Former Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has stated that the future of Nigeria depends on the messages preached by the church in the country.

He cautioned that in order for the country to overcome its current economic challenges, the church must shift its focus from preaching prosperity and wealth to the importance of peace, productivity, hard work, and development.

He made these remarks during a public lecture, expressing his belief that the churches have become too focused on personal prosperity and material wealth, while neglecting the true purpose of the gospel to promote peace, unity, and holistic development in the country.

“For too long, our churches have been caught up in the pursuit of personal prosperity and material wealth, neglecting the true calling of the gospel to promote peace, unity, and the holistic development of our society. If we truly want to see Nigeria rise again and fulfill its immense potential, the church must return to its roots, preaching the values of hard work, compassion, and service to the community. It is only through this shift in focus that we can inspire our people to become agents of positive change, rather than mere consumers of prosperity gospel,” he said.

The former Vice President also advised preachers against prioritizing benefits and rewards, as Christians in government and positions of authority, may suffer as a result.

“The major responsibility of Christians, responsibility of the church is propagating the correct version of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it is that correct version of the gospel of Jesus Christ that transformed other nations of the world. The nations that we copy, the nations we want to emulate, the nations whose developments we have seen, the nations in Europe, America, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ and the virtues of hard work, productivity, integrity, protection of the poor preached from the pulpit that transform these nations.

If we must transform and impact on our nations as Christians and as a Church, we must be mindful of the messages we preach, such that it will encourage and promote virtues of hardwork, integrity, productivity while also caring for the poor and needy around us,” he said