Worldwide reactions continue to trail the news that the wife of famous evangelical pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy is suing for divorce.
While some are shocked about the revelations about the alleged adultery committed by Pastor Chris, others are not so surprised, given the history of moral failings of some famous church leaders in the past.
Adebowale Oriku, a popular Nigerian-born writer and researcher based in Britain, is one of those who are not moved by news of the failing of Oyakhilome’s marriage.
Writing on his official Facebook page, Oriku says: “Human dramas like ‘Pastor’ Oyakhilome’s ‘Christian’ marriage going pear-shaped don’t really mean much to me. I don’t waste any time
harping on the hypocrisies of the so-called ‘men of God.’”
Oriku says he was only moved to comment about the pastor’s marriage after recalling listening briefly to a preaching session of his recently , where he says Oyakhilome spoke “about how women should see their husbands as lords and masters, how a woman should be subservient and docile and how – analyse this! – women were only ‘created’ for men’s use, ‘created’ as props for men.”
Oriku, who has been a liberal voice for human rights internationally over the years, is clearly irked by the attitudes of pastors who enjoy the subjugation of women.
However, he is impressed by how Pastor Chris’ wife has seemingly given her husband a shocker on how women can stand up to perceived overbearing attitudes of their men.
“... Now his wife has shown him she’s capable of taking decisions, that she is more than a prop for Oyakhilome’s ego. I’ll stop at the point of saying kudos to the wife, but something is clear: she has thrown it back in Oyakhilome’s face,” Oriku concludes.
Oriku is the author of the widely read book Schopenhauer’s Child. In the moving book Oriku writes about how the death of his sister affects him and how he deals with it – or tries to deal with it. The book provides an extensive insight on life, love and loss.
•Photo shows Adebowale Oriku.
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