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Bishop: The church won’t conduct electioneering
Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
According to Rev. Tunde Adegbite, the Bishop Metropolitan Diocese of Ikeja, it is not the responsibility of the church to encourage people to vote for any certain presidential candidate.
On the eve of the fifth Diocesan Harvest, Anniversary Thanksgiving, and Award Presentation Service at the Methodist Cathedral of Peace and Excellence in Opebi, Ikeja, he spoke with media.
He declared that while it was not the church’s responsibility to canvass support for any candidate, it would not refrain from criticizing any leader who broke their pledges.
“All have their father in the church. We won’t express our support for any candidates or state that they are the ones we have chosen, no.
The church is not involved in political parties. The church would back whoever wins the election to be president of Nigeria.
“Nobody should use the church as a campaigning platform, please. Only God is aware of who is working for him. Even people who wear clothing, like myself, are not all God’s children. Therefore, no one should mislead us.
“If God has chosen you to lead us in 2023, you must fear Him and be able to provide for people’s basic needs. We’re asking for competent government, that’s all.
“I came back from Germany and I saw what they are doing there, we can do better. I was in Doha Airport and I was asking, the people that built this airport are from heaven? What kind of airport do you put for us in Muritala Airport? Even the new one they said they have built is nothing.
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“If there are some promises you can’t do better don’t promise them but anyone you promise we will follow you up and ensure that you do it because you are the voice of the voiceless. If we fail to be good God will punish us,” he said.
The late Rear Admiral Ndubisi Kanu, a former Military Administrator of Lagos and Imo State, was among those who were honoured with a posthumous award of service for his excellence and contribution to the church.
Adegbite said Kanu was like a father to him since he first met him and his wife in 1996.
He said: “Late Kanu was a very good friend of mine. Though the age difference was so much the man and the wife decided to adopt me as one of their children and that has been the relationship for the last 26 years. We met in 1996 in Tinubu church and since that time it has not changed.
You need to travel out and see what others have done. They don’t have two heads. Money that they have, we have more. I beg our leaders, for once, let us be reasonable people, let us leave something good for our children. let us plan for our children and our children’s children. I beg all of you, do something for this nation.
“Posterity will vindicate you but if you continue the way you are going, if care is not taken, people will stone you. It cost us nothing to be good. God has provided us with all that we need. Why can’t we get a better service from you?
“You are canvassing for a vote and people are seeing you after you win the election nobody will see you again. Whoever comes in 2023, we will see you by force, we will come after you, we will be talking to the press, and we will not leave you.
“I moved here, they moved with me and that is why today because of the support they have given to the diocese we are recognizing what he has done to the Lord and more that they will still do.
“My own belief is that anywhere you come from, once you are a child of God you are my brother, you are my sister and we can continue to move together. So my relationship with him has been wonderful.”
He described the deceased as a simple, unassuming, forthright and dogged man.
“Those are the traits and characters that I know I also have. He was someone that fought for democracy, and human rights and I believe in justice, fair play, and equity and those are the things he stood for while on earth and those legacies we are going to keep alive by the grace of God.”
Themed “Harvest of God’s Faithfulness” the Bishop listed many things that the church achieved in the past five years he emerged as the Bishop of the Cathedral.
“We have every reason to know that God has been faithful. In the last four years have been able to put in place four new churches.
“We have been able to expand our circuits; we now have new sections and news special areas for evangelism.
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“And apart from that, we have been able to put together a new Bishop’s house in Ikeja and it cost a fortune but the Lord has being faithful, he provided the funds and the support have been tremendous.
“And more than that, this diocese on five years has been able to produce four other Bishops which has never happened in the history of our church and one Archbishop in five years.
“So when you look at the capacity building of the ministers, five of our ministers are now postgraduate holders and to the glory of God, I also defended my PhD this year. So you see that God has been faithful to us and many other things that have happened.
“The Cathedral was not like this five years ago, there has been a lot of improvement, we now have the marble in the alter area and stain glasses. The Lord has also elevated me as the Diocesan Bishop to be the CAN in Lagos state.
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“And I just came back from Germany yesterday where I have been elected by the church to represent the Methodist church in ecumenism at the world level. So, that is a great achievement to the glory of God and all wouldn’t have happened without God. And that is why we look back and we said God has been faithful,” he said.
The widow of the late military leader, Mrs Gladys Ndubuisi Kanu received the award on behalf of her husband.
In response to the accolade, she stated that her husband made significant contributions to the growth of the diocese since its establishment five years prior.
“In Tinubu, the Bishop was with us. He and I go back 26 years. So when he was named the Bishop here, he would invite us to every event he was doing.
Even the Bishop’s wife, when she was alive, would invite me to be in charge of everything she was doing here. “Most of the time, my husband was very busy, but I would encourage him to come.
We continued to visit, so I’m glad to see that things are going well for the diocese and that he is thriving in this location. He has raised this location’s quality and standard.
“My husband has encouraged a lot of people and a lot of churches. He contributed a lot to the development of this diocese. This diocese was set up five years ago, it was just a mere church and it has grown.
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When my husband passed away, people I didn’t even know told me about all the things he had done for them in their businesses through the numerous societies he had established. NADECO, Ohaneze, and numerous more were present. He has received this award in appreciation for everything that he has done for the diocese.
The service’s officiating priests include His Lordship, Rt Rev Dr. Samuel Ranford Nortey, Bishop of Lagos Central.
The former managing director of Punch, Mr. Ademola Osinubi, Igbobi College in Yaba, Sir Adebutu Kessington, Princess Adedayo Adefulu-Efunuga, and many more were also honored.
After a brief illness, Kanu passed away on January 13th, 2021, at the age of 77.
He was also a former administrator and the leader of the National Democratic Coalition, or NADECO, a pro-democracy organization.