African Plume

By Akin Ojumu A large swathe of contemporary Christianity suffers from a profound misunderstanding of the power of God. Many churchgoers have been catechized into an egregiously distorted definition of “spiritual power.”  To these people, power means spectacle. Power means people collapsing under the so-called “anointing.” Power means congregants shrieking hysterically, bodies convulsing on the floor, chairs supposedly levitating with people still sitting on them, and assorted theatrical performances presented as evidence that heaven has entered the building. Biblical power has been reduced to Pente-rascal and Charis-maniacal showmanship. But the God of the Bible is not a circus performer. He does not perform tricks for applause. He does not need smoke machines, emotional manipulation, choreographed collapses, or spiritual pyrotechnics to prove that He is God. Yet this warped understanding of divine power has become so deeply embedded in certain corners of modern Christianity that ...

By Akin Ojumu There is something deeply indecent about kicking a man when he is already down. To attack a person precisely at the moment when he is frightened, displaced, vulnerable, and suffering is not courage. It is cruelty. It betrays a poverty of character. So, let me make something clear from the outset. This commentary is not an exercise in schadenfreude. It is not an attempt to derive pleasure from another man’s suffering. It is not a dance upon anyone’s metaphorical grave. What happened to Mr. Isaac Omolehin and his family is horrifying. But his ordeal also raises an unavoidable question—one made unavoidable by the extraordinary claims Mr. Omolehin himself has made over the years about his spiritual power, supernatural anointing, and spectacular demonstrations of the miraculous. According to reports circulating across social media and traditional news outlets, bandit activity forced Mr. Isaac Omolehin and his family to abandon his ministry camp in Kwara State, Nigeria. Omolehi...

“Summer Discount: Buy One Mountain, Get One For Half Price” By Akin Ojumu On Monday, September 14, 2026, House on the Rock, Lagos, Nigeria, published a post on its official Facebook page featuring Yemi Adefarasin, brother of Paul Adefarasin, the CEO and head of its sprawling religious enterprise. According to the post, Yemi Adefarasin made the following assertions: “We are called to possess the gates of society, influencing what comes in and what goes out, and bring Kingdom values into every sphere of influence. As salt and light, our spiritual growth and development must remain a priority, because God’s process prepares us to be firmly established, immovable, and effective witnesses of Christ. Know that whoever possesses the gate controls the influence. Hence, we are called to penetrate our spheres, establish Kingdom culture, values, and principles, and allow heaven to be demonstrated through our lives. Therefore, as we bring our diverse giftings into synergy, we can transform our cit...

By Akin Ojumu I need somebody to help me make sense of this statement by Arome Osayi: “There is an increase in the anointing on my life… There is an additional portion you need to… The old one you received is still there. But I’m saying that there is an increase. In that increase, you have a portion. So, you have to collect it. There’s an increase. In that increase, you have a portion…” What exactly would make a professing follower of Jesus Christ speak like this? In what theological universe does a minister of the Gospel even conceive of himself in these terms? Do the followers of Arome Osayi actually hear what he is saying? I mean, really hear him. Do the people gathered around him understand the staggering implication of this claim?  Because Arome Osayi is speaking as though he has become an authorized distributor of the anointing of God. Apparently, there was an earlier consignment.  The man kneeling before him had already received a previous “portion.” That old allocation...