- ‘Idahosa raised alarm over late SCOAN boss in 1990′
As the world woke up in January to the British Broadcasting Commission (BBC) documentary on alleged atrocities of the late leader of the Synagogue the Church of All Nations, Prophet TB Joshua, many churches have also been caught in the web of sexual abuses, fake miracles, commercialisation of the gospel, ADEOLA OGUNLADE looks at the emerging trend and asked whether an Ombudsman will be necessary for the church at this time?
There should be an independent investigation into all the various allegations leveled against the late Prophet TB Joshua in the BBC documentary so we can ascertain the validity of the allegations. This is important so that Nigeria can come up with more informed opinions on the matter.”
I will respect TB Joshua forever, his teaching are always in my memories, that’s why when I see BBC posting rubbish things concerning our prophet I shed tears. Though I never see my prophet physically.
These were the words of a television host, Rufai Oseni and Rhoda Tembo, Financial Analyst from Malawi, respectively to The Nation, yesterday, in Lagos as reactions continue to trail the BBC documentary on alleged atrocities committed by the late TB Joshua.
On the 8th of January, the British Broadcasting Commission (BBC) uploaded a three-hour documentary on the late TB Joshua alleged atrocities while leading the Synagogue Church of All Nations for over 30 years. The allegations are mind-blowing.
It is imperative to note that the Church as an institution remains the salt and light for moral society and serves as the moral compass for nations, it is sad that time and after time, reports of atrocities committed by its leaders of churches unchecked affect its image and public perception. Many of these places of religious worship often start at a mushroom level, but they soon grow into big oak, with its disciples trooping in and out, claiming to be persons of faith, seeking the grace and eye of God.
Speaking with a top bishop within the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) on the BBC reports, he said TB Joshua was not a member of the PFN and the law should take its course on the church he left behind if those allegations are true. The source restated that the late Bishop Benson Idahosa had raised an outcry against TB Joshua before he died in the 1990s. “We announced in 2003 that he was not our member. Sadly, the economic situation in our country continues to drive people to such assemblies,” the source said.
The need to sanitise the church against pastors who are found wanting in character and practice is apt, but if unchecked, robs off on the body of Christ, the top bishop agrees that the church has to be sanitised now before it becomes a subject of concern. The government should first regulate itself before thinking about regulating the church, the bishop noted. “Although we have the Christian Association of Nigeria, an umbrella body for the Christian faith in Nigeria, it can only dismember erring members but cannot effectively stop the nefarious practice of erring members. For persons who have not enlisted on their platform, his or her unwholesome activities remain unchecked till death unless the government weighs in.”
Reacting, the President of Alumni of West Africa Theological Seminary (WATS) and Administrator at West Africa Christian Mission, Dr. John Egbe said: “Since I do not like talking about the dead, the BBC documentary on the alleged sexual abuses committed by the late prophet leaves a lot to be careful about in the religious space. Religion is often seen as an open commodity that both the buyer and the seller reserve the right to trade as they desire. Thus we must situate the BBC documentary within this free-space discussion.
“Such atrocity could go on unfettered because the prophet was not under any supervisor or ombudsman. And I am afraid to admit that similar abuses are going on daily under the same religious covers to the extent that the religious space remains free from government scrutiny or control.”
He continued “I do not subscribe to calls for total government control of religion because of the very nature of religion and the fundamental rights to the freedom of conscience enshrined in democratic doctrines of most modern democracies. This is even worse given the mutual suspicion that attends a highly volatile multi-religious society like ours. Most religious leaders will agree that something needs to be done to address this menace but some will be averse to government control. However, if the government can work with the different blocks within the different faith traditions to come up with a regulatory framework for the establishment, management, and discipline of churches one hopes that such will reduce the menace. The major difficulty lies not with the organized denominations but with the independent ministries springing up daily in the free space. Such ministries have no accountability and no checks and the government only waits until a criminal activity is reported before such independent individuals are ever factored into the social structure.”
He asserted that if both the church and the government could realize that religion is not only a spiritual phenomenon but one that deals with the very individual that the government is supposed to protect socially, legally as well as psychologically, then the government should see the need to regulate the activities of religion in Nigeria.
Egbe called for the setting up of the training of church leaders as one of the criteria for heading a church. “Only adequately trained individuals in the best frame of mind should be allowed to be pastors.”
He deplored the present arrangement where an all-comers situation will further subject innocent solution-seeking Nigerians to more abuses, not just sexual abuses but mental as well as social abuses.
As it is presently constituted, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and PFN, cannot regulate the activities of these erring clerics because not every Christian organization belongs to the two bodies, he therefore suggested that to nip the challenge in the bud, “Something similar to the Christian Pilgrims Commission with regulatory framework will be the best. Have you ever thought about where humans are put in the name of church, places where you wouldn’t even want to put your livestock, devoid of basic conveniences?”
