Since independence, Ghana has pumped millions, if not billions of US dollars, into the exploration of oil, but as the entire nation waited with bated breath for economic independence, one influential pastor, Mensah Otabil, said he fervently prayed that Ghana would never find oil.

The shocking behaviour of the General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), said to be one of the richest pastors in Ghana, was premised on what he said was his belief that people would become more corrupt when the country finds oil.

“For years, I prayed we would never find oil. I don’t think it will help us to develop the work ethic we need to structure a viable, productive society. I think people would most likely become very corrupt because there are no barriers,” he was reported to have said.

Both President John Mills, and ex-President Kufuor have expressed appreciation to God for making the oil-find a reality as Ghana’s roads are very deplorable, students are studying under trees, hospitals are without beds and drugs, among others things fundamental to human existence.

Meanwhile, Rev. Otabil’s God appears to have deserted him as Aritish Oil Major Tullow Oil (TLW) has struck more of the black gold at its Enyenra-2A appraisal well, offshore Ghana, in what it hailed an "exceptional" result.

Rev. Otabil who established one of Ghana’s attractive universities, the Central University College, told the London-based Financial Times that he believes that oil find won’t help the country develop the work ethic required to develop a productive society.

Pastor Otabil was quoted as saying: “I don’t care what America wants and what China wants. I care about what Ghana wants. Because what is going to keep us centred is our values and what we consider is in our best interest. That is what will ground us when this push and shove escalates.”

For about four years, Rev Otabil’s residence, one of the luxurious Trascco Estates houses, has been raided by armed robbers, who took away his US dollars, computer laptops and other personal belonging.

Prior to the burglaries, a man who worked for his church, committed suicide by hanging himself on the premises of the church, because the church refused to lend him money to meet some pressing personal commitments.

Students in his university have also been complaining about the exorbitant fees charged at the school each semester, with some saying that his church is more interested in money more than the welfare of society, something churches are to stand for hence they are not taxed.

Indeed, Rev. Otabil’s wild wishes came at a time the whole nation was on its knees fervently praying for more resources to confront its pressing demand for development.

The tongue-wagging confession by Pastor Otabil in the Financial Times of London, got jaws dropped and sends minds wondering about the commitment of Ghana’s clergy.

The confession was captured by the Financial Times report published on February 18, 2011, following an interview he granted its foreign reporter, William Wallis.

The pastor’s declaration, has attracted wild condemnation from Ghanaian public, some of who considered him as a prophet of doom, with some arguing that instead of praying against the oil find, he should rather have prayed against people, particularly politicians, getting corrupt and misusing the oil money, when it arrives.

Observers of Pastor Otabil’s trade as a clergy wonder why he adopted an unconcerned attitude when corruption reached its peak in some regimes if indeed, he was concerned about corruption destroying the moral fabric of this country.

“Where was this pastor when for years, Kufour and his NPP bigwigs faced corruption charges. Where was he when society broke down with cocaine here, cocaine there, cocaine everywhere?” one blogger questions.

A commentator on Ghanaweb observed: “As a messenger of God, society would expect Rev Otabil to lead a nationwide prayers, to turn what was to become a curse to the nation, be transformed into a shower of blessings”.A blogger on ‘Ghanaweb’ said that if Rev. Otabil admits that he prayed for year that Ghana did not find oil, it would mean that his prayers were not answered and so hemust question his faith. “As an influential pastor, you must educate people on how to be vigilant against any possible misuse of the revenue rather than sounding alarmist. After all, not all oil-producing countries in the world are messing up,” he said.

According to Tullow, the well located in the Deepwater Tano basin, encountered oil in excellent quality sandstone reservoirs, the FTSE 100 Company said, and has confirmed that the Owo oil discovery - now renamed Enyenra - is a major light oil field.

Spanning seven kilometres south and down-dip of Owo-1, Tullow Oil drilled the well to a depth of 4,234 metres to appraise both the Upper and Lower Channels of the Enyenra oil field.

Results revealed 21 metres of net oil pay in the Upper Channel and 11 metres of net oil pay in the Lower Channel. Pressure data from the Upper Chanel also showed that the oil is in communication with the Owo-1 well, while oil pressures in the Lower Channel suggest it may also be in communication with the deeper pools seen in Owo-1 and its sidetrack, Tullow added.

"The discovery of oil this far down-dip in Enyenra-2A is an exceptional result," said exploration director Angus McCoss. "This represents a major step forward in the appraisal of the Enyenra-Tweneboa area and is highly encouraging for our target to declare commerciality later this year."

Once operations are complete, Tullow plans to suspend the well for later use, and said the Deepwater Millennium drillship will remain in the Deepwater Tano block to complete the drilling of the Tweneboa-4 well.

Meanwhile, the blue chip major will now turn its attention towards drilling the high-risk, high-impact Zaedyus prospect in French Guiana later this month.

Alejandro Demichelis, research analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said: "We believe this successful appraisal confirms the Enyenra/Tweneboa as a world-class field and pushes it closer to commercial stage. "Reflecting the de-risking of the Enyenra field we raise our Net Asset Value estimate driven price objective by 60p to 1880p and reiterate our 'buy' rating on the stock."