Senior Pastor of House on the Rock Church, Paul Adefarasin, has triggered widespread reactions after speaking about Nigeria’s economic situation during a church sermon.
While addressing members during a May 17 service, the clergyman lamented the declining value of the naira and the worsening economic realities facing many Nigerians.
According to him:
“Nigeria is d+ad, let’s not deceive ourselves. Once you are counting in naira, you are p%or.”
The preacher went on to compare the value of money in previous decades to the current economic situation.
“I was not born p%or cause my father was earning up to like 18 thousand naira in the early 80s and 90s,” he said.
Adefarasin also reflected on how valuable the naira used to be years ago, stressing that many Nigerians fail to understand the scale of the country’s economic decline because they focus only on present realities.
“Do you know what a billion naira was then when I was 15–16? It was 2.8 billion dollars and we are taking it cause we live in the now, we don’t study history and don’t even research data,” he added.
The remarks quickly went viral online, with Nigerians sharing mixed opinions about the pastor’s statement.
Some social media users criticized him for speaking about poverty while churches still collect offerings in naira.
Reacting online, @niffyboyay wrote:
“The offerings his members drop are they in dollars??”
Another user, @ThreeLeftThumbs, commented:
“But e still dey collect offering in Naira.”
Others accused political and religious elites of contributing to the country’s economic challenges.
@Chukwueloka_EE wrote:
“A member of the people that killed Nigeria is posturing here.”
Meanwhile, some Nigerians agreed with the pastor’s concerns over the declining value of the naira and rising hardship across the country.