The 8.53 metre (28 foot) tall “Jesus de Greatest” statue commissioned in 2013, was built by a Chinese company and carved in white marble.
Standing barefoot with arms outstretched, the 40 ton statue towers over St. Aloysius Catholic Church in the village.
More than 100 priests and hundreds of Catholic worshippers attended the statue’s official unveiling. It was commissioned by Obinna Onuoha, a local businessman who hired a Chinese company to carve it and placed it in the grounds of a 2000-capacity church that he built in 2012.
In his homily at a Mass before unveiling the statue, presiding bishop Augustine Tochukwu Okwuoma said it would be a “very great symbol of faith” for Catholic worshippers and passers-by alike.
“It’s the biggest statue of Jesus on the continent,” said Onuoha, the 43-year-old chief executive officer of an oil and gas distribution company.
“Definitely pilgrims will come, ” he said.
43 year-old Obinna Onuoha, the CEO of Premier Petroleum Limited who financed the erection of the statue said he had a dream in 1997 to build it.
When his 68-year-old mother fell seriously ill a few years ago, she made him promise that he would build a church if she survived. He built it also in Abajah.
Obinna’s company Premier Petroleum Limited was founded in 1995 and has offices in Abuja, Lagos and a factory in Osisioma Abia state .
It produces VIVA branded petroleum pruducts, such a s grease, engine oil. The Company also provides onshore and offshore supply logistics.
Obinna had worked for Texaco Nigeria Plc. (Chevron Texaco) in the areas of Product Distribution & Logistics (South Eastern Region- Nigeria)
He graduated from York St Johns University (United Kingdom) where he studied Leading Innovation & Change. He also holds a degree in Applied Business Management from Harvard Business School (OPM46) Cambridge, Massachusetts. (USA). In his biographical sketch on www.linkedin.com, Mr. Obinna says he was an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, and a member of the Harvard Business Review.
He is married and has four children.
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Posted: at 2-01-2016 11:43 AM (8 years ago) | Addicted Hero
A statue is not a sign of faith; it's a form of idolatry, which is forbidden in the Bible. A better way to show faith would be living humbly, praying privately, sharing prosperity with others.
Posted: at 2-01-2016 12:22 PM (8 years ago) | Grande Master
freethinker at 2-01-2016 12:27 PM (8 years ago) (m)
Quote from: mr gogo on 2-01-2016 12:22 PM
A statue is not a sign of faith; it's a form of idolatry, which is forbidden in the Bible. A better way to show faith would be living humbly, praying privately, sharing prosperity with others. BABA ALAWO
Posted: at 2-01-2016 12:27 PM (8 years ago) | Gistmaniac
May GOD bless dat man wit his personal effort to put up such edifice. Pls poster stop associating d status wit d state cus e credit will go to dat loser governor of d state who is owing d pple there.
Posted: at 2-01-2016 12:30 PM (8 years ago) | Addicted Hero
thou shall not make an image to represent anything in heaven!! That commmand is the old testament. Despite that, the statue of Jesus is better than satan, so lets see what happens to peoples faith after some time and the environment, would it have any kind of significant impact on peoples way of living, well, time will tell.
Posted: at 2-01-2016 03:35 PM (8 years ago) | Gistmaniac
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