How much does the Aso Villa Mosque Actually Cost?

Now I got your attention!

I’m sure you are wondering how this story came to be, seeing that nothing in the news recently has been mentioned about the Aso Villa Mosque. As a matter of fact, nothing has ever been mentioned about the Aso Villa Mosque in the news since the advent of democracy in 1999 and the rise of the 4th Republic not minding the fact that there was no Christian leader residing at the Presidential Residence since President Babangida moved there in the early 80s.

There is no question the fact that  should be a mosque to service the Muslim worshippers living and/or working within the Villa even though there seems to be no mention of a budgetary allocation to take care of the management of either the Mosque or Church because if there was, so much noise would have been made about how much was probably allocated to buying new microphones or speakers! Now that would have been a tale!

Here we go again with another uselessly distracting merry-go-round which the average naïve Nigerian is quick to pounce on and spread with reckless abandon. It is given that President Buhari had always been in the spotlight, but most predominantly, since he won the 2015 Presidential Election, there is nothing newsworthy that is newsworthy if it doesn’t carry the name Buhari in it. More recently, the subject of conversation around the President- that is when we are not talking about his reluctance in appointing a cabinet has been more domestic and pedestrian.

As the focus on the President and his popularity increases, it was not new to see that if you paid a listening ear on an investigative visit to the local beer parlors & news-stands, the common senseless chatter peddled about by idle nobodies center mostly around questions like:

Will Aisha Buhari be First Lady or Wife of the President?

Will Buhari Move Into Aso Rock?

Why hasn’t Buhari Moved Into Aso Rock?

Did Witch-Doctors Visit Aso Rock for Prayers & Cleansing?

Why Did Osibanjo Move Into Aso Rock Before Buhari?

Who will Protect Buhari? SSS or The Military?

Na wa ooh! Kini Big Deal sef? (What’s the Big Deal?)

Personally, I don’t give two flying frogs as to where the President takes a piss or if the toilet seat is golden, it doesn’t have anything to do with me. Conversely, what really ticks me off is the mind-numbing chatter about where the Aso Rock Villa Chapel is located (Near the President’s Window or Close to the Gate) or if the Chapel will be removed or moved. Apparently, someone is trying to whip up religious sentiments and cause disharmony among the gradually settling polity, which prior to today as at then (pre & post-election) as a heavy weight positioned slightly above the gradually forming skull of a new born baby.

What really is the purported bone of contention? That the noise of worship is affecting the President’s sleep? Since when? What is the distance between the Chapel and the Presidents window? How do we even know where the Chapel is located when Nigerians don’t even have an idea about how the entire grounds look like or what buildings sit where or where the Office of the President is sited in the building/buildings like is obtainable in the White House which by the way is located on a street called Pennsylvania Avenue not like the “town” where Aso Rock is sited! Selah

What is my business if the “Wife of the President” chooses to use the Children’s Church as a Spa? Up till today, did the average Nigerian know there was a Children’s Church? What else are we in the dark of about the Chapel? Is there a Teenagers Church there too? Does it belong to a particular denomination or what? What kind of church programmes/events are run there? Night Vigils? Prayer Fest? Miracle Cantata or What? Does the Chapel host crusades like Pastor XYZ STORMS ASO ROCK? Or any other “mega/power packed programme” of that sort that require a lot of noise? Cynically though, I tend to wonder what the attendees will be praying so loudly about if they work and perhaps live in unarguably the most powerful address in the Country.

As is collective in 3rd World countries - Nigeria’s Presidential Villa is regarded as the Fountain of Wealth, the Rehoboth of Money, Power & Fame; the Canaan of every politician, businessman or civil servant. So why the alleged loud noise pervading the President’s Bedroom? Was this the same attitude the Chapel attendees meted out to Late President Yar’Adua? How come we didn’t hear of it in the news? Or maybe  was another bedroom he slept in at the time and President Buhari just prefers a room that may coincidentally be in earshot of the Chapel. Or did President Obasanjo – the founder of the Chapel deliberately choose to have the Chapel in earshot to enable him enjoy regular“Services-In-Bed”? Who knows? Now, the Vice President has to debunk this and that in defense of his principal and wife.

Much Ado about Nothing! In my own opinion, the presence or otherwise of a Chapel in the Presidential Office/Residence will not make Nigeria a great land to live in overnight. The Aso Villa Chapel or its presence at its present location is not as a symbol of Christianity as much as the people using it are! Even with a Christian President residing and worshipping there, corruption and disorder will still prevail. God has never been confined to a space or a geographical location even in the days of the Ark of Covenant. God resides in our hearts through his spirit and it is his presence working in us that makes us live godly lives and NOT A CHAPEL. Even if the rumors of relocating the Chapel rings true or the conversion of the Children’s Church to a Spa is confirmed, it changes nothing! All members hereto should seek churches to worship on Sundays and week days and come practice God’s Word in the Villa where they work and perhaps live also.

Let’s not be fooled by the humdrum generated by doomsday or naysayers trying to create news by deflecting attention from the germane issues and problems of the day which are too numerous to gossip-centric fleecing subjects irrelevant to the present price of a basket of tomato at Ogbete Market. As the title of my convo today reads: How Much Does the Aso Villa Mosque Actually Cost?

Food for thought!