The atmosphere at the church’s service was neither tense nor frigid. Worshippers did all they could to mask the huge controversy that is currently tearing through the very fabrics of what is arguably one of the biggest churches in Africa. It boasts of over 40,000 worshippers cutting across over four countries.
At the church’s Oregun headquarters in Lagos. Saturday Tribune visited Christ Embassy, also known as Believers Love World (BLW), which has a General Overseer, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, whose marriage is at the precipice of collapse.
The entire church’s ambience did not suggest that anything was wrong between Pastor Oyakhilome and his wife, Anita both of whom have again been inadvertently brought into public spotlight, as their marriage, which has reportedly produced two teenage daughters, seems to have reached its elastic limit.
Worshippers walked in and out of the church at will, while workers went about their assigned roles as if nothing was wrong.
Saturday Tribune, with a view to getting the reaction of some of the church members to the widely reported divorce saga between Pastor Chris, as he is often called, and his wife, Pastor Anita – a saga which will go as one of the most dramatic in recent times – posed as one of the worshippers.
A direct approach earlier taken whereby the issue was thrown as a question to members of the church met a brick wall. Members of the church vehemently denied there was any problem between Pastor Oyakhilome and his wife.
Once inside the church, Saturday Tribune’s correspondent quickly scanned the horizon (this was more or less like casting lot) to see which member would appear willing to disclose whatever view he/she had about the troubled union. The lot fell on a young lady with a diminutive stature who was seen punching the keys on her phone, totally oblivious of what was going on around her.
Sitting beside the lady who was dressed in an armless short jacket with a pair of jeans trousers, for a few minutes, Saturday Tribune picked up a discussion with her.
Sat Tribune: Good evening sis, I can’t help noticing your phone, can I see its brand please? It looks very lovely.
Lady: (smiles) Good evening (hands the phone over).
wow, what an exquisite phone it must have cost you like half a million naira to buy, I am very sure.
Lady: (smiles again) Half a million naira indeed. If I had that kind of money, there are other pressing needs I would divert it to.
Good talk (Other ‘irrelevant’ talks soon followed before Saturday Tribune stylishly veered into the main issue):
I may not be able to wait till the end of the service, but I just felt I have an obligation to be here to see how the mid week services would look like, especially given this divorce thing about Pastor Chris and his wife.
Sincerely, I am short of words on the whole thing oo.
I have always seen them as a nice inseparable couple, and what more, they are both pastors. What’s your opinion about them, and the whole development?
And she responded: “You might see this as odd, but they have never really cut a picture I have always wanted to see. There was a time I even sensed that something seemed amiss between them. I’ve been a member of this church for about five years, and in all those years I can’t really remember ever seeing them do things together. It was as if they were patching things up or trying to just make things work. So if you ask me, I’ll tell you that I’m not totally surprised things turned out this way. It is everyone’s prayer that this will not have a negative effect on the church.”
When asked who she felt was at fault, the young lady, who eventually gave her name as Ann, said: “I think it would be wrong of me to condemn either of them. It is not a new thing for pastors to go their separate ways from their spouses, remember Pastor Chris Okotie and his wife some years ago? I just hope the whole scenario does not negatively affect the growth of the church.”
A similar ‘drama’ but this time with a different approach was also tried on another member of the church who had the mien of someone in the church’s technical unit. When asked what he thought of the estranged couple, the young man, whose identity could not be obtained, also gave an indication that he too had always felt that both pastors were not really having a splendid time as expected of couples. According to the young man, one of the things that made him to have this notion was because they were hardly seen together.
“Often you see men of God go everywhere- crusades, honouring invitations, church services, etc with their wives. But this was not the case with Pastor Chris and Pastor Anita. They both seemed already separated long before the divorce thing even came up, which to me is more or less a formality,” he stated.
Like Ann, the anonymous worker also expressed the belief that Christ Embassy would come out stronger after the ‘trying times’ must have been over.
There was another attempt to speak with a senior member of the church (a pastor) on the issue. One was identified and subsequently approached, but like others before, he refused to comment on the development.
“What do you want me say? I have nothing to say to you about anything,” he stated.
Before now, Saturday Tribune had tried the direct approach on Solomon Adebara, an ardent member of Christ Embassy, but who worships in one of the numerous branches. When asked about the entire development, he insisted that there was no problem of such between Pastor Chris and his wife.
“Ignore whatever rumour people are spreading, Pastor Chris and Pastor Anita are both fine and they are not trying to go their separate ways,” he said.
But any church member and other well-wishers who might be hoping the matrimonial squabble between the popular pastor and his wife would be resolved soon might need to have a rethink, as the London-based Pastor Anita has ruled out the possibility of ever reconciling with her husband.
Speaking with an online medium through her lawyers, Pastor Anita indicated that her relationship with Pastor Chris had “terribly degenerated” and that there was no room for any reconciliation or out-of-court settlement.
The online newspaper made this revelation after indicating that it had contacted Mrs. Oyakhilome through her lawyers, Attwaters Jameson Hill Solicitors, after news broke that she had filed for divorce, to enquire whether any out-of-court settlement option was being explored.
Enormous wealth
Pastor Oyakhilome, though young, remains one of the richest pastors not just in Nigeria, but in Africa as a whole.
His wealth, according to a 2013 report credited to the highly respected Forbes, is estimated at $30 million–$50 million, thus clearly putting him in the league of the ‘big boy’ pastors.
Apart from his own intimidating wealth, Christ Embassy as a church is also one of the richest churches owned by one individual in the whole world. The evidence of the church’s wealth can be clearly seen in the sheer opulence of the entire church’s structure as well as its surroundings, decorations, chairs and general organisation.
According to reports, Pastor Oyakhilome’s interests cover newspapers, magazines, a bounded television station, an almanac label, digital TV, hotels and an all-encompassing absolute estate. Nigerian Tribune
