Women shun find-a-husband prayers

PHOTO | FILE Conference attendees run for prayers from Nigerian Pastor Chris Ojigbani at Nyayo Stadium in a past event. A meeting at Kenyatta Conference Centre, Nairobi on April 21, 2013 was marked by a low attendance compared to the 2012 conference.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By STELLA CHERONO scherono@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Sunday, April 21   2013 at  23:30

 

The Nigerian pastor who promised to find husbands for all was a dejected man on Sunday when Nairobi’s single women showed up in hundreds, and not the thousands he expected for his crusade.

Pastor Chris Ojigbani immediately blamed the press for his plight. He accused them of misreporting his previous find-a-husband day of prayer which took place at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi last year.

His aides and guards barred Kenyan journalists from attending the sessions at KICC’s main auditorium.

“We are in charge of this conference and we will do what we have been instructed to do. We will not allow the press to capture this event,” an aide told journalists.

He attributed the low turn to the fact that it was not as heavily advertised as the previous ones.

Pastor Ojigbani himself emphasised that journalists were unwelcome at the event by declaring they were causing a distraction at the function.

Unlike in the past when the event was solely organised for single women searching for husbands, this time around, the conference whose theme was ‘the hidden truth of marriage’ was open to married couples.

All those arriving for the event were asked to write down their names, phone numbers and marital status.

“Why would the media be interested in anything to do with religion? In Nigeria, no one cares about what a pastor has done or not done. We have not paid you to give us coverage. But if it is for your own good, you have to pay Sh10,000,” the pastor’s aide said.

After the pastor preached he asked those who received miracles of getting spouses and children and those whose marriages had improved since the last time he was in Kenya to testify.

He also played video clips of women in other countries who testified that they had received miracles after prayers from the pastor.

Pastor Chris Ojigbani came to Kenya in September 2010, when he was commonly known as the ‘Apostle of marriage’. Thousands of women flocked the KICC to get a glimpse of the pastor. Some of course wanted a taste of the promised blessings; ‘marriage proposal after proposal.’

One year later, he was back, with a message to the singles. He had the ‘right knowledge for singles’. This was the year as he says the media attacked him with the ‘wrong publicity.’

In a flyer issued at the conference, Pastor Ojigbani states: ‘God commissioned me to liberate marriages through the preaching of the word.’

His ministry, he says, is not a church, but a non-denominational ministry that has transformed millions of lives.

A few people we interviewed said they attended the seminar because they needed to get tips on how to improve their marriages. “I have never attended his seminars but I want to know the secret to a happy marriage” Ms Grace Wangui, said on Saturday.

A woman who testified before the congregation said, “I came for the marriage seminar in 2011 when I had had three miscarriages and the man I was dating had left me. After the seminar, I got a man who gave me this child who is about a year now. The man has left me again and I am here for another miracle. I hope I will get another man,” she said, sending the congregation into laughter.