The Nigeria Feminist Forum has condemned a recent statement attributed to the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, on feminism and marriage.
The forum’s reaction is to Oyedepo’s criticism of women who identified themselves as feminists as he advised them against getting married.
The clergyman, who gave the advice during a sermon to his congregation, specifically warned women against joining the feminist movement as he stated that feminism would lead to frustration and devastation.
But his disposition did not sit well with members of the feminist movement who asked him to explain if feminists in Nigeria were responsible for his disengaged “unproductive pastors.”
In a statement issued on Thursday, the NFF, through its Communications Officer, Angela Nkwo, said its members were not happy with Oyedepo’s view that the “Feminism movement leads to frustration and devastation.”
The group advised Oyedepo to focus on suggesting solutions to how the challenges confronting Nigeria could be subdued.
The statement read, “The Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF) has condemned the comments credited to the celebrated cleric and founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo on feminism, saying he should proffer solutions to insecurity, inflation, amongst others confronting the nation.
“Casting huge aspersions on being a woman, its definition and expectations therein when he advised women against joining the feminist movement because it leads to frustration and devastation; contrary to the claims spread by people, feminism is about demanding gender equity, justice and access to equal resources for everyone, which will benefit families, communities and the wider society as a whole.
“The cleric’s comments justified the notion that women do not lead branches of the church popularly called Winners chapel, saying it is condemnable as women form a followership of the congregation.”
The group queried if feminists were the cause of his disengaged Pastors who failed to meet their assigned targets by the church even as they maintained they were males, who did not advance feminist principles.
“We need to ask the eminent cleric, did feminists and the coalition’s cause the unproductivity of his pastors, or the insecurity and high inflation that have enveloped the nation?” they queried.
Recall that some pastors of the church were sacked recently for allegedly not generating enough income for the church.
However, Oyedepo justified the sacking of the pastors, saying they were “unfruitful”. He also debunked claims that the church was sourcing for income.