Egbe posited that the problems of the practice of church in Nigeria are multidimensional and until a deliberate open and sincere interaction between the government and the church leaders takes place, more abuses will continue to take place. “It is a stable individual that is an asset to a nation. The government should not wait for infractions to take place before they protect the individuals and Christians should not see the government’s regulations which are within reasonable conscience as trying to gag the free practice of Christianity. “After all, the Bible recognizes governments as tools in God’s hands to punish evil-doers. I would prefer the government and the church community to be proactive rather than reactive in cleaning up the religious space. I repeat CAN and PFN might not succeed in doing that on their own first, because not every Christian organization is associated with the groups, and making associating with the groups compulsory is not in the best spirit of the liberty of conscience.
“Another reason the two bodies might not be thorough in sanitizing the space is because they are culprits in the whole thing. Some of the branches of these big leaders are culprits. So I will advocate for a regulatory body recognized by the government, working within established legal, spiritual, and social framework agreed upon by the church and government to be in charge. How people become managers of other people must be taken seriously otherwise we will be playing with people’s destinies.”
On the BBC documentary, the cleric advocated the need for further probing by law enforcement since it was published by a media house that is bound by certain broadcasting laws. The church can only serve as a watchdog to monitor the development. It is not within CAN and PFN to investigate someone who was never their member. The results of the investigation might help both bodies in monitoring the activities of their members.
It is high time the church self regulate itself- Emmanuel
A theologian and lecturer at WATS, Dr. Olufemi Emmanuel said that the church is a very sensitive organism.
He said that the church is not completely cut off from the state. It is a subset of the society and in this part of the world; it has become a centre of attraction for the people in the society. The church is performing a lot of significant roles which include standing in the gap for the people, providing care and support to the needy and vulnerable, and helping people out whether they are in pain or oppressed.
He noted that the late prophet TB Joshua case shown in the BBC documentary was one of several cases existing all over the place in Nigeria and Africa.
According to him, setting up an Ombudsman to regulate the church may not be necessary “but because of observation, when people object, it should be investigated immediately. Having someone to represent us in government may not be necessary. Personally, we have freedom of worship and association. As soon as an objection is raised about what someone is doing that could pose a threat to others, it should be looked into. Unfortunately, we had to wait for years for the voices of those women in the documentary to be represented. This is not the first time people are raising issues about TB Joshua.”
Emmanuel reiterated the need for the church to regulate itself by ensuring that pastors are certified and trained.
The theologian observed that It is unfortunate that it is in the church that you find untrained trainers and leaders who do not understand how to be a follower because they were never followers. “Teachers who were never taught and builders who were never built are all in our churches as pastors and bishops. In the bible, people whom God used were not only called but were trained.”
He disclosed that the leaders of the church where you find atrocities are untrained leaders.
Juxtaposing what was obtained in the Orthodox churches with what is happening in the Pentecostal churches; he disclosed that the atrocities are not rife in the Catholic or Anglican Church, adding that though, some things happen in these churches too but because they have the structure and leaders are trained across the structures, cases of gross atrocities are minimal.
“When you have untrained leaders, they cannot self-regulate. Churches need leaders that are trained and prepared for the job. We need to emphasize the training of ministers that is why we talk of theological education, not Mushroom Seminary where you can earn a Doctorate in 6 months, you can go to places like Ajayi Crowther University, Life Seminary, WAT among others. You will never see a product of such institutions misbehave. Jesus trained his disciples for three and half years. He also empowered them. TB Joshua just rose up of a sudden and there was nothing to regulate. He emerged in an unregulated society. He did all he could and a lot of people were happy because of the material benefits they got from him. The alleged atrocities are unfortunate. The church cannot regulate itself if they are not trained.”
He pointed out that this so-called brand of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria is very limited in its operations, pointing out that they cannot checkmate themselves. “The law enforcement agency is enough. That is not to say that we can challenge the leadership of PFN to emphasize the need for pastors to be saint and saintly in their approach to the work of the ministry. As a Chapter Chairman of PFN, I am not satisfied with the way things are run. Some of the excesses we are trying to checkmate in society are among us. Neither can you take paracetamol for another person’s headache. We must take personal responsibility.”
On July 17, 2018, the Rwandan parliament passed new legislation aimed at regulating faith-based organizations in the Central African country.
The new law requires pastors to have a theology degree before they can start their churches. It also requires faith-based organizations to declare grants to the regulator, Rwanda Governance Board.
Lawmakers in Rwanda argued that the new legislation would create order and control the mushrooming of churches, some of which are formed by pastors driven by greed.
