Another COZA church member, Japheth Omojuwa has written yet
another robust letter to the Abuja
based pastor, Biodun Fatoyinbo asking him vital questions that he needs to
answer urgently over his love affair with his female church members, especially
Ese Walters. The note appears to be very long, but have patience and read on:”
Now read my lips, I know there are people here that are not part of our church,
read my lips, we are going to speak but we are consulting to come out with a
robust reply.” “When we asked God, God said be quiet.” Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo
in his non robust reply to the Ese Walter accusations on Sunday 25th August
2013. One shouldn’t need a robust reply to say “I didn’t do it!” but I digress.
The Miss Ese Walter – Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo affair has since come and for
many, who’d rather the truth be buried, should be gone by now.
Unfortunately, this will
not go yet. The reason is simple; Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo just has to speak up.
This was my initial take on the issue and you may need to read it to understand
where this writer is coming from. If you haven’t read that, you’d not
understand my mind with respect to how, no matter what we think or assume, we
should never judge until all sides are heard. I now know more than I did from
that last time and all sides have had at least 3 weeks to be heard. Before I
continue, let me address the men worshippers who go to church on Sundays and
during the week sincerely believing they are worshipping God but in reality are
bowing to the carnal desires of fellow men. My last year in Nigeria saw me spend more time in Abuja than any other
Nigerian city. Anytime I found myself in Abuja,
I’d always attend the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) or on select
occasions The Everlasting Arms Parish (TEAP) of the Redeemed Christian Church
of God. My Lagos
church has no branch. COZA was convenient for me for many reasons but the most
appealing part was the fact that it was a church I could go without being
treated specially. Yes, a few people would know and notice me but I’d largely
be just another member of the congregation and my life needed just that. I was
not just attending COZA though; I truly liked the church. I was committed to
the church financially. I may be did not give as much as many people but I at
least gave enough to receive a gracious call from Pastor Fatoyinbo himself. I
am yet to give anyone – including my mother – as much of my resources as I have
given to COZA.
More often than not my donations were in hard currency. Given a
chance, I’d do this again. Giving is my culture anyway. This point needs to be
made because some hypocrites will come up here to pretend they love the church
more than people they’d consider evil like myself because one has chosen to ask
questions. I don’t know how else to prove one’s love for where one’s heart is
without spending one’s money on same. I gave not because I was moved by words
but because I was impressed by the church’s dedication to excellence. Hate him
or love him, pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo was a man driven by excellence. I was
impressed because after each journey away from Nigeria, I’d visit COZA to see the
aesthetics have been improved upon markedly. I was just impressed and I was
even more impressed because being a man driven by excellence myself, it was
great to see it in display in a Nigerian organization. That mattered to me
because Nigerian positive outliers gain my attention for obvious reasons –
excellence remains a scarce commodity in here. I saw pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo
for the first time in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria,
I think in 2007 when he came to preach at The Father’s House where I worshipped
at the time. His depth impressed me. Again, hate him or love him, he knew his
word. He knew (knows) the bible and he had – of course still has – the God
given ability to not just preach the word but to teach it and impact people.
His strongest attribute for me though would be his vocals. I don’t
think there is a better singer than the man in COZA! I have made all the above
points because some would come here, not to read this or in search for the
truth, but to defend their illusion and the lie they want protected in their
hearts. I have said the above to let you know if you love the man, I love him
too and if you love the church I do too. Unfortunately, I love the truth more
and that was the reason I opened myself up to hearing the experiences of the
many people who reached me after this article. I exchanged emails with Ese
Walter – she had reached out to me to encourage me during my Arik matter but I
didn’t know that until after I sent an email to her to say to be strong – I was
speaking from my understanding of what being in the media storm is. I received
a call from an Abuja based counselor and had
exchanges with people who had worshipped at pastor Fatoyinbo’s church in Ilorin.
