Only God has power to revive economy, says Adeboye

• Utomi, Obada charge govt on policies, leadership

The General Overseer, Worldwide of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has explained that only God has the power to revive the nation’s economy.

He spoke yesterday on “No more waiting,” at a monthly thanksgiving service at the RCCG National Headquarters, Throne of Grace, Ebute-Metta, Lagos.The cleric, who also prayed for mothers, pregnant women and single parents and their families told the story of King Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible, who arrogated his success to his personal efforts and eventually paid for his pride.

Adeboye stressed that any leader who relies on his effort to find a solution to a challenge would sink in such problems, adding that a mountain could only be surmounted if it is laid at God’s feet.

According to Adeboye, if God could make pregnant women to be delivered safely and put smiles on the faces of families, He is able to put an end to the economic challenges in the country.He said: “When anyone focuses on God and believes that He has absolute power to control all things, only then would he be able to surmount every mountain and testify.”

Meanwhile, an economist and political scientist, Prof. Pat Utomi, at the weekend urged governments at all levels to provide purposeful leadership by formulating policies that would take the country out of recession.

Utomi made the call at an International Conference at the Samuel Adegboyega University (SAU) in Ogwa, Edo State, which was organised in honour of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Bernard Aigbokhan.

The theme of his presentation was “A Holistic Interdisciplinary Approach to Sustainable Economic Growth: How I Went From an Economic Growth Activist to being Obsessed with Leadership Development.”

Utomi explained that the burden of growth and development falls between destiny and policy, of which policy is the way out. “Many experiences in Nigeria, where policy reforms during structural adjustments improved the foreign exchange markets, reduced the distortions of a licensing web, price controls and government ownership of business ventures through an aggressive privatisation programme, had showed that the choice of policy was the deciding factor,” he said.

Another economist, Prof. Mike Obadan of the University of Benin, in a paper “Governance and the Challenges of Economic Development in Nigeria,” said the promotion of economic growth and development of national objectives are crucial to the attainment of good governance and democracy.