President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have showered encomiums on Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye as he turned 80 on Wednesday.
In a personal message to Adeboye, President Buhari said, “I join members of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), and the Christian community, to celebrate with Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye on his 80th birthday, today March 2, 2022.
“I especially rejoice with his beloved wife, Pastor Foluke Adenike Adeboye, and the entire Adeboye family, and join them in gratitude to God as the respected General Overseer turns an octogenarian.
He added that, “I recall my private and public meetings with Pastor Adeboye over many years, most remarkably his visit to me when I was recuperating in London, in August 2017. I deeply appreciate Pastor Adeboye’s warmth and friendliness, which I have been personally privileged to enjoy.
“His contributions to the betterment of Nigeria and other countries stand out clearly as testimonies of his divine calling, impacting greatly on education, health and infrastructural development.
“I salute his dedication and service to God, to Nigeria, and to humanity, and it is my prayer that the Almighty God will continue to bless him with good health and strength, and many more years of impact,” President Buhari said.
Similarly, his deputy, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo paid a glowing tribute to Pastor Adeboye.
“Dolapo Osinbajo and I are honoured to write this tribute to Daddy on his 80th Birthday.
“Very few leaders will ever have the geographical and spiritual reach of influence that Pastor E.A. Adeboye has. He is neither the Pope nor the leader of the free world, but he heads a denomination that since his assumption of office as its General Overseer, has established churches in over 198 countries and territories of the world.
He stated that, “He was, as early as 2008, listed by Newsweek, as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Earlier in 1998, the Holy Ghost Congress of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lekki, Lagos, was reported to be one of the largest Christian gatherings ever and every year the RCCG Convention and Congresses have live crowds breaking that record. Through the years, miracles of every kind have been commonplace in his ministry.
“But the moral of the story is not in these achievements but in how his behaviour has remained unaffected by them.
It was Mummy G.O. who said to us once, “see how God uses your father as a smokescreen to do the miracles He wants to do”.
He added that, “This realization, that “apart from Him, you can do nothing” and that “ no one can receive anything that is not given to him by God”, probably explains why a man so spiritually and intellectually gifted, so revered, so respected by the high and low alike, would still be so genuinely humble, so self-effacing and so unfailingly respectful even of his subordinates.
“His impeccable integrity, his measured speech and action at all times, his life of many challenges, many wars, his courage, his unshaken faith, his deep love for God, through phenomenal achievements and numbing personal tragedy are all together the most persuasive evangelical message to all even those of other faiths, of the grace and mercy of God in the life of the Saved.
“For us, we are extremely proud that this man of extraordinary faith, courage and humility is one we can call our daddy.
“Daddy, Happy 80th Birthday! As your days, so shall your strength, wisdom and favour with God in Jesus’ name. Amen!”
