Nigeria unveils a nine-metre tall statue of Jesus Christ carved from white marble, thought to be the biggest of its kind in Africa, on January 1, 2016.
A Nigerian village celebrated the New Year by unveiling the largest
statue of Jesus Christ in all of Africa, standing at 28 feet tall and
weighing 40 tons.
Nigerian news website Naij.com reported
on Sunday that the unveiling ceremony took place in Abajah village in
Imo state on New Year's Day. The statue, built by a Chinese company and
carved in white marble, depicts Jesus stretching out his arms in a
welcoming pose, and has been dubbed "Jesus de Greatest."
The ceremony attracted hundreds of Roman Catholic priests and
worshipers to the St. Aloysius Catholic Church to celebrate the
unveiling of the statue, which had been commissioned in 2013.
"It's
the biggest statue of Jesus on the continent. Definitely pilgrims will
come," said Obinna Onuoha, the local businessman behind the project.
Presiding bishop Augustine Tochukwu Okwuoma added that it would be a "very great symbol of faith" for Christians.
"It will remind them of the importance of Jesus Christ," Okwuoma said, according to AFP.
Onuoha,
who owns an oil and gas distribution company, said he hopes for better
things for Nigeria in 2016, expressing the belief that religions can
exist side-by-side.
He shared that his idea of building a giant
statue of Jesus came to him in a dream nearly 20 years ago, and he had
promised his elderly mother that he would build a church.
It is not yet known how much money was spent on constructing the statue.
Nigeria has been plagued by an Islamic militant uprising for close to six years now, with terror group Boko Haram killing well over 20,000 people in its attacks on citizens.
The
terrorists have heavily targeted Christians, wanting to drive them out
of the country, which has a largely even Christian and Muslim
population.
President Muhammadu Buhari has launched a strong
military campaign against the extremists, but despite his suggestions
that Boko Haram has "technically" been defeated, the attacks continued
throughout Christmas and the final days of the year.
Close to 100 people
were slaughtered over the Christmas holidays in various shootings and
suicide bombings, with children among the victims.
At least 2.5
million people have been internally displaced due to violence, and as
many as 1 million children have been prevented from going to school due
to the militant threat.
KINDLY SHARE!
Logging you in...