Saturday, September 28, 2024 -Veteran actor, Patrick Doyle is of the opinion that it is insensitive for members of a church to celebrate the birthday of their founder by buying him a Rolls Royce at this time when many Nigerians can barely feed themselves.
His post comes barely 24 hours
after the founder of the Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo, was gifted
two Rolls Royce Cullinan at his 70th birthday party.
In an apparent reaction to the news,
Doyle opined that the money used in purchasing the luxury cars could have been
used to erect structures that would be of benefit to the general public. His
post reads;
‘’In these austere times, we all need to be
sensitive how we mark landmark celebrations for ourselves or in honour of
persons we hold in high esteem. We should even be sensible enough to tone down
the public appearance of our affluence. Now is not the time to ride around our
streets filled with hungry and despondent Nigerians in our luxury cars.
I personally
know of a friend of mine who has a Rolls Royce and many other luxury cars in
his fleet. He now drives around in a Ford Escape, not as a show of false
modesty, but as a gesture of sensitivity to the prevailing hardship in the
land. Sadly, not many others in his socio-economic class are doing the same
thing. The insensitivity of the elite may very well provide the spark for the
long anticipated revolution Nigeria needs for a reset. I am still in a wonder
bubble how or why congregants of a denomination chose to celebrate the birthday
of their founder by buying him a Rolls Royce at this time.
In my naive opinion, I find it to be insensitive in the extreme. While I appreciate the importance of celebrating a man like their founder, a more sensitive gesture would have been to build a socially relevant facility or institute a scholarship scheme in his honour. The cost of the Rolls Royce could certainly have funded any of the things I just mentioned.
We appear to be a
people who get stuck on old formats and ways of doing things. When
congregations used to buy cars for their pastors, it was at a time many of the
pastors could not on their own muster the resources to buy one themselves. This
is certainly not the case in this instance. The celebrator, in this case,
already has a fleet of luxury autos and even aircrafts. A more befitting
birthday gift might have been the construction and equipping of a vocational
training centre in his name or any other such thing.
The public
already has the impression that as the founder of 2 elite private universities,
he is not sufficiently acquainted with the sufferings of the masses. So, a
gesture such as I have suggested might have helped to mitigate that impression.
This is my humble opinion offered from the depth of my affection for the
great man who I personally hold in the highest esteem.''
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