Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, a deadly cult leader
Cult, usually a small group devoted to a person, idea, or philosophy.
Jonestown, Guyana, 1978, over nine hundred people, including children, dead from a poisoned cocktail administered at the order of one man. The one man here is Jim Jones, who the settlement in Guyana was named after. He was the leader of the Peoples Temple, the cult to which the nine-hundred-plus dead belonged. Jones himself was offed by a gunshot wound, which some believe was self-inflicted.
Shakahola, Kenya, 2023, over four hundred people, including children, starved to death on the orders of one man, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie. Paul Nthenge is the leader of Good News International Ministries, a cult that convinced its members to starve to “meet Jesus.” The story is yet to be concluded as a criminal trial is still ongoing against Paul Nthenge for the murder of his congregation.
In Nigeria, many religious figures share similarities with Jim Jones and Paul Nthenge. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, the founder and leader of Christ Embassy, an evangelical-styled mega-church with global reach, is one of them. Typically, in a mandarin suit with curled hair, Pastor Chris has a sleek appearance to him. He has his way with words, a charisma that can move a room — of course, the room here is his brainwashed congregation who, without batting an eyelid, swallow hook, line, and sinker all the gutter rubbish he says.
Oftentimes, sermons at Christ Embassy are like a boisterous blend of bible stories, conspiracy theories, and fundraising. Despite growing voices criticizing the affluence of Pentecostal pastors in Nigeria, the Church and its lead pastor do not shy away from the conversation of money. In fact, it is encouraged. “After all, how can the gospel spread to every corner of the world without money?” they ask.
Aside from offering and tithe, which are commonplace in churches, members of Christ Embassy are goaded into donating money to sponsor causes contrived by their leader, Pastor Chris. The latest megaproject the Church is embarking on is “Reach Out World Day 2024,” where 10 billion copies of Rhapsody of Realities — the church’s daily devotional — translated into over 8,000 languages will be distributed to everyone in the world on 2nd December 2024. Yeah, you read it right — 10 billion copies, over 8,000 languages, everyone in the world!
The issue isn’t that there aren’t informed people in Oyakhilome’s congregation; there are. The problem with cults is that the leaders are often placed on pedestals where they are beyond mistake and reproach. Saying that 10 billion copies of Rhapsody of Realities are to be distributed insinuates that there are either 10 billion people in the world or some of the 8 billion plus people in the world need twice or even thrice the dosage of daily devotional to be saved from eternal damnation.
Moreover, I don’t think there’s an enterprise in the world complex enough to handle the logistics and operation of distributing daily devotionals to every single human on the planet. Maybe I’m wrong, and some miracle will make it happen that everyone in the world will get a copy of Rhapsody of Realities. Who knows? But there will be a need for a second miracle to happen for illiterate people to understand what is written in the Rhapsody of Realities, even when it is in their language.
Don’t even get me started about Pastor Chris’ views on climate change. The man has in his sermons called climate change a hoax. Na this one off me pass. I don’t know on what basis the man of God has refuted decades of scientific research that even the fossil fuel industry doesn’t outright deny anymore. Saying that climate change is fake is denying the reality of millions, especially the poor and vulnerable in Africa, who are worst hit by the phenomenon despite contributing the least to it. Pastor Chris’s climate change denial from high-up his pulpit does not do justice to flood victims in Taraba and Jigawa who are suffering the direct consequences of climate change. Of course, the pastor who flies private jets and lives a life of opulence is shielded from such harsh realities.
On COVID-19 and vaccination, you can already guess what line of thinking this controversial man of God tows. He underplayed COVID-19, and told his flock and whoever that cared to listen that they should not take the vaccine, statements that landed his television network a 125,000 pound fine in the United Kingdom. Pastor Chris is an anti-vaxxer; the man has a thing against vaccines generally. Besides his qualms with the COVID-19 vaccine, he admonished his followers to avoid taking the malaria vaccine, an innovation aimed at tackling one of the leading causes of death in Nigeria and Africa.
In all of this, one is left wondering about the role of the Nigerian government as the custodian of our social contract in stemming the dangerous activities of Pastor Chris, for which disinformation is at the forefront. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, religious figures appear to be above the law, or so they think. The recent skirmish between the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) — Nigeria’s food and drug regulator — and Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin, the founder of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministries, a mega-church in its own right, exemplifies this. Apparently, Prophet Fufeyin had been selling his miracle water and soap as though he had acquired the requisite permissions from NAFDAC. In getting wind of this, NAFDAC launched an investigation into the said miracle water and soap — an act which Fufeyin and untouchables like him have inferred is an interference with their constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion.
Sadly, it is usually the case that governments, not just in Nigeria, have a reactive approach to regulating religious cults. Jim Jones had operated unchecked in the United States under suspicious circumstances before moving his cult to his enclave in Guyana, another red flag. Similarly, Paul Nthenge, while he spewed dangerous content to his congregation, had gone mostly undisturbed by the Kenyan government. It wasn’t until the government found dead members of his congregation that they took the matter seriously and interfered.
As for Pastor Chris, he inadvertently signed people’s death sentences by instructing them not to take the COVID-19 vaccine. People look up to religious leaders and follow the things they say as law. However, the great power religious leaders enjoy should be accompanied by an equally great responsibility, which the government must ensure is respected, or else the resurgence of religious cults like Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s.
Final Thoughts: In Nigeria, there are not many differences between the political and religious leaders. If anything, they are collaborators. Whether negligently or intentionally, politicians create business for pastors and imams by failing to fulfill their various duties, such as providing affordable healthcare, food, education, employment, and housing. Nigerians, failed by their political leaders, turn to their religious leaders for answers to issues that are otherwise political and socio-economic in nature. Hence the rise of prosperity gospel in Nigeria.
