12th November, 2012
The acquisition of a Canada-made Bombardier jet by the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has continued to set tongues wagging. The jet is said to be a gift to mark the 40th anniversary of his church, Word of Life Bible Church in Warri, Delta State.
Mr. Oritsejafor is only the latest entrant to the exclusive club of Nigeria’s growing jet-obsessed elite-pastors, including Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church, a.k.a Winners Chapel and Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy.
In the same state, where Oritsejafores wealth continues to grow exponentially, gloom, hopelessness and anguish are daily written on the faces of flood victims scattered in various resettlement camps.
We ask rhetorically: “What is the essence of Jesus Christ’s teachings on compassion for the poor and needy? If giving attracts receiving without measure, then attending to the plight of those in need can not be a one-stop event.
In a country where the National Bureau of Statistics put unemployment rate at an all time high of 23.9 per cent as at December 2011, with 20.3 million Nigerians currently jobless, such material acquisition by otherwise role models fuels crime. The implication of this brazen ostentatious lifestyles of some pastors is not lost on the youth, who form 70 per cent of the country’s estimated 160 million population. Worse still, 56 million Nigerians, as stated by the Executive Secretary of National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education, NMEC, Mr. Jibrin Paiko, are illiterate people. Shouldn’t the church, like early missionaries, join hands with government and the private sector to educate the populace?
But for these wealthy pastors, whose designer shoes’ straps many in their congregations are not worthy to untie, prosperity is akin to salvation. We are not against these obvious men of means, who acquire fanciful jets to whet their ostentatious appetite, but earnestly deplore the psychological enslavement of their flock. They often tell their believing flock it is divine mandate and rewarding one to bless the “Lord’s anointed” with their resources, even if the givers could barely pay their house rents, send their kids to school, or afford proper medicare.
Rather than promote Christian virtues of morality, decency, hard work and honesty, monetised evangelism has debased those virtues, luring many of their flocks to steal to gain pastors’ recognition or sit on the front pews. Cecilia Ibru, Erastus Akingbola, Francis Atuche, among other rogue bankers indicted for stealing depositors’ funds were big time donors in their churches before plunging into ignominy. Lawrence Agada, a former staff of Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, in 2002, was reported to have stolen N9 million, out of which he confessed to have donated a generator and some chairs to Christ Embassy, where he worshipped.
So also did Gbenga Kehinde. The former assistant manager at a Lagos branch of Eko International Bank, who stole about N40 million, admitted to the police that a quarter of the stolen money was donated to the same church. Many other evidences of how pastors’ penchant for filthy lucre has driven their church members into crime abound.
In 1John 2:16, Jesus said: “For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions – is not from the Father but is from the world.” We urge pastors and other clergymen to show restraint in their desire to acquire material wealth and displaying such in an offensive manner.