I did not reach out to any
of these people myself; they sought me out themselves. Loyalty is a necessity
in every relationship. There must be a purpose and truth behind it. Should one
remain loyal when one discovers that, that loyalty was pledged on the wrong
premise? Every loyalty has a foundation and once that foundation is destroyed,
loyalty must find a new shelter. The Nigerian society is what it is because we
do not care about the truth as a people, we only care about our interests. People
think they care about the truth when the truth does not affect them, as soon as
the table turns; their only care is about the protection of their own kind of
truth or their own interest. It is the reason the same people say to you one
day, “I love the way you write and focus on issues and the fact that you are
unbiased” and the next time they go “what’s your interest in this? What is the
point? I used to be your fan but not anymore!” I am so used to this yo-yoing
from readers I never care about fans, friends or foes, I just care to put the
word out based on what I think is right only being at peace with my conscience
and my God. I don’t care to be loved or hated. I think I can do without caring
for people whose feelings change at the direction of whether the matter affects
them directly rather than whether the matter deserves one’s sincerity.
This will open me to abuse but who cares about people whose lives
and souls are subjected to what fellow men feel rather than what God cares
about? We may not be acutely aware of this as Nigerian Christians but while a
man of God is truly a man of God, he becomes just another man when it comes to
his own failings and addictions. A man of God who is addicted to drugs for
instance is not addicted to drugs as a man of God, he is addicted to drugs as a
man. The same thing goes for sex, stealing, adultery and all the other vices
listed by the bible and our understanding of morality. When a man of God who is
not married to you touches your breast, he touches it as a real man not as a
real man of God.
The hardness that comes with it is of his own blood, no matter
what you want to assume. Of course men of God have a special kind of grace, a
certain level of Grace, but that grace has its purposive boundaries. You can
have grace to pull 100,000 people into a stadium as a preacher but that grace
may not be available to you if, say you invited people a year after to come
hear you declare yourself to run for a public office. Every form of Grace has a
purpose and a place for it. Will Pastor E.A. Adeboye gather as much people in
Redeem Camp if the event was his declaration to run for a political office? I
have gone at length to make this point about grace because as Christians in Nigeria, some
of us have become passionate church going zombies! My words sound harsh but
think mot juste – it is what it is. As long as pastor says it, it is right. As
long as pastor does it, it is right. So then, pastor is always right. Our thin
line between pastor and God, which was supposed to be a clearly marked reality,
has since become eroded.
Pastors have indeed become our gods! We literally worship them
now. My last service at COZA on the 25th of August showed this a lot. It was
the loudest I had heard the church and trust me, COZA on a regular day is loud.
On this day, I sat there in church and asked myself sincere questions; Why is
this church overly loud today, is it because of God or because of man? The
extraordinary praise and worship session – which I really danced to because of
my weakness for praises – and the loud cheers and applauses had a note to them
that never used to be there. This was no longer about God, it had become about
“our pastor.” I ordinarily would not tweet during a church service but I did on
this day because I was so sure in my mind I was no longer in church. I realized
I was in a theatre. Everything was a show and it was at best a world-class
show. It was no longer about God, it was about “our church, our pastor” and you
are sure to see that put up here in the comments. Why have we suddenly assumed
and believed that defending our pastors mean defending God? Who told us that
when our pastors fall God will fall? Are we mad or are we just spiritually
insane? Our Christianity is no longer about God, it has since become about
pastors and our church’s brand.
We are more obsessed with what people perceive of our church’s
reality than what God cares about. Even the most seemingly independent minded
among us lose their ability to rationalize anything as long as it is about
defending these pastors and their increasingly way ward ways. In our usual way,
we misinterpret the bible for our end, saying for instance “touch not my
anointed and do my prophet no harm.” I leave you with thisWhat does it really
mean when it says not to touch the anointed? article. This is our way of
putting pastors above board, beyond questions and their actions protected
inside our common ignorance of God’s word. People continue to perish for lack
of knowledge. And you better not think this is a Pentecostal thing, it is as
ubiquitous as you’d find religions. There is a fake version of anything that is
original. If your religion has no fake version of its good leaders, your
religion itself is fake! There are of course true men of God and real churches
dedicated not just to getting men and women focused on God and the things of
God, but contributing extensively to the development of men, women and families
including underprivileged in the society.
The existence of a fake thing is proof there is an original. I
work with some men of God fully committed to this and the works of the likes of
Daystar and the Elevation Church in Lagos
inspired this piece on what the church can do about poverty in Nigeria . I
think pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo is a real man of God but he is a real man too;
much more real a man than a god at least. And when these realities come
clashing, we must not treat these separate phenomena as one. You can tear
yourself to pieces over these questions as one of these folks with suspended
minds, but he really needs to answer them or just let silence do the talking.
