Nigeria on Friday unveiled a
nine-metre tall statue of Jesus
Christ carved from white marble,
thought to be the biggest of its
kind in Africa.
Standing barefoot with arms
outstretched, the “Jesus de
Greatest” statue weighs in at 40
tonnes.
More than 100 priests and
hundreds of Catholic
worshippers attended the nine-
metre (30-foot) statue’s official
unveiling in the village of Abajah
in southeastern Nigeria.
The statute was commissioned
by Obinna Onuoha, a local
businessman who hired a
Chinese company to carve it. It
was placed 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 is a “very great
symbol of faith” for Catholic
worshippers and passers-by alike
and remind them of the
importance of Jesus Christ,” The
presiding Bishop blessed the
statue after mass.
The cost of the statue has not
been revealed.
The 43-year-old boss of an oil
and gas service company timed
the statue’s unveiling to coincide
with his parents’ 50th wedding
anniversary.
He said the idea of building a
giant statue of Jesus came to
him in a dream nearly 20 years
ago.
And 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment