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Tag: Churches

  • ‘People don’t attend churches that cannot meet needs’

    ‘People don’t attend churches that cannot meet needs’

    Founder of Laughter Foundation International Ministries, otherwise known as babies’ factory, Pastor Gbenga Oso, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on the uniqueness of the church on the eve of its 20th anniversary. Excerpts: 

    There are people who believe the church should have been a ministry. What would be your reaction to them?

    For me, I don’t see any difference between ministry and church. Either church or ministry, there is only one goal – that people should go to the kingdom of God.

    And secondly, we meet the physical needs of people. That was what Jesus did when He was here. There were three basic things He did when He was here. He would preach, heal the sick and do deliverance. Then, there were times he fed people with physical foods.

    So, Jesus was meeting the spiritual and physical needs of people, which is what a church or ministry is expected to do. If they are sick, they must be healed and live healthy lives. If they don’t have children, they must have children. That is what church or ministry exists to do.

    But there is the argument that need-oriented ministries and churches tend to raise people to use, rather than love God. What do you say to this?

    A Church or ministry is expected to meet the spiritual and physical needs of people. Doing one without the other means you won’t see people in the church.

    The major thing that draws people to God is meeting their physical needs. When you see churches and ministries with population today, it is because they are meeting the physical needs of people. People don’t go to church mostly because they want to hear the word of God or love God. They are going because they have a challenge, which they believe can be addressed in such a church or ministry.

    But after you have baited in people, what do you do with them?

    In this church, apart from the fact that the main focus is for people to have children, I always say it is not the major emphasis. The major emphasis is to make the kingdom of God and go to heaven because there is life after here.

    If someone has all the children and goes to hell, it is just a waste of efforts on the part of the pastor and waste of life with the person involved. So, we tell people here that they must serve God, shun ungodliness and love people.

    After then, they must have the good things of life. They must have children and have money to take care of them. So, the two are combined. But preaching to people without meeting their needs is not what Jesus sent us to do.

    He didn’t do that. He will first of us preach to them and meet their physical needs. And that is what we are doing.

    Those with specialised ministries or churches like this impose consultation fees or ask people to do something before sharing testimonies. Is that what obtains here?

    That kind of thing is not found in the bible. It is not part of what we do here at all. During the times of Jesus, he didn’t take money from anybody for consultation or something. We don’t ask people to do that either. People see me when they have to see me; of course, there are procedures because of security and all that.

    When they have testimonies, we just ask them to write everything in a sheet of paper. We look through and take the ones we consider major. Most times, we always don’t know what they want to say and we never ask them to sow anything.

    There are people that do things and there are people that don’t do. What they do depends on what they have. But we have never asked them to do anything or bring anything at all. It is not part of our culture here.

    At 20, why is the church not involved in any relationship with Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) or Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN)? Is that deliberate or you have something against the bodies?

    No, we don’t have anything against them. We are a member of CAN, though not registered and all that. If there is a need to do that, we will do. Their officials come here and all that. If there are procedures to follow to register….

    … They haven’t told you or you didn’t ask?

    Well, they haven’t told me but if I feel the need to do that, we will do it. But if PFN or CAN is doing anything, we will support from here. It is not compulsory all of us register. It is not compulsory, but if there is a reason to register, we will do that. We believe we are a member of the body of Christ in this nation. And if we have to register, we will do that. If anything is needed, we are part of it.

    You also don’t invite ministers from outside the church. Is that also deliberate?

    That is because this is a highly specialised ministry. We have what we are aiming at; basically praying for people that want children and all that. It is a specialised ministry and God has to have prepared you to be able to do it.

    Besides, we have people we have trained in-house to handle our ministrations over the years. So, we don’t really need ministers from outside here.

    And you don’t honour invitations from other churches too?

    I do, but not always most of the time. I just like to face the thing God asked me to do. My joy is to see people that come here receive their breakthrough and all that.

    Once in a while, I go to other places but not many times.

    Does that mean those who already have children have no place in this church?

