Bishop Oyedepo and His ₦50 Billion Project: The Wise Master Builder

Let it be known that the Church has never run behind the Progress March of modern civilisation. In the last 2000+ years, the mandate of onward and forward has remained relevant and central to the assembly of Christian believers. This has translated to some of the most astounding accomplishments any person anywhere has ever seen at any time. Yet, Bishop David Oyedepo is set to raise the bar even higher.

The latest report from the Living Faith Church Worldwide (alias Winners’ Chapel International) is that between March of 2021 and an auspicious month in 2022, an auditorium with a carrying capacity of 106,000 would be built. Estimated to cost 50 billion, the anticipated edifice will likely replace the current 50,000-seater Faith Tabernacle and host the Shiloh in 2022.

To be sure, neither Bishop Oyedepo nor his worldwide congregation is known for little things. (Even Pastor Paul Enenche of Dunamis, the beloved disciple of Bishop Oyedepo, recently built a 100,000-seater auditorium called the Glory Some!) Covenant University, Ota and Landmark University, Omu Aran are top-tier world-renowned tertiary institutions (probably among the first five most equipped private schools in Africa). These are Winners’ Chapel productions. Not to mention the vast stretch of a little kingdom that is Canaan Land at Ota, Ogun State. Thus, the project in view—named The Ark—is the potential successor to other jaw-creaking projects.

According to reports, The Ark is going to sit on 1000 hectares all by itself, with a 20-floor edifice to serve as the administrative block for the global Church. This is excluding the ‘typical’ arrangement of schools, clinics, recreational facilities, etc., that will doubtless simultaneously accompany this project.

Perhaps the most staggering news is that this Ark, a monster edifice among monster edifices, will be built and finished in 12 months or less, starting March 2021. Impossible for others, but not Bishop Oyedepo: the current Faith Tabernacle was also completed in 365 days, with no debt accrued for the speedy building. So, yes, they dwell among us, men of grace and grandeur. And even among them, Bishop David Oyedepo is the apex.