without asking for anything and he is representing the poor masses in the country and he won’t tell you lies.

“He will praise you when you are doing well and when you are not doing well, he will look at you in the face and tell you.”

Continuing, he said, “I don’t need the President; I need God, I need the Holy Spirit, I need Jesus; there is suffering everywhere, people are suffering.

“To feed is now a problem, and an hungry man is an angry man.

“Hunger and anger will lead to danger.

“So, let him know whether he can do away with some advisers around him and bring in the people who are experts in economic revamp.

“There are people who are experts in that; let them begin to empower people, people are not empowered, they are still walking around in vicious circles, planning and planning and planning.”

Mbaka said there were  no spaces left in mortuaries across the country.

“Hunger is everywhere, many neighbours don’t eat again, many are being attacked by hunger, hunger is becoming a normal thing and there are people responsible for this.

“Mortuary and ambulance business is now thriving because many cannot afford drugs.

“In today’s Nigeria, many are becoming hawkers, who will buy from you, with what?

“Everyday, more pipelines  are being blown, the Avengers are at work and up till now, there is no solution.

“You know when certain things begin to happen, you begin to ask some questions, somebody like me will begin to ask – when will this end?

“If it continues in the next three months, there will be no money to pay salaries – the vicious effect is disastrous and when salaries cannot be paid, teachers will come home, students will stop going to school, there will be more kidnappings, more hooliganism, more armed robbery, more prostitution, immorality will be on the increase.”

He urged Buhari to sit up and stop going after the leadership of the Senate.

Mbaka equally bemoaned the continuous depreciation in the value of the naira.

“So, the President should sit up – there is a red light blinking on the country.

“The issue of Saraki and Ekweremadu, nobody wants to listen to such stories any more, whether Saraki is the President of the Senate or Ekweremadu is not this or that, the countrymen are tired of such stories.

“We need economic experts, gurus, sages that are sincere, who can come in and think about our economic revamp and judicial reformation.”

 

CUlled from The Punch,Nigeria