 |
| Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor's weak response to $9.3m plane scandal. |
I have been reading Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor's explanation on the scandal of the $9.3m found on a plane belonging to him which was going to be used for arms.Firstly,i find it incredible that Oritsejafor has waited for a week or more before we heard an explanation from him! Something so serious and the man keeps quiet for a week or more?And i can bet
you he has not been visited by Nigerian security forces either.At the very least he is supposed to be interviewed.But what do you expect when he and the PRESIDENT are BUDDIES?THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN THE PRESIDENT OF A NATION LEAVES HIMSELF IN A COMPROMISING POSITION.
Another thing Pastor Oritsejafor said made me laugh,he said "I wish to assure you that I will not do anything to tarnish the image of Jesus Christ" That in itself is funny.What else was he gonna say?You accept a jet of $40m or so from your alleged Church members.You claimed when accepting the gift,it was necessary because of your extensive travels.You were too good to take a plane like everybody else i suppose.
Now they way Orisejafor went on about the need for the jet,i thought he travelled 8 days a week.So how come he had the time to set up a company and rent the jet out?All those millions of dollars,just imagine the projects that could have done in the name of the church.How many lives it could have transformed.How many legacies it could have built.But no,the vanity of our Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor will not allow that.He has to live like a super star.Yet he feels he has not compromised or tarnished the image of the Church or Jesus Christ.What planet do these guys live in?
He balls like Wizkid,been called a funky pastor in many quarters,(Nothing wrong with that actually,he might be a James Brown fan)He wears the same chain Dbanj,Kanye West and the other rappers wear,though his is a bit longer lol...i must admit i stole that from somewhere,but its very funny still..and this man still thinks he is maintaining the image of Jesus Christ..na wa o.
For me,the fact that he took so long to react to all the uproar and allegations of something very serious means he was looking to do damage control.I see why he had not jumped out right away and said things the way they were.Can you imagine if it ahd been Mohammed Buhari or somebody similar who owned that plane and they kept quiet for a week?They would have said they were Boko Haram.They would have said that money was meant to sponsor attacks etc.Yet our pastor chsoe to keep quiet and further went to insult us by saying he only owed the CHURCH an explanation.Well i'm sorry sir,this is a national security situation.Nigeria is concerned and the lives of Nigerian are involved so you owe us all an explanation!
Anyway enough of my rantings.Here is Pastor Ayo Orisejafor's reaction to the $9.3m arms scandal while Speaking at the National Executive Council meeting of CAN at the National Christian Center in Abuja, ..enjoy,its very amusing.
"I wish to assure you that I will not do anything to tarnish the image of Jesus Christ or compromise the divine standard of the church. As you are all aware, the media has been awashed in the past few days about an unfortunate incident involving the movement of funds from Nigeria to South Africa. In the unfortunate news reports, attempts have been made to link me directly with the transaction. So far, I have refrained from making any direct public response pending the time that I would have briefed the leaders of the church and explained my position on the issues to them.
I believe that the primary institution that I owe any explanation to is the church. At the risk of being seen to be defending myself, I wish to confirm to the distinguished leaders of the church that the Bombardier Challenger 601 aircraft in question is mine. The aircraft was presented to me as a gift by members of our congregation and ministry partners worldwide at my 40th anniversary of my call into the ministry. May I be permitted to stress that the aircraft was not given to me by the President of Nigeria, neither was it a settlement for any political favour or patronage.
With the benefit of hindsight, the President of the country was a guest in our church during the anniversary celebration when the jet was presented to me. This has construed an implication that it was a gift from the President of the country. The President of Nigeria has nothing to do with the gift of the aircraft. By the way, I still wonder why all those saying this cannot come out to show proof so that the matter can be put to rest once and for all. Let me say that this might be an issue of the court in the near future ”he said
He said he was also shocked and distressed at finding out what the private jet which he leased to the company managing it used it for, adding that there is a war being waged against the church in Nigeria
"Based on this, I leased the aircraft on August 2, 2014, to a company to run it. It was the lease that entered into an agreement with the people who carried out the transfer of funds. Having leased the aircraft to the Green Coast Produce Company Limited, any transaction undertaken with the aircraft can no longer be attached to me. Inasmuch as I am shocked and distressed by the incident, I wish to appeal to Christians in Nigeria to remember that a war has been waged against the Nigerian church. This war is being fought on many fronts and this unfortunate incident is another dimension in the assault against the church."
"The media hype and the deliberate distortion of information that followed it confirmed that forces that desperately desire to cause division and disunity in the church are at work. Even the devil knows that a house that is divided cannot stand. As Christians, we need unity in the church now more than ever. We are witnessing inhuman attacks by religious extremists against Christians in the northern part of the country, while christian infrastructure is being destroyed in hundreds. If we permit the enemy divide us, our chances of corporate survival shall be severely threatened. Distinguished leaders of the church, please permit me to state clearly before God and before all of you here present today, that I am not a party to the movement of $9.3m from Nigeria to South Africa to purchase arms and ammunition. I am not part of the deal. I know nothing about it.” he saidThis kind of impunity is not new in Nigeria.It has happened time and time again and will keep on happening till God knows when.It will take a really special man to change things round in my country.I don't see things changing in the next 20 years.And that's if we are lucky!