In what appears to be a case of give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, on Saturday appointed a new General Overseer (GO), Pastor Joshua Obayemi,  for the church to oversee only the Nigerian parishes. However, Adeboye still remains the GO of RCCG Worldwide. The newly appointed GO was the former Special Assistant to the General Overseer (SATGO) on Finance.

Also appointed as the Church Secretary is Pastor Johnson Odesola, who was the Special Assistant on Administration and Personnel. The announcement which shocked the RCCG community was made at the Annual Ministers Thanksgiving at Shimawa, in Ogun State.

The development was in response to a new Nigerian law that bars persons leading registered churches, mosques and civil society organisations (CSOs) from occupying such positions for not more than 20 years.

In reality, Adeboye has not retired. He will still be actively involved in the church’s programmes including the popular Holy Ghost Night. The appointment of Obayomi was only to fulfil the law in Nigeria. Spiritually, Pastor Adeboye known worldwide for his humility and passion for righteous living is still the leader of RCCG Worldwide.

Adeboye was born on March 2, 1942, in Ifewara, Osun State.

Pastor Adeboye had his B.Sc. in Mathematics at University of Nigeria Nsukka, and subsequently got his PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Lagos, and worked as a lecturer in Mathematics at the universities of Lagos and Ilorin, before going into full time priesthood in 1984.

After joining the RCCG in 1973, he began working to translate the sermons of its then Pastor and founder, Rev. Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, from Yoruba into English. In 1981, Adeboye was appointed General Overseer of the church. He took over from Papa Akindayomi, who had died the previous year.

For three years he performed the role part-time, still lecturing at Ilorin. He finally gave up his university position to preach full-time.

The church, which was not well known prior to Adeboye’s ascendance has grown phenomenally, to become Nigeria’s biggest, with branches globally in over 190 countries, including more than 14,000 in Nigeria.

Adeboye has stated that the vision is to put a church within five minutes of every person on Earth.

He married Adenike, now 68 in 1967. She was born on 13th July 1948. Obayemi was appointed the new GO at the Annual Ministers Thanksgiving at Shimawa, in Ogun State.

Photo: Pastors Adeboye and Obayemi