Tattoos are part of culture

In January 2026, Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo revealed a tattoo on his arm to mark his 50th birthday. The tattoo is “III:XVI” — a reference to John 3:16. It immediately triggered debate among Nigerian Christians, with some arguing that a pastor should not have a tattoo and citing Leviticus 19:28. 

Kingsley then pushed back against the criticism, saying he would even get more tattoos and questioning why tattoos should automatically be considered sinful. 

In a recent TVC interview, he revisited the controversy and gave a fuller explanation of his position.

His argument is essentially:

Tattoos and other forms of body marking have existed across human cultures for centuries.

Nigeria itself has a history of tribal/body markings.

He does not believe the Bible explicitly says that having a tattoo is a sin.

He argues that Leviticus 19:28 is being taken out of its historical and cultural context.

He also points to biblical imagery about God “inscribing” people on His hands and the description in Revelation of a name written on Christ's thigh. 

His most viral line was:

“Tattoos have always been part of human culture... There’s no scripture that says getting a tattoo is a sin.” 

 The argument has shifted from “Why does a pastor have a tattoo?” to “Who taught us that tattoos are automatically incompatible with Christianity?”

That's the cultural question underneath the controversy. 

 

He also argued:

“There’s no scripture that says getting a tattoo is a sin.” 

Pastor Kingsley says tattoos are not a sin.

Why did tattoos become “worldly” in modern Nigerian Christianity when body marking has existed across African cultures for generations?

Kingsley points to tattoos, tribal marks and other forms of body marking as evidence that this isn't simply a modern Western trend. 

 Did Christianity make Nigerians forget that body marking was already part of our culture?

So is Kingsley's argument as his interpretation, rather than declaring that he has definitively settled the biblical question. 

The tattoo debate may not only be about ink on skin. It is also about culture, Christianity, colonial influence and which cultural practices Nigerians have learned to call acceptable or unacceptable. 

That is much more Jaiyeorie than simply reporting that a pastor has a tattoo.