Bishop Theologian and former Vice-Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, Prof. Dapo Asaju has observed that getting successors for both Pastor Williams Kumuyi and Pastor Enoch Adeboye may be a daunting task.
He made the observation while delivering a paper titled. The Imperative of integrity, transparency, and trust in leadership at the launch of the biography of Pastor Kumuyi on Friday, September 17 in Lagos.
Asaju said at the high point of the lecture that the duo of Kumuyi and Adeboye “are the most respected and influential church leaders in Nigeria and Africa today in terms of integrity and the genuine gospel of salvation.”
He however noted that the “urgent task today is how to raise many more Kumuyis and Adeboyes in our church and society, in terms of integrity, global respect, managerial competence, and leadership aura.”
The university don a one-time member of Deeper Life Bible Church said, “So far, for both Deeper Life Bible Church and Redeemed Christian Church of God, the question of competent succession to these giant generals in the Faith is a major concern.”
Pastor Williams Kumuyi
In the thought-provoking lecture which dissected the ills of the society, he urged the duo to wield their influence by uniting with other leaders under the auspices of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) to redeem Christians and Christianity from the ongoing deliberate and coordinated assault.
While praying that Pastor Kumuyi would live more years, he said his physical strength may with time not be like his younger days.
Asaju who teaches religion at the Lagos State University had strong words for church leaders in Nigeria. He urged them to come out strong to speak out like courageous prophets of old against corrupt leadership in Nigeria.
“This is no time to pray without practical actions. It is no time to be diplomatic or being ‘politically correct. It is time to condemn injustice, bloodshed, condemn Pharaohs, pronounce judgments on Nebuchadnezzar and warn them of God’s punishments for shedding innocent Blood and destabilizing a country that God loves and invested so much of His grace and prosperity upon.”
He urged Pastor Kumuyi to lead all other Church leaders to convene a high-powered meeting with President Mohammadu Buhari and other elected leaders and traditional rulers “to address the national emergency we are in, which threatens the peace and future of Nigeria.”
He reasoned that this country “is in need of people of integrity transparency, compassion and pragmatic servants, who will save, prosper and protect the country.
“Pastor W.F. Kumuyi is a man of God to the core, a man of prayer and miracles. He has the mind of Christ and is a major prophet of God for the world today. We need his prayers and prophetic pronouncements for divine intervention in the affairs of Nigeria.”
Asaju also pleaded with Pastor Kumuyi to reach out to “church leaders all over Nigeria to retrain them to refocus on the true gospel and prepare the people for the second coming of Christ.”
According to him, the epidemic of heresies and false gospels circulating in the Christian churches needs to be redressed.
“He can call to order the heretics and refocus out priorities and pulpits to the genuine gospel. He has the integrity, respect, and authority as an elder pastor and Bishop of Bishops to play this father–figure role.
“There is too much freedom, immoralities, scandals, exploitation, materialism, indiscipline, false spirituality, independence, schisms, rebellion, and commercialization of the gospel in the Body of Christ. The lack of integrity weakens the power of the church to effect change and leadership in Nigerian society and governments,” he said.
Prof. Dapo Asaju
He suggested the meeting of like-minds in various professional fields to deliberate on how to bring Nigeria out of the doldrums noting that “all our present political parties are bereft of honest and practical ideas that can positively address our problems and provide for us a safe, healthy, prosperous and progressive future.”
Asaju also called on Church fathers to jointly address a world press conference to draw the attention of world powers to the situation in Nigeria adding that “they need to cry out to Christians in this present government to rise up and defend their faith because God put them where they are for a time like this. Our Vice-President is a Pastor of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our highest Ambassador of Christ in the current government. He needs to become the rallying point of all saints who must now rise to the occasion to say ‘enough is enough to all the wickedness, domination, corruption, oppression and exploitation of the poor people of this country.”
He commended the authors of the book while expressing confidence that the book will become “a potent tool to further evangelize the people of this world and assist them to read, internalize, become challenged and motivated to replicate their lives and ministries after the subject of the book”
