Nigeria’s Woes Reflect Lack of Spiritual Guidance — Bishop Asaju

Bishop Theologian of the Church of Nigeria and former Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, Prof. Dapo Asaju, says Nigeria’s current socio-economic and political woes are reflections of a lack of spiritual guidance for the country. He spoke in Lagos while delivering a keynote address at a colloquium marking the 80th birthday of Primate Theophilus […]

Bishop Theologian of the Church of Nigeria and former Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, Prof. Dapo Asaju, says Nigeria’s current socio-economic and political woes are reflections of a lack of spiritual guidance for the country.

He spoke in Lagos while delivering a keynote address at a colloquium marking the 80th birthday of Primate Theophilus Oluwasanu Olabayo, cleric and founder of the Evangelical Church of Yahweh Worldwide.

The colloquium, themed “Shaping Prophetic and Spiritual Leadership for Global Impact,” attracted religious leaders from the Southwest and beyond to celebrate the life of Primate Olabayo.

Delivering his address, Asaju noted that, “Nigeria should not be where we are today if we allow ourselves to be guided by the prophets.”

According to him, prophets are called by God to serve as special agents and mouthpieces to specific generations in particular nations.

Asaju said, “Prophets are not only mouthpieces for God; they are intermediaries between God and man. They speak to God on behalf of the people and tell them the mind of God. Prophets are theocratic kingmakers. They were God’s prophetic oracles.

“And by being prophetic oracles, it simply means they received words from God, and they wrote out in writing things that they had from God for the people. They were God’s agents of moral reformation. They were theocratic agents of governance.

“They replaced divination by coming to tell the people the mind of God concerning the future. You know, in Africa, that is part of our nature. People want to know the future in advance.”

Asaju, who is the Bishop of the Diocese of Ilesa, described Olabayo as a rare and uncompromising prophet who had influenced governments and the emergence of governors through his prophecies.

“He’s a very courageous man. There’s no man he cannot face. He will say it exactly as it is.

“His prophetic delivery has no diplomacy at all—direct, even at the risk of people coming to arrest him. The rise of media prophetic Christianity also owes its origin to this man of God, who popularised prophecy,” Asaju said.

Rotimi William Omotoye, Professor of Church History, said more research should be done on the impact of Primate Olabayo and his church in the country.

He challenged the church to establish schools and medical facilities as part of its contributions and enduring legacies to society.

“It’s not too late for ECOY to have a university,” Omotoye said.

Also speaking, Prof. Oluwayemisi Obashoro-John of the University of Lagos maintained that the Church must foster moral leadership within Christian organisations to strengthen its watchman role in society.

According to her, the Church must grow in internal integrity and responsibility by embracing ethics, public theology and governance training.

She added that, as watchmen, Christian leaders should be more involved in formal policy formulation processes in Nigeria.