These are questions for the real man in pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo to answer: Did
he do what Ese Walter accused him of doing? When she came back to Nigeria and
asked that he needed to step away from the pulpit, did he meet up with her,
even tried to kiss her again and later called her to say he forgot something in
her car after he left? Did the thing he forgot turn out to be N500,000 cash!
Was this part of his personal earnings in church or was it part of the church’s
income? Did they meet at another hotel – not in England – where he tried to pay for
his own accommodation and had his cash refused because the hotel wouldn’t take
cash so Ese had to pay with her card? Does he use an aphrodisiac perfume? Is
that for the fun of it or for some kind of fun? Did he insist Ese Walter stay
back in London after she came back to Nigeria defying
his earlier demand? Ese Walter might have held back many details in her blog
because no one gets to write it all on matters like that, but will the real man
please stand up and say something? Oh, and our
ultra-super-religious-and-spiritual-we-are-all-clean society has crucified Ese
Walter, making sure others like her never dare come out to cast other pastors
again. And trust me, there are other named ones. You see, we think we are a
free people but we are not.
The person whose body is shackled is freer than the person whose
mind is. We have been manipulated to assume certain things. It is so bad it has
become so tough to confront falsehood in our society. In contrast, it has
become the norm to confront those who dare ask questions around such. We
remember the Bible verses that justify our ways as though even the devil
doesn’t quote the Bible for his own end. Here is one thing you should take
home; “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them
alike are an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 17:15). The sheer number of
women who cannot speak up on their experiences like these shows how much the
society condemns the brave and gives the halo of holiness to their mental
oppressors. This is not limited to pastors, leaders of other religions are very
much involved in immoralities with wives and daughters of trusted members but
this is a mirror for my home. I ignored my Muslim followers who insisted I
speak about their own leaders for obvious reasons. This remains Nigeria. I know
they will have fearless people who will show them their mirror too. Some even
already started with tweets on those yesterday.
One thing appeared constant
in all the other alleged affairs; the pastor always used disparaging words for
his wife, telling the other women his wife is “pretty on the outside, empty
upstairs,” a theme that appeared in all the stories. This set me off over and
again, hearing it from people who even as I write have never met themselves.
Did the real man in pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo tell these women his wife is too
fat and tried for years to lose weight but just couldn’t; and to think that the
woman in question is not fat. There is more on this but better to reserve some
questions. Is it true the wife is aware of the pastor’s issues to the point she
makes sure to regularly keep tabs on him with phone calls? Is it true some of
the pastors are well aware of this? Are they party to it like some of the women
in this loop suggest? What about these other stories? One of the women – who
admitted she was seeking counseling not because she felt abused by the pastor
but because she felt used and dumped, because the pastor had abandoned her – had
much to say. She said that it started when she went for counseling with pastor
Fatoyinbo. That, they exchanged numbers and they started calling each other at
odd hours. It went from phone sex to the bedroom.
There is no need to give the graphic details of the wildness she
said transpired. The second story as relayed by the Abuja counselor was exactly like the first,
from marital counseling to wild sex. This second person is actually married,
and remains married. One of the ladies admitted she was so addicted to him she
threw all caution to the wind. The money according to them was another
attraction they’d not deny. They didn’t say they were abused, they said they
felt used and dumped. She said the pastor has a huge appetite for sex but gets
bored easily and this explains his constant change of girls. Hard to believe,
but these stories from Ilorin
make the hardness go a bit softer. Had an Ilorin
student, who lived off campus, who was at the time his member, ever drive out
pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo out of her room? Did he ask her to sit on his laps? Did
he try to touch her breasts? Did he try harder until she threatened to shout?
Would the pastor remember if I added he used to visit the family, that they
used to push his car at the time?
Did any pastor at the time reprimand pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo after
the lady in question had reported him? Does he still remember the words that
man of God told him? Did the lady continue to come to church after the
incident? She left the church eventually when she couldn’t stand seeing the
pastor preach. People know about this, families know about this. These are open
secrets. What about this other girl pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo allegedly dated in Ilorin? She admitted they
had a steady relationship, and that he would tell her how his wife was not
homely, how his wife couldn’t cook. Pastor Biodun, according to her would tell
her how he felt very homely and welcomed around her, how she was just like a
mother. She admitted she dated the pastor for a very long time and even got
pregnant and aborted for the man of God. People say there can be no smoke
without fire but I don’t even agree with that because I know at least one gas
that produces smoke without fire. Unfortunately, this is beyond the smoke of a
gas, this is a thick, fat, carbon soaked smoke with burning flames that can
only be associated with fire! Like Moses’ burning bush, something is wrong
somewhere and silence will not help on this one. Silence can be beautiful,
silence can be ugly, silence can be so subtle no ones hears it and silence can
be so loud it screams “guilty!”
