by Abimbola Adelakun

If this era in Nigeria were a TV serial, it would be titled something like, “Pastors Behaving Badly.” The past few weeks have seen the demystification of “anointed men of God” and in a manner that tickles a conspiracy theorist’s imagination.

First was Chris Oyakhilome, ostensibly, the sleekest pastor Nigeria has ever produced. His estranged wife, Anita, blind-sided him with a divorce notice and accusations that make the ears tingle.

Oyakhilome, over the years, has built an image of a confidence artist, complete with a sense of self-assurance.

This facade was, however, shattered when he had to respond to his congregation (and the media) over his wife’s allegations. It was probably the first time he did not radiate his trademark cockiness.

After the mantras of “You cannot fail…Ye are gods,” he has psyched into his congregation over the years, the plot twist is that the pastor, just like any other human, himself is not infallible. Now, we know that while some gods have feet of clay, others are human below the belt.

Enter Ayo Oritsejeafor, the Christian Association of Nigeria president. Having studied him over the years, I must say there is little he does that has any of potential of surprising me. His own fall from god status to mere human began when he assumed propriety over the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency for reasons that range from the bizarre to the mundane bordering on wilful nepotism.

If there is ever a religious leader who embodies the politics of Pentecostalism, and, the Pentecostalisation of politics, it is Oritsejafor. Under his leadership, CAN has gone from a religious organisation to a political party that qualifies for INEC registration.

The embarrassing part of his current arms-jet-and-dollar scandal is the bolekaja reaction of CAN to the whole affair. It calls its very essence as a “Christian” organisation into question. The body’s brazen-faced defence of Oritsejeafor is so watery it suffers from diarrhoea. Verily, verily, I say unto them, it would have been better for their image if Oritsejafor’s private jet had been caught shipping condoms rather than arms!

Was it quite two years Oritsejafor claimed the Lord provided him a jet to facilitate His own work? At least, now, we know how his “God” works.

Halleluyah!

When he came up with the story of a strange aircraft hovering over his fallen building, I thought his was an imaginative mind that had reached the end of all narrative. I was wrong! The number of people who seemed to have bought into the aircraft story is not few.

 

Our third pastor is T.B. Joshua and God knows, there is nothing funny about his case. I must confess upfront I have a certain admiration for Joshua. If Oyakhilome — with all his razzle-dazzle — can be metaphorically likened to Hollywood, Oritsejafor would be Nollywood — too imitative of American Hip Hop culture, and petulant. Joshua, in the same comparative guise, would be the travelling Alarinajo troupe – earthy, “local” but you cannot deny its effectiveness.

I listen to Joshua’s sermons and I think he is an interesting character. For a man who struggles with language, and lacks the sophistication of neo-Pentecostal preachers, he has not done badly for himself. What he lacks in polish, he makes up for by surrounding himself with a team of spinners who should give beginner PR lessons to those ruining CAN.

Since the building collapse at his headquarters, the man has come up with one tall tale after the other. And quite perplexing is how those yarns have, so far, succeeded in remystifying his collapsed image.

When he came up with the story of a strange aircraft hovering over his fallen building, I thought his was an imaginative mind that had reached the end of all narrative. I was wrong! The number of people who seemed to have bought into the aircraft story is not few.

If you think only simple-minded folk would take the story of a terrorist attack uncritically, you would also be wrong. The Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, was reported to have said the government would investigate Joshua’s claim about strange planes and terrorism. Now, the last time I checked, Obanikoro is no Christian and he is not of Joshua’s flock. What is at play here is the politics of religion.

Another election year beckons and it is not politically prudent to move against a man of God like Joshua. Not even now that he has carefully reconstructed what should have exposed his bare rump into an advantage. Rather than the flock see the humanity of their god, and even begin to ask pertinent questions about the validity of his prophetic visions, they see him as a man undergoing a test of faith like the biblical Job. From the rhetoric of his followers on social media and elsewhere, you can tell that there is no way Reason will ever trump Religion.

Joshua himself has undergone metamorphosis: Initially he appeared confused, then assumed a victim status, and now he speaks like a victor. He has even received condolence visits from both Governor Babatunde Fashola and President Goodluck Jonathan who made some grudging promises about investigations. Jonathan, in his typical approach to all issues, even set up a committee.

None of us, let us not forget, has seen the original video of the supposed terrorist attack. What is in the public domain is a 180-second edited account put out by Joshua himself. Even in law courts, videos are not admissible as evidence until analysed for authenticity; any donkey knows these things are easily doctored. And Joshua has been accused of doctoring videos in the past to suit his prophecies. Until he provides viable evidence to counter Lagos State Government officials who claimed the building lacked structural integrity, and similar possibilities are ruled out, I hesitate to declare him a credible witness.

For now, the possibility someone would pay for the human factor that led to the disaster erodes daily. Even Joshua himself boasted that he is so impressed with the faith of South Africans who lost most of their countrymen in the attack that he would visit their country regularly. That sounds like confidence of a man who knows even this will blow over soon.

Truly, if Nigeria was serious about taking decisive legal steps over the accident, they would have proceeded with a serious investigation, not make empty gestures. Till now, we do not have an official figure of the victims neither have they tried to ascribe any humanity to them by even mentioning their names.

And that brings me to one final observation: the worthlessness of black/African life. If those who died in this tragedy were Americans or Europeans, would Nigeria (and even South Africa itself) not have acted with more urgency? On days like these, I wonder if “Obatala” was not already drunk when he began to mould those of us on this side of the equator.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.