SEX, UDEME AND THE CHURCH

BY: Celestine Mel (June 30, 2019)

Busola Dakolo’s sad tale of her “anointing” by the Gucci-loving Pastor Abiodun Fatoyibo of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly – Abuja has literally set the internet on fire. In ordinary times, I would not join the mob of viral conversations, especially one that is driven in ‘Tweetershpere‘. I also try at all times to balance my perspective to any conversation by listening to both parties in a dispute. I am however compelled to come out to take a stand, after reading Pastor Fatoyibo’s response to the allegation that is circulating online, and carefully reviewing the many other responses by the online community which have mostly tried to equate the stormy outcome of the Pastor’s alleged personal indiscretions to mean that the ‘Church is Under attack”.

I agree STRIONGLY that the Church is under attack. Indeed, the church has been under attack since the last three decades by salacious, funky, jet-setting, criminally-minded, randy, lowlife, predatory, undisciplined, uncultured and tainted men and women of god, who have used the canopy of the ministry to commit atrocities, destroy homes, ruin marriages, fleece the poor, ruin the society and walk the gospel on ten toes. I will tell a personal story.

A friend (whose identity I cannot disclose but whom I know would read this article) lost his marriage of many years to a randy reverend father of the Catholic faith. How did he discover? One fateful day, he stumbled on a suggestive sms on his wife’s phone. When he dialed the number, the reverend father who was like family to them, and who officiated in his wedding was at the other end. He invited the ‘man of god’ to his house, and confronted him. Things turned ugly. He forcefully took control of the reverend father’s phone and discovered tons of nude pictures, videos and sex clips with his own wife and the father. It was too late to deny. The father confessed. “How long have you been ‘bleeping’ my wife?”My friend asked. “Before and after she married you.” The reverend father responded! In shock and fury, my friend drove himself to the Bishop at the Diocese to surrender. The marriage crashed. My friend left the church but the father is still serving the holy Eucharist in Akwa Ibom State till this moment. Chances are, the reverend father is the biological father of my friends’ three kids. My friend preferred not to bother about any DNA test. Has kept custody of the kids and moved on to marry another wife.

In 2013, Ese Walter – a former member of COZA, accused same Pastor Fatoyinbo of abuse, manipulation and having several rounds of illicit sex with her in London. The matter trended for a while and died down. On 8th February 2016, Anita Oyakhilome finalized her divorce and separation from her husband – Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of the Christ Embassy Church as a result of the husband’s serial adulterous lifestyle. In 2017, Canada based Stephanie Otobo, accused Apostle Johnson Suleman of the Omega Fire Ministry Worldwide of illicit sexual escapades that spanned different corners of the globe and involved exchange of assortment of gifts, cash and sundry largesse personally extended by Apostle Suleman to Esther. Esther later capitulated and begged Suleman for forgiveness. Then capitulated again, saying that the earlier capitulation was induced and untrue. Since then, nothing has been heard of Esther.

In February 2019, Pope Francis publicly acknowledged that some priests sexually abuse Nuns and girls within the monastery, promising that new rules would be made to ring-fence these nuns from their predatory male counterparts. The Pope went further to apologize to all the victims of sexual exploitation by the catholic clergy around the world and prayed God to heal their wounds.

So much has gone wrong in the temple of worship. Time-tested Christian values and mores that our Lord and savior Jesus Christ espoused such as humility, kindness, love for neighbor, forgiveness, righteousness, fidelity, have been replaced by vainglorious fleetingness of eccentric materialism, planted by the new generation of shepherds who deliberately twist the gospel to feed into modernity, exploit the innocence of the congregation and mislead the society. I recall the beatitudes: blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied, blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you. Who remembers these anymore?

I shall conclude this intervention by sharing a local story that my father - a seasoned incorruptible no-nonsense pastor, told me about faith and believe. Udeme - his distant relative was born imbued with impossible powers. One day, Udeme went to the market and bought a cheap silver ring that he placed on his middle finger. He then went into the bush to gather assortment of leaves with which he consecrated the ring. After “speaking in tongues” and conjuring some incantations, Udeme went to the oldest and biggest tree in the centre of the village (an Iroko) to slap gently. Pronto, the tree withered. The leaves dropped and the tree died. In panic, the entire village fled helter-skelter. There was trembling. While some people called Udeme the devil, others thought he was a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Udeme died before he was 20, leaving behind a surging followership that expanded by the day, who thronged day and night to Udeme, for answers to their afflictions.

A lot of Udeme’s have taken over the pulpit. In our panic mode, we are flocking to them in our millions for answers to our everyday vicissitudes. Each Udeme is preying on our fears and deprivations to steal our dignity, our virginity, our money, our body and our souls. Instead of helping us prepare for the abundance of heavenly glory, Udeme teaches us about the power of breakthrough, instant wealth, unexplainable wealth, signs, miracles and wonders. In the end, the virginity and innocence of the church and the society, like that of Busola Dakolo, is arrested. And lost forever, to the libido of Udeme. So we sulk. And cry. And tweet. To the glory of our gullibility. Until the next one breaks. Again.

And again. And the merry goes round and round.

** Celestine Mel, a chartered banker, writes from Abuja, Nigeria

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