THE General Overseer, The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Adejare Adeboye, has called on Nigerian leaders to key into the wisdom of setting a meaningful target for the nation as some countries did and had their breakthrough.

Adeboye, who said this yesterday at the RCCG Headquarters, The Throne of Grace, Ebute-Metta, Lagos, during a special programme with the theme: “Free Indeed”, used Lagos State as a point of contact to pray for all states in Nigeria that by this time of next year, there would be more causes to celebrate.

The cleric, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Administration and Personnel, Pastor Johnson Odesola, said it was high time purposeful target should be set for the nation so that the country would move forward like Japan and China, among others, that set up achievable targets for their nations.

He said: “Personally, I have not seen any target set by the last administrations, though the present government seems to be working towards that direction.
“Nigeria is of age to set a purposeful target and I believe we can make it with our development surpassing that of Singapore.”

He said to achieve this, the issue of punishing those that had been enriching themselves to the detriment of the nation’s growth should not be treated with kid glove, noting: “Whatever the government can do to deal with those that messed up the resources of this nation in a bid to enrich themselves should be done, and also recovering whatever they can recover from them for the betterment of the nation.

I look at it from this angle that if the government did not handle with care the issue of reprimand for the culprits who took delight in siphoning the economy, others would not learn and the tendency for the trend to continue is very high.
“Therefore, anyone who is guilty with concrete evidence, devoid of being selective or witch-hunting, should be made to face the wrath of the law.”

The cleric, who suggested that the number of public officers enjoying immunity should be pruned, said there were a lot of reasons for Nigerians to celebrate its 55th independence anniversary.

“The celebration could have been louder if the nation has been growing along with the number of years of independence. In other words, it could have been worse if all the negative predictions on the nation had come to pass. Therefore, we have every cause to celebrate.

My advice to Nigerians is that they should continue to pray and work hard because a high percentage of Nigerians are living on others. There is also the need to co-operate with the government, support the soldiers and give them useful information that would enhance effective operation”, he further said.