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.
Source: AFP
Source: AFP
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