By Osagie Alonge
Sunday, November 25, 2012 could have been any other day for Nigerian comedian Princess but after attending a morning church service at the Covenant Christian Centre, things took a different turn.
The comedienne says she was publicly embarrassed by one of the ushers of the church after she was told she couldn’t sit in the front row of the church while Pastor Poju Oyemade was delivering a sermon. The comedienne says the usher told her he was asking her to leave because she was ‘single’.
The same day, Princess poured out her mind on her Twitter page.
‘I can’t believe dis Covenant Christian Centre people & their sitting arrangement. Is dis not supposed to be the house of God?! one usher told me I couldn’t sit in front cos I am single. I nearly died of embarrassment, in d presence of God! *sad face’, @PrincessCOMEDY lamented.
Princess further explains that the popular Pastor was aware of what happened as he was present while she rebuked the usher later on at the car park.
‘Y would I lie? I av plenty witnesses.If na lie make their Pastor confront me,he was there wen I raked 4 d usher later in d car park. both of dem better b sure of d facts. I was embarrassed & emotionally rattled.They want 2 look gud 2 Pastor Poju,I only fear God!’.
Her tweets of course caused uproar on the social network with a number of people taking sides with her and the others defending the church’s action.
When @Im_a_MARVEL asked ‘question is what was she wearing? Might be a good reason to have her seat at d back’, Princess replied ‘since u av known me av I EVER dressed improper? They don’t want 2 admit dat usher did wat was WRONG. Sugbon oruko ti ekun a somo e’.
@yewiez tweeted ‘I attend C3 (short for Covenant Christian Centre). I have been told a couple of times by ushers that i can’t sit in front because I’m single’.
But then @oshladiva tweeted ‘I attnd CCC,I’m single,I dnt knw nobody dere n I sit in front quite often,so dats a mute point really.Wat is d FULL story.Dnt make assumptns/conclusions from 1 persons pt of view’.
As the debate grew bigger with Princess still giving her rant and other Twitter users dishing out their opinion, Oyemade weighed in on the matter, making an apology to Princess.
‘@PrincessCOMEDY My apologies for what happened on Sunday’, @pastorpoju tweeted. This got Princess more animated as she responded:
‘@pastorpoju accepted but I feel really PAINED u waited dis long knowing wat ur usher did on Sunday was VERY wrong. Its not a sin 2 b SINGLE! OMG! So u r single too, that usher owes a BIG time apology.He spoilt my day,made me regret coming to ur church &hurt my feelings’.
She finally calmed down and accepted his apology, explaining to her fans ‘@pastorpoju has apologised on bhalf of his usher dt embarrassed me on Sun. Tanx 2 my friends &fans 4 their words of wisdom while I was hurtin’
The supposed heartfelt apology might as well not be taken seriously as the apology tweet has disappeared from the Oyemade’s timeline.
Emails sent to the church’s official contact address were not replied as at the time of this report.
4 comments
This is not a serious issue.Princes is fading and she needs this to shore up her comedy career.But wrong move.She should have used somewhere else,not the house of the Lord
people shld just mention church, which one is poju oyemade church! Princess shld just have acted more calm than dat… God dey sha…
I just stumble on this 5 months old article and I say an old news is still new to many people.
However, anything could have happened on that day; I know the Pastor, his Church and Priness to some extent-
Ordinary volunteers from other churches that reder free service to the church as ushers, crowd and traffic controllers when the church hasbigger outdoor events at least not lees than 5 times a year are tarinned for a day or two. This is to add them up to the churche’s woekforce so as to have the capacity to manage the expected crowed and traffic. Even these sect will not address a guest in that manner.
I believe so, takless of an usher in the church that has undergone several trainings before being accepted into the workforce and during service even at the topmost level and I believe something else might have gone wrong.
However, going by the act of tagging the Pastor to the action of the usher is a mix-up and him apologising was just to let peace reign and for the man that I know a bit about, he would not do less. Addressing the Pastor as on that supported the act is a bit frownable at because he is of respect and conducts his affairs as such. We ahrdly hear about him in the media except for the May 27st and October 1st much appraised The Platform by the public even among non christians that keep these dates ope in their diary.
“The eye that relaxes and takes things easy will see well, clearly and far.”
From the narration, an usher would never tell a guest or church member that he or she was single threfore cannot sit in the front. Maybe, someone or something got misundertood somehow.
Churches like Covenant that don’t have seats on their altar solely keep the front row seats for ministers and guest ministers, choir and then the congregation take their seats on a first come first served manner. Infact, the ushers always tell people to move forward to fill the front seats so that late comers don’t come distracting while the sermon is on. That is the only time I see people trying to dictate or refuse their proposal. Many people hardly want to sit in front in church so it will be gladsome for the ushers for someone to indicate interest in the front sit except when the sermon was on. This is done when the singing and dancing is in progress but not when sermon or prayers are offered. It is logical to find a seat closer to the door or at the back for late comers.
Apparently, when a Pastor is preaching in most churches it is the practice that anyone going in has to sit behind or by the nearest entrance position except for churches that reserve seat for their big men or women in the front. It’s sad that it went this far in the media, not taking side though as the church has a website and are attnded to aptly.
That the Pastor did not say anything while he was there was something not well presented and understood. Pastor Poju preaches on Sundays at the Yaba (6am, 8am and 11am) and Island (10am) venues simultaneaously. While that issue came he probably was preaching and coud not have diverted the congregation’s attention to what an usher or traffic controller at the park could attend to. That would distract attention and even cause a bigger scene. Some of Princess’ fellow comedians attend Covenant to and they can help her clearify her notion about the situation. It is quite unfortunate.
I have listened to the Pastors un-religious teachings and attended events powered by his church on socio-political and business seminars and I know him not as one who would not derive pleasure in what transpired. No one would gain anything from that. No one would. Covenant Christian Centre is a warm place and a warm family, and to my surprise, I saw Princess’ younger sister that just got married in service last week. I believe this, Princess shouldn’t have taken this far, though I kow her an emotionl person talks her mind ad it all ends there. She forgives and she continues with her life, the friendship and the rest but there people out there waiting on twitter to be bias over issues they knew nothing about. It is unfrotunate that it happened that way. No one is perfect.
I salute Nigeria Enterainment Today for their support for the Arts and Entertainment as well and may God bless us all his perfetion.
Have a nice day.