Pastor Adeboye says Nigeria is drifting towards bankruptcy over rising crude oil theft
Oredola Adeola
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has warned that Nigeria could be drifting towards bankruptcy due to alarming scourge of country’s crude oil theft, noting that 80 percent of the crude oil production are stolen and that 90 percent of revenues from the balance of 20 percent are channeled towards the country’s debt service payment.
The 80-year old preacher made this known on Sunday in his message at the church’s monthly thanksgiving service held at the Throne of Grace, Surulere, Lagos and monitored by EnergyDay via a live telecast.
Pastor Adeboye who also joined his voice with other concerned Nigerians over the debilitating impact of oil theft on the country’s economy, also focused his Sunday message on Nigeria’s financial crisis, depressing debt profile, killing in Kaduna and other national challenges.
The cleric claimed his message was in reaction to the criticisms against the church’s creation of a Politics Directorate and the instruction given to members of the church to get involved in political activities preceding the 2023 general election.
Speaking on rising crude oil theft, Adeboye said, “It is in the news and nobody has denied it that as of now more than 80 percent of the total oil we are producing is being stolen. It came from the government.
“That leads me to several questions, (1) Who is the one stealing the oil (2) Where is the money going to? I mean, 80 percent of what should have been the income of a nation is going into the hands of some people , that is a lot of money (3) What do they want to do with the money? (4) Who are the foreign nations buying these stolen oil? (5) How many of these nations of the world are your friends?
“Maybe that is the reason why the Lord has not spoken to me about 2023, because there is a lot to deal with now.
“It is open secret, undenied, that more than 90 percent of the money we get from the left over of the stolen oil is used to pay the interest of the money we have borrowed. It is then it is news that we are borrowing more, this means, we are moving steadily to bankruptcy, a whole nation Nigeria.
“So you can see the reasons why I am more concerned about what is happening now than what is going to happen later. We must pray that the Almighty God will expose those stealing our oil. That God will have mercy on our nation, and that He should help us deal with our debt.
“If God did not intervene now, our children will pay debt owed by their fathers,” Pastor Adeboye said.
The RCCG GO, however noted that he is showing concern in the country challenges as a Christian, because witches are showing interest in who should rule Nigeria in 2023.
