One is swashbuckling, the other robustly controver­sial. Swarming with a sea of devotees, they are not people you can remain neutral about: You either love or dislike them pas­sionately. Now, both are united in two highly controversial issues that won’t just go away. Lord, have mercy!
Trouble seemed to have agreed to visit the pastor and the general over­seer almost at the same time. There is the news of a private jet, belonging to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor of the Word of Life Bible Church, Warri, as well as, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, impounded in South Africa for illegally exporting $9.3 mil­lion into that country. The money was reportedly to be used for the purchase of arms for the Nigerian military, os­tensibly to fight Boko Haram.
Then, the second ugly news: A six-storey building under construction, belonging to the Synagogue Church of All Nations, led by Pastor Temi­tope Joshua, popularly known as T.B Joshua, had suddenly collapsed, killing over 150 persons, and possibly more, as casualty figure keeps rising.
In a country where news and daily occurrences are fast losing its shock ability, it was still shocking to many Nigerians, that a revered man of God and leader of one of the largest reli­gious groups, the Christian community, would allow himself to be dragged into a highly controversial issue of al­leged currency smuggling and arms deal. Pastor Ayo has tried to explain that even though the aircraft belonged to him, he was in no way involved in the dark transaction. He could have been talking to the deaf, as people are listening to and believing what they want to: There are those who truly be­lieve him and swear he really didn’t have anything to do with the dollars or arms deal while others are quite un­willing to give him benefit of the doubt: He had been in hot romance with the Jonathan government, and was possi­bly running errand for the government but it turned sour, in the South African misadventure.
Two voices, to me, exemplify the two positions. Former aviation minister, the tempestuous Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, represent the first. Fani-Kayode has argued strongly in his write-ups that Pastor Oritsejafor is being set up for blackmail and lampoon by those who do not wish him and the Christian faith well. He absolves the CAN leader of any complicity in the deal-gone-awry.
But Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, the equally fiery Anthony Cardinal Ol­ubunmi Okogie, belongs in the latter category. He believes strongly that the CAN leader has been too close for com­fort to the government at the centre. In an exclusive interview with Saturday NEW TELEGRAPH, Okogie lambasted Oritsejafor for the scandalous outing in South Africa. To the Catholic bishop, the CAN leadership has dragged the Chris­tian community into disrepute by what happened.
In the case of Pastor Joshua, the criti­cisms have equally been acidic. With a harvest of deaths and more still being excavated in the rubble of the collapsed structure, the tears and outrage have not stopped flowing. Questions are being asked over the integrity of the structure; why should a building suddenly just cave in, if standard materials were used and if necessary building specifications were adhered to?
However, Joshua, the man at the centre of the storm, dismisses the allegation of substandard materials and lack of adher­ence to building standards. He has been talking and showing videos of alleged mystery plane that flew over the structure before it dissolved into debris. He has been talking of alleged failed terrorism attack on his person and ministry. He has been weaving different kinds of conspir­acy theories. But that has neither stopped the South African authority, whose na­tionals were most affected in the day of hell, nor other aggrieved Nigerians from demanding a thorough probe of the inci­dent. And the heat is on.
As is usual with ugly news of the above dimensions (the Oritsejafor and Joshua affairs), it is not strange that pub­lic commentators have since waded in, talking and taking positions, as they see it. But it does become increasingly obvi­ous to me that politics seems to have ob­fuscated the real issues while what ought to have been the salient issues have been muddled up. This, sadly, is the era of the flight of logic and common sense in na­tional discourse.
These, then, are my views on the Oritsjafor-Joshua issues. First, if a coun­try is to be governed by the rule of law, rather than sentiments and respect of status, the authorities ought to have be­gun the immediate interrogation of both the pastor and general overseer. It is not enough to impute political motives or blame it on detractors of the CAN leader in the South African debacle. Was his plane used? Yes, he has admitted. Was it an illegal operation? Let the law find out and deal with it. Was the revered pastor an agent of the military/security forces or government in the arms deal? Let the se­curity agencies unravel that and provide the public with logical explanations. Was it morally right for the pastor to have dab­bled into such issue, if it is established that he did? That should be in the court of public opinion and public domain. If all these questions are answered and nothing untoward is established against him, let the relevant government or­gans and agencies say so publicly. To keep mute or seek to sweep the issue under the carpet merely infuriates more Nigerians and provokes more ques­tions. We need to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. A nation seeking to make progress should not, never, be anchored on the fear or respect of man but of God and the law. Pastor Oritsejafor himself will emerge the biggest beneficiary, if the public do not perceive any attempt by powerful forces to sweep the issue under the car­pet. Let’s have an open inquiry into the matter so that its ghost can be laid to rest for now and forever. Otherwise, it would always return to haunt him.
I also hold the same view in the col­lapsed church building of Synagogue. A probe or inquiry is necessary to es­tablish the culpability or otherwise of the owners of the church. Did the overseer breach relevant building code in seeking to circumvent an approval for a two-storey building and turn it to six-storey, as alleged? Did he use substandard materials or cut corners? Who approved additional floors for him? These are the issues we should be talking about. Any other thing is shadow-chasing. I am no prophet or scientist but I don’t believe in the story of a hovering plane and moments later, a collapsed structure. It is something akin to tales by moonlight or, better still, a cock and bull bullshit. Let the man who owned the structure be made to face relevant laws of the land guid­ing such issues. We can’t have two sets of laws: One for the common man, and another for the privileged; one for la­ity and a separate one for the clergy. All men are equal before God. All men should be equal before the law. If the law finds the men blameless, so be it; if found wanting, let it take its course.
Finally, there is something missing in the utterances and defence of the pas­tor and the general overseer: The word ‘sorry.’ Not necessarily because they are wrong or have been found guilty. But for the embarrassment (in the case of Oritsejafor) and agony (in Joshua’s case) they have put their friends, fam­ily, associates, admirers and nation through. The true measure of greatness is the ability and willingness to apolo­gise, even when you are not wrong, so says an English sage. I agree.

Two pastors, two big troubles!