The Anglican Bishop of Lagos South West, The Rt. Rev. Ebenezer Adewole, has described a recent bill criminalizing preaching in public bus as an undue digression from the core business of governance and a waste of legislative time.
He made the assertion while addressing journalists at the Cathedral Church of Pentecost in Festac, Lagos on Monday July 20 ahead of the first session of the first Synod of the diocese. The theme of the synod is transformation.
The Diocese of Lagos South West was created by the Anglican Communion in September 2025 alongside 14 other new dioceses.
Bishop Adewole, who serves as the pioneer bishop of the diocese, was inaugurated on November 25, 2025.
Although the diocese is yet to clock one year in existence, it is already in its second Episcopal year according to the church calendar.
In his address at the press conference announcing the maiden synod—which will commence on Thursday, July 23—Adewole gave a rundown of the vision and mission of the diocese.
He announced that three additional archdeaconries have been created in the diocese in the course of the year
The cleric emphasized that the vision of the diocese is anchored on Acts 1:8, which outlines Jesus’ last commandment to His disciples to go into the whole world and preach the gospel.
According to him, all efforts and programmes of the diocese will be geared towards evangelism and soul-winning.
Bus evangelism
Responding to questions regarding the new anti-bus evangelism bill in the country, Adewole stated that lawmakers were being unduly distracted.
He argued that they should instead focus on bills that bring real development to the country.
”The lawmakers should make laws that would compel politicians to execute projects that will benefit the people,” he said. “Banning evangelism on buses is not what will make our roads better. They should make laws that will compel political office holders to be responsive to the plight of the people.”
Earlier in his address, the Bishop stressed that the church has historically played a crucial role in the development of the nation.
”If the church is removed from Nigeria, the country will be in trouble,” Adewole warned.
He said further, “The role of the church in stabilizing the country and mitigating crime cannot be quantified. It is the messages that people listen to every week in churches that moderate their evil intentions. Imagine a society where there are no moral checks; things would have been much worse than what we are currently experiencing.”
He also commended President Bola Tinubu on the safe return of the kidnapped victims from Oriire Local Government Area in Oyo State, while urging the administration to replicate this success in other parts of the country where citizens are still being held by bandits.
According to Adewole, the high incidence of banditry and terrorism is the harvest of age-long neglect by successive Nigerian governments.
”I have always believed that every child should be educated. Education should be made compulsory, and young people must be positively engaged,” he said.
“If they are doing something meaningful and contributing to the economy, they will not have the time to join criminal elements. One of the ways to mitigate the growing army of terrorists and bandits in the country is for the government to create jobs for the youth. There is a high likelihood that young people will join criminal gangs if they are not productively engaged.”
He pleaded with the government and corporate bodies to partner with the church in social engineering.
”As part of our mission, we will continue to liaise with the government and engage them positively to ensure they do what they have been elected to do,” the Bishop noted.
Since he assumed office as the Bishop of the diocese, he said he has held meetings “with the Local Government Chairman of Amuwo Odofin and brought his attention to the need to fix some of the bad roads around us. He has responded positively. We hope to continue to engage and encourage them.”
Adewole then urged the government not to just borrow funds from foreign nations, but to also learn from their operational systems and replicate those successful models back home in Nigeria.
Theme of synod
He said the theme of synod, is meant to address the urgent need of the moment in Nigeria. “We all.meed transformation. We need to change our ways.God is calling us to repent and change the way we relate with our neighbours and the way we do things. That is the only way the nation can become better.” He said.
The chairman of the Synod, Otunba Kole Olatunji who was also at the press conference alongside a number of other priests of the diocese expressed confidence that the maiden Synod of the diocese will bring glory to God and mark the beginning of better things in.the diocese.
