Pst. Enoch Adejare Adeboye is a Nigerian pastor and the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)[1][2]
Pastor Adeboye had his B.Sc. in Mathematics at University of Nigeria Nsukka[3] and subsequently got his PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Lagos, and worked as a lecturer in mathematics at the universities of Lagos[2] and Ilorin;[4] After joining the RCCG in 1973[5] he began working to translate the sermons of its then Pastor and founder, Rev. Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, from Yoruba into English.[2][4]
In 1981 Adeboye was appointed General Overseer of the church, taking over from Papa Akindayomi, who had died the previous year.[2][4] For three years he filled the role part-time, still lecturing at Ilorin, until giving up his university position to preach full-time.[4]
The church, which was not well known before Adeboye took charge,[4] now claims branches in over a hundred countries, including more than 14,000 in Nigeria.[2] Adeboye has stated that his aim is to put a church within five minutes of every person on Earth.[2] He is the national president of RCF (an interdenominational fellowship in all the campuses in Nigeria)which is under the umbrella of Christ the Redeemer's Ministry (CRM)where he serves as founder and president. In 2008, Newsweek magazine named Adeboye one of the fifty most powerful people in the world.[2] He is married to Foluke Adeboye, also a pastor, with whom he has 4 children.[4] he also has National and International awards and was named among the centenary awardees of his country in 2014.
He recently endowed 4 Nigerian Universities: Obafemi Awolowo University,[6] University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria with Professorial chairs in Mathematics to the tune of 50 Million Naira.[7]