The COZA “Pastor”

Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo started his Sunday service on a familiar note: silence.

For a business defined by words, it was curious that Fatoyinbo merely mounted the pulpit, preached and went home. And for a second time when a robust response was needed, the pastor failed to provide any.

Six years after a legacy of blaming the devil for trying to pull him down from grace, Fatoyinbo appears to have realized that the devil is now himself and his penis and not the alleged detractors whom the devil are using to derail his calling.

If the African brand of religion does not make you mad, nothing will. Religion spurned some of the developmental strides recorded in Europe. However, in Africa, it has become a tool through which tiny gods are created; a tool for oppression and ‘anyhowness’, a tool which a pastor accused of sexual impudence choose silence.

It is a tiring adventure telling people that part of the reason why Nigeria is the way it is, is because nearly 90 percent of Nigerians have their eyes covered with religious veils. It is a mental warfare of some sort. You will receive barrage of insults and threats threading this path. However, remove that veil that asks one to pray for the leaders and not confront them and see a national uprising tomorrow; remove that veil that tells you that a pastor who can’t keep his penis in check is anointed, has grace and should not be questioned and see an enlightened society. Religion created zombies in Africa and as politics mixed with it, they produced a docile society.

Nigeria is a lengthy letter on a torn sheet of paper. Everyone gets comfortable with being uncomfortable. In Nigeria, anything can happen; and when you are in a position of authority, be sure that hirelings will be there to defend you against the institution of reason. I did not find the new defense of Pastor Fatoyinbo by those who only see the hands of the devil when pastors are asked to be accountable weird. I expected it and the fact that we equally have a security system which is also docile makes the whole situation terrible. Someone should have investigated but no, they prefer to arrest innocent women and have them raped.

I have discovered, that a whole lot of people, the assumed sensible, the writers, the intellectuals, the technocrats, the hungry, the fed, the deserted, the jobless and the lords of the sad and the lonely, are comfortable the way things are. This realization has been a source of depression to me. I have always argued that Nigeria’s number one problem is not corruption in the way that people are shouting it..nah. Our biggest problem is the lack of knowledge of what a good society is all about and this knowledge, which I don’t see coming in 800 years, will ensure that we don’t get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo is not new to controversy especially in the area of over using his penis. He is different though as he is not into the business of turning his followers into classical court jesters who roll in muddy waters like Lazarus Muoka, neither does he drive an over 100 million Naira Royce Ross phantom for over 2 hours without fuel. At least, he knows that he who buys a car of such amount can also afford 10,000 Naira for fuel. Biodun is only in the business of over using his penis and covering it up.

To be fair to him, he is a handsome man; dresses like a rap star, drives expensive cars, throws beach parties. Women love such pleasant pleasures and would always throw themselves at him both married, never married and separated but as a pastor, he has been bequeathed with the higher moral responsibility to stick to course but always being caught in the cookie jar or in the monkey trap is a bad omen for the type of trade he chose.

Before singer Timi Dakolo called out the pastor, he had gained national notoriety sometime in 2013. Ese Walter had in a blog post revealed her sexual encounter with Fatoyinbo in an hotel.

According to her, the Pastor told her to feel at home and should not be “shy”.

She said that he told her to order for “alcohol, feel free and order what you want.”

Ese Walters said she felt guilty at first that she and the pastor were getting involved however, Mr. Fatoyinbo told her that he will “ teach you a level of grace that you don’t understand.”

Events after that scandal blew up were very interesting. Walter was bullied into silence. Fatoyinbo had promised to give a robust response to the allegation leveled against him by Ms Walter. People waited with baited breath. The pastor actually delivered a response in an unusual manner. The Live stream the following Sunday was him preaching about extraordinary grace, lying down on the altar in tearful ecstasy as he thanked God for Grace. The Church chorused Amen and that was the end. Ms Walter bore the brunt of being a false accuser who was paid to de-grace a grace-filled man. What a pity.

Nigerians do not know what a good society is all about where accountability thrives and so, Fatoyinbo’s church members allowed him to escape scrutiny. In the United States, Ese Walter’s exposé would have marked the beginning of his downfall as tens of women would had accused him of improperly touching their breasts but this is Nigeria, anything can happen. We support those who prey on our women, shaming them and bullying them into silence because, well, the man of God has grace.

Poverty of the mind should be arrested