I defended pastor
Fatoyinbo’s rights to be heard and I still do but I cannot defend his long
silence. This silence is so loud it is too distracting. This silence is too
robust to be ignored. Anyone who says it is better for the pastor to remain
silent at this time is not only a hypocrite but also a church zombie. This is
not me being abusive, this is me saying it as it is. Just look out for the
meaning of the word. When God created things, he said it was good, after God
created man He said it was very good. God did not do all that so that we’d
suspend our ability to think when it comes to matters of our pastors or anyone
for that matter. Even God called out to Adam after he committed the first sin.
God did not convict him, he gave him a chance to defend himself and Adam did
present his case. You see, after all said and done, we all like Adam, we fall
short. King David fell short and prophet Nathan told him to his face.
We all know what he did and the price he paid for that but we all
know that several millennia after, King David remains an iconic figure in Israel. Israel’s flag
and major national symbols bear his insignia to this day! King David said “hata
al-Yahweh” (Hebrew for “I have sinned against God”) and his admission of his
own human failings is the reason we can all read Psalm 51 today and raise our
heads knowing God is able and willing to forgive us. God of course did forgive
David but he never let go of the consequence of that sin. His life was spared –
against the Law of Moses, which at the time meant David himself should have
died – but he lost the child born by Bathsheba. Of course we never read of
David committing that sort of sin again because the chastisements of God helped
clean him like David himself wrote in Psalm 51. Talking about Joseph; is this
what the pastor says Joseph did not defend himself for?
Would Joseph have defended himself if he was offered the chance
and he lived in the society as a free man and not the slave he was? How did
Moses write the account of what happened inside a room between Joseph and
Potiphar’s wife if Joseph never made a point to defend himself at one time or
the other? Would Joseph have kept quiet if he had a congregation to account to?
How come a young lady in Abuja
who had been in the COZA Ilorin choir knew Joseph was going to form part of the
message on Sunday the 25th of August even before the pastor came on the pulpit?
Had this happened in Ilorin
and pastor Fatoyinbo had to offer the same “the people who lived in Joseph’s
time did not know he did not do what he was accused of, we are the ones that
know” excuse? Should we forget these questions and wait for those who will be
on earth in 5000 years time to know all these were supernatural co-incidental
lies or would it be better for pastor Fatoyinbo to accept he is a real man of
God yes but he is indeed a real man with flesh, with the ability to indeed
fail?
Can pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo do what David did and admit his wrong
to his congregation and let those who will stay, stay and those who will leave,
leave? Is it better for the church members to know exactly what they are
getting or should they all just continue to live a lie or in-between a lie and
confusion? Sir, can we even just let go of the robust response and just say “I
never did what Ese Walter accused me of,” because you were true to your
conscience enough on Sunday the 25th of August not to deny it happened. I
remembered clearly no words were said to that effect. If indeed it did not
happen, can we get an “I did not do it” short, simple and direct response
before this robust reply is ready for our consumption? How can all sides be
heard if one side decides silence should do the talking? At least no one can
say I wrote this because of the new COZA land or building project because I
worked for the money I contributed to it. And I hope to visit when this project
is completed. But our Christianity needs to rise above this carnality and
obsession with buildings and what toilets and church seats should look like.
These are all cool and I’d always be likely to worship in a church
that pays attention to all these but at the end of the day, this is not what
Christianity is about. Our faith is about Christ and we were called Christians
at Antioch for
the first time not because of how beautiful our churches looked or how well our
pastors/apostles spoke, it was because of our Christ-like attitude. Is this
what the Nigerian church is about today or should we forget this question was
ever asked? Are we still worshipping The Way, The Truth and The Life or have we
redefined God? We need to ask these questions and more about our Christianity.
Let us even for a while forget what others think or say about us, who really
are we? Now let the abuses rain on me. I need to shower myself. May the peace
of the Lord be upon His church!
Culled: Nigeria
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