“Now read my lips, I know there are people here that are not part of our church, read my lips, we are going to speak but we are consulting to come out with a robust reply.”

“When we asked God, God said be quiet.” Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo in his non robust reply to the Ese Walter accusations on Sunday 25th August 2013.

One shouldn’t need a robust reply to say “I didn’t do it!” but I digress. The Miss Ese Walter – Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo affair has since come and for many, who’d rather the truth be buried, should be gone by now. Unfortunately, this will not go yet. The reason is simple; pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo just has to speak up. This was my initial take on the issue and you may need to read it to understand where this writer is coming from. If you haven’t read that, you’d not understand my mind with respect to how, no matter what we think or assume, we should never judge until all sides are heard. I now know more than I did from that last time and all sides have had at least 3 weeks to be heard.

Before I continue, let me address the men worshippers who go to church on Sundays and during the week sincerely believing they are worshipping God but in reality are bowing to the carnal desires of fellow men. My last year in Nigeria saw me spend more time in Abuja than any other Nigerian city. Anytime I found myself in Abuja, I’d always attend the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) or on select occasions The Everlasting Arms Parish (TEAP) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. My Lagos church has no branch. COZA was convenient for me for many reasons but the most appealing part was the fact that it was a church I could go without being treated specially. Yes, a few people would know and notice me but I’d largely be just another member of the congregation and my life needed just that. I was not just attending COZA though; I truly liked the church. I was committed to the church financially. I may be did not give as much as many people but I at least gave enough to receive a gracious call from Pastor Fatoyinbo himself. I am yet to give anyone – including my mother – as much of my resources as I have given to COZA. More often than not my donations were in hard currency. Given a chance, I’d do this again. Giving is my culture anyway. This point needs to be made because some hypocrites will come up here to pretend they love the church more than people they’d consider evil like myself because one has chosen to ask questions. I don’t know how else to prove one’s love for where one’s heart is without spending one’s money on same. I gave not because I was moved by words but because I was impressed by the church’s dedication to excellence. Hate him or love him, pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo was a man driven by excellence. I was impressed because after each journey away from Nigeria, I’d visit COZA to see the aesthetics have been improved upon markedly. I was just impressed and I was even more impressed because being a man driven by excellence myself, it was great to see it in display in a Nigerian organization. That mattered to me because Nigerian positive outliers gain my attention for obvious reasons – excellence remains a scarce commodity in here.

I saw pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo for the first time in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria, I think in 2007 when he came to preach at The Father’s House where I worshipped at the time. His depth impressed me. Again, hate him or love him, he knew his word. He knew (knows) the bible and he had – of course still has – the God given ability to not just preach the word but to teach it and impact people. His strongest attribute for me though would be his vocals. I don’t think there is a better singer than the man in COZA!

I have made all the above points because some would come here, not to read this or in search for the truth, but to defend their illusion and the lie they want protected in their hearts. I have said the above to let you know if you love the man, I love him too and if you love the church I do too. Unfortunately, I love the truth more and that was the reason I opened myself up to hearing the experiences of the many people who reached me after this article. I exchanged emails with Ese Walter – she had reached out to me to encourage me during my Arik matter but I didn’t know that until after I sent an email to her to say to be strong – I was speaking from my understanding of what being in the media storm is. I received a call from an Abuja based counselor and had exchanges with people who had worshipped at pastor Fatoyinbo’s church in Ilorin. I did not reach out to any of these people myself; they sought me out themselves.

Continue here: www.olawaleoni..com

COZA's gameplan is to delay things, knowing fully well that everyone will forget. Papa God, ku suru.