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Jet-Buying Pastors Is Not A Model We Want For Our People

Started by bamalli, December 06, 2012, 07:32:37 PM

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Jet-Buying Pastors Is Not A Model We Want For Our People – Bishop Hassan Kukah

Bishop Hassan Kukah has dismissed the notion that members of Word of Life Bible Church contributed money to buy a private jet for their general overseer, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

"I do not see anywhere in the world where any worshiping community can claim that they've been able to raise over 7 billion Naira to buy such a gift for their pastor. But most importantly for me is that, amidst the squander and the poverty that we face in Nigeria, these are not the kind of model display that we should be to our people," he said.

The Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese said this during an interview with SaharaTV's Adeola Fayehun last weekend. The clergy was answering questions about the state of the Nigerian Church and the Boko Haram menace.

Kukah made it clear that while he has no problem with people buying planes,   it is not acceptable that any religious leader should turn material wealth into evidence of where the church ought to be headed.

"Especially when we consider the fact that all this was happening at a time which most of the area where Pastor Oritsejafor himself pastors were under water," he added referring to the massive flooding that affected several communities in Delta state recently.

The Bishop also expressed concerns about the acquisition process of the jets.  He said that it "was rather a deceitful approach, and the fact that this was being presented as a model of how people should measure God's blessings to them."

Speaking about the Boko Haram menace that is crippling the northern parts of Nigeria, the Bishop disapproved of how the Nigerian government has been handling the case. He described Boko Haram as a metaphor for our corruption. He also stated that  trying to talk with Boko Haram has not been successful because the government is 'speaking from both sides of its mouth.'

"One moment we say we do not know who to dialogue with. If we do not know who represents Boko Haram, how do we know that the next telephone call claiming to be somebody who can speak on behalf of Boko Haram is not just somebody who is trying to make some money off the situation?"

Kukah condemned the use of force and deployment of soldiers to Maiduguri, claiming that these soldiers are now more dangerous to the locals than Boko Haram.

"If you're also putting people up as being wanted like the leadership of Boko Haram that they claimed ransom from 5 to 10 to 50 million Naira on the heads of their leadership, that doesn't sound to me like people who are talking about a dialogue. Clearly, dialogue is desirable, I'm not sure we have the right environment to have that conversation," he said.

When asked if he foresees a revolution in Nigeria, Kukah said, "It should have happened 50 years ago. It didn't happen, so it's not likely to happen."