He spoke like a man in turmoil.
“I am troubled.I am puzzled.My heart breaks when I hear this kind of story.I am troubled because so much lies have been made to look as truth.The intensity and magnitude of the lies grieve my heart.Indeed, I am really  troubled the way I have been maligned”. These were the words of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor,President of the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN)and founder of Word of Life Bible Church when he spoke to some journalists in Lagos exactly a week ago.
It is not for nothing that he feels so troubled,so maligned and perhaps so heart-broken.Few issues in Nigeria in recent  times have stirred as much controversy and sparked off national outrage as the seizure of $9.3m cash by the South African authorities.The cash was reportedly meant to purchase arms by the Federal Government through an arms broker,Cerberus Risk Solution based in Cape Town,South Africa. The deal went awry.And the name of Pastor Oritsejafor was caught in the labyrinth web.It was because the private jet used in transporting the botched cash-for-arms belongs to him.                                    Ever since that fateful day,September 5 that the Asset forfeifure Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority     in South Africa impounded the cash and swiftly commenced criminal investigation in the matter,the CAN president has been in the vortex of the storm.His name has come under unrelenting attacks.He has been called uncomlimentary names.Even within his own brethren,the Christian faith,few had taken a dispassionate view to listen to his own side of his story.
Most recently,two known voices in the Christian fold,Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie(a former President of CAN)and Rev.Chris Okotie,founder of the Household of God Church have taken turns to unleash unbridled attack on Oritsejafor.In his stinging umbrage last week,Okotie called for Oritsejafor’s resignation as the President of CAN.Okotie’s attack drips with bad blood and disrespect. A few Muslim faithful have equally made a parody with the name of the CAN President.                              .                                             You can see why he’s troubled and shaken.His ordeal can be likened to the story told in Robert Graves’s novel 1,Claudius.In that novel the inquisitive Claudius had asked his grandmother,Livia,whether he prefered “slow poisons or quick ones” to disposs of a rival or enemy. Livia replied that she would prefer “repeated doses of slow tasteless poisons which gave the effect of consumption.”.
It must be noted that in the novel,Livia was portrayed as a clever and ruthless woman who ruled the Roman Empire from behind the scene through manipulation of her older husband,Augustus Caesar.In short,the most popular poison of the present century is bad publicity.In massive doses it can destroy a reputation that has taken years to build.
That,to me,is what Pastor Oritsejafor has been up against by the involvement of his private jet in botched cash-for-arms deal.According to him,by next year,he will have been a pastor for 42 years.And for 28 years now he’s been the Head of his Church based in Warri,Delta State.That unblemish reputation of over four decades has received hammering that can break the faint-hearted.
Listening to him tell his story as I did last week,I see a man gravely hurt in his spirit.I believed his story. It’s between him and God who annointed him if he was telling lies or fudging the facts.I am mindful of what I say.
That’s my attitude towards “men of God”. In the words of pastor Oritsejafor,”I have no single reason to tell lies to anybody on this matter.Everything I tell you is the truth”.He proceeded to give his own side of the scandal.First,he denied the allegation that President Jonathan bought him the aircraft in question.The aircraft,he said, was a birthday gift by some people who have “benefited from his ministry” all over the world.He decided to lease it after getting a permit from the aviation authorities in January this year.The cost of  maintenance,he adds, makes the leasing even more compelling,moreso since he uses the jet sparingly for his evangelism work.What happened thereafter,he said,he couldn’t tell until in his words “somebody told me that fateful day,Sept.5 when “I was told my a friend that the plane had been held in South Africa”.
That sounds plausible,if you ask me.But the puzzle is:why,out of about 300 private jets in Nigeria,the conveyors of the cash opted for pastor Oritsejafor’s own?.”Honestly,I have no idea”,he said.That raises questions: First, could it then be a conspiracy theory to dent Oritsejafor’s reputation both as a pastor and the head of Christians in Nigeria? Does it have anything to do with his passion for the Church,especially for the Christians in the North that are currently facing unprecedented persecution? Or could it have something to do with 2015 elections? This can make sense for those who believe that the pastor is so close to the president and does have the capacity to mobilise support for the President’s reelection.In that respect,if Oritsejafor’s adversaries succeed in rubbishing him using the cash-for-arms scandal,inexorably,there will be a credibility problem.
As he ponders over these questions,he agrees all of them are possible theories to feast on.
Every layer you remove on this matter tends to lead to a  more befuddling labyrinth.No easy answer.And being a security matter,makes it all,”the more you look, the less you see”.But,I am convinced that the people who opted for Oritsejafor’s private jet knew it belongs to him.I am also incline to believe that those who did that are “first columnists” in the Jonathan administration who want to sabotage his reelection.
This is where I think the National Security Adviser(NSA),Sambo Dasuki needs more explaining to do than his office has let the public to know. Until two days ago,when presidential spokesman, Dr. Doyin Okupe exonerated Oritsejafor in the arms deal,the presidency had been coy in explaining the involvement or otherwise of the CAN president in this sad story.Such artful dodging and prevarication by the presidency in defence of a man that has been assailed mercilessly in the media for his alleged close relationship with the President,is to say the least,very unfair.Although Okupe’s explanation can be seen as a vindication,a triumph of sort for Oritsejafor,it would have been more appropriate if it had come earlier.                              .
I believe pastor Oritsejafor would have learned some lessons from this scandal on the best way to  conduct his life,separate his pastoral calling from other non-spiritual issues,including the friends he keeps within the corridors of power.
As Richard,former U.S.President said in his memoir,those who do big things should be careful about “stumbling on little things”. Often,”little things” do tarnish hard-earned reputation.Surely,pastor Oritsejafor must have known by now who his poisoners are.But considering the position he holds and the nature of our pork barrel politics,what he’s going through now is not completely unexpected.Over stressing his travails would only amount to a persecution complex.

The travails and triumph of Oritsejafor