Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, ‘church-named’ “Daddy Go” (Daddy General Overseer) is often in the eye of the storm in Nigeria due to his clear ‘Christian stance’ on marriage and love, in his no-longer-conservative country.
More often than not, his views on marriage and gender roles stir controversies in the ‘#metoo-age’ and in a country that is now refusing to BE ‘African or Christian’.
The ‘New Nigerians’ seek a free world where gender roles should be equal or where women get more respect than traditionally defined.
However, Daggy GO may not be a novice to the romance game as he is a self-confessed womaniser who even uses some his wife’s friends as ‘side-chicks’ before he submitted and committed to God as a pastor.
This makes some of his ‘spiritual children’ to support his views that they claim is Biblical and not perverted like the opponents who seek more freedom for women.
In his usual, cool, calm and collected manner, he has been active on social media over the last decade. Tongues wagged and his words trend when he posts.
In July, Baba posted “lessons” for women on his wife’s birthday in and it snowballed into a Twitter storm that sparked a big conversation about feminism.
He tweeted to his 1.3 million followers that: “No matter how educated or successful you are, your husband is your head and you must regard him as such at all times”.
On Instagram he added about his wife: “It does not matter what is on her itinerary, if I say I would like you to go with me to so and so place… she would cancel whatever she was to do and come along with me”.
In a post in January, he advised his married son to sack a secretary “he was looking forward to seeing at work”, which did not go down well.
And in 2016, he had this advice to bachelors: “Don’t marry a girl who is lazy. Don’t marry a girl who cannot cook. She needs to know how to do chores and cook because you cannot afford to be eating out all the time”.
All these ‘lessons’ have made Daddy GO trend beyond his immediate ministry circle.
Though the 78-year-old cleric ranks low on the flamboyance roll-call of the West African nation’s mega televangelists, but he is arguably the most popular and has become more popular with his ‘love-posts’.
Now, if the peacemaker is a child of God, then whose child is the troublemaker?
When you always choose to quarrel over peace, who do you resemble?
#EAA78 #LetThereBeLight3 pic.twitter.com/xNw1zQDieN— Pastor Adeboye (@PastorEAAdeboye) February 17, 2020
The man who has headed the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) for nearly 40 years is still very much loved by many globally even he has lovers among his critics. Some of them disagree with some of his beliefs but love him for his humility, gentility and consistency in his chosen path.
Two years ago, he unapologetically said: “Anyone who is not paying his tithe is not going to heaven, full stop”.
WHY PEOPLE LOVE DADDY GO
On the average, it is observed that many love Daddy GO for these:
1:His austere appearance compared to the flashy standards of his Pentecostal peers.
2:No shiny shoes, no oiled hair, his English does not rise and fall with an American accent.
3:Born to poor parents, he cuts a relatively humble figure and those close to him describe him as much.
4:He is often politically neutral and hard makes ‘uncalculated and insensitive or inciting statements.
5:He respects other faiths in Nigerians and often speaks with wisdom.
6:He started the ministry from nothing and has painstakingly built something graciously glorious out of it.
7:He left Ph.D in Mathematics as a lecturer to serve God at a time when poverty was the logo of pastors.
8: He welcomes all politicians from different political parties and does not show support for anyone of them
9: He built the RCCG camp – turning a forest into a city.
10: He affects millions of lives positively in Nigeria, Africa and beyond
11: He is a scandal free pastor.
12: He loves his Wife (many women love him for this).
The wealth of Nigeria’s mega pastors often make them a soft target for those who perceive them as exploitative.
Some suggest Pastor Adeboye should use his influence more with politicians – as the current Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is an RCCG pastor.
Though he led a peaceful march in February to highlight the insecurity in the country.
His financial worthy is hazy as you can barely separate his assets from that of the ministry and he seems to own money and has not allowed money to own him.
Some believe he could affect lives better than he has done but his close ‘armour bearers’ says he affects lives a lot but hardly makes his charity efforts public.