    They do, because the kingdom of God is the basic here. But we have some other programmes in the church, though not the basic. Childbearing is the basic. We know that if members have children and no money to take care of them, they will suffer.

    So, first Sunday of every month, after service, we hold a service for like 30 minutes to pray for their careers and businesses. We call it the billionaires’ service. If they don’t become billionaires, they will become multi-millionaires.

    We also pray for singles to get married because they are many of them eligible but it is not happening for them. Whether we like it or not, there are reasons beyond them responsible for this.

    We also have a prayer service for pregnant women. Women must carry pregnancies for 40 weeks and many of them lose their pregnancies. But we don’t have that here because we pray for them and encourage them to go to good hospitals.

     

  • Should govt regulate churches, mosques

    Should govt regulate churches, mosques

    Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s exit as General Overseer (G.O) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Nigeria, shook the country. Barely 48 hours after his action, the government suspended the Corporate Governance Code, which forced him to step down. The code stipulates a 20-year tenure or a 70-year age limit for heads of not-for-profit organisations, such as churches and mosques. The government also fired the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) Executive Secretary, Jim Obazee, who insisted on the code’s implementation. Should religious organisations be regulated? Should government determine their leaders’ tenure? JOSEPH JIBUEZE sought lawyers’ views.

    Pastor Enoch Adeboye does things methodically. For long, he has been telling his vast Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) family that his successor was still in the world, which is euphemism for a non-believer. But last January 7, he shocked the world when he stepped down as General Overseer (GO), RCCG, Nigeria, and named Pastor Joshua Obayemi as the church’s overseer for Nigeria.

    His decision led to a chain of reactions. The christian world rose against the Code of Corporate Governance which forced him to step down. The Federal Government suspended the code, which stipulated a 20-year tenure or 70-year age limit for heads of not-for-profit organisations, such as churches and mosques. It also fired the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) Executive Secretary, Jim Obazee, who insisted on the code’s implementation.

    Pastor Adeboye, who turns 75 on March 2 and had spent over 20 years as RCCG’s G.O, reportedly said his exit was informed by the code’s provision. He said he was handing over the church affairs in Nigeria to Obayemi, while he remains the worldwide overseer of the church.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, announced Obazee’s removal and the reconstitution of the FRC board consisting of Mr Adedotun Sulaiman as Chairman and Mr. Daniel Asapokhai as Executive Secretary.

    In suspending the code, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, said it had not received final approval.

    A statement by the Strategic Communication Adviser to the Minister, Constance Ikokwu, said: “The corporate governance code remains suspended until a detailed review, extensive consultation with stakeholders and reconstitution of the board of FRC is done.

    “The government remains committed to restoring and enhancing market confidence and improving the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria. Government is also committed to strengthening FRC and enhancing its capacity to fulfill its core mandate.”

    Hailing Obazee’s removal, CAN’s General Secretary Rev. Musa Asake said: “The sack of Jim (Obazee) is good. Anybody that wants to fight the church will find himself where he does not want.

    “Thank God the authorities have stepped in to right the wrong. He should have been fired a long time ago and we don’t know why he was left alone, but God’s time is always the best.”

    While announcing a new Overseer for the RCCG in Nigeria, Pastor Adeboye was said to have hinted that the heads of some Pentecostal churches may be affected by the FRC tenure rule.

    Some of them are General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry William Kumuyi (1973), founder and presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide David Oyedepo (since May 1981), Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission Mike Okonkwo (since 1981), founding and Senior Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church Ayodele Oritsejafor (since early 80s).

    It was learnt that Obazee might have been removed for allegedly disobeying Enelamah’s directive that the regulation be suspended.

    Reports said Obazee refused to suspend the regulation because there was no gazette shelving its execution.

     

    ‘Adeboye remains RCCG head’

     

    RCCG has said it was not amending its constitution to reflect any leadership changes. Its Head of Media and Public Relations, Pastor Segun Adegbiji, debunked a report that there was an ongoing constitution amendment from its governing council.

    He said: “Yes, we do have a constitution. The Governing Council has the liberty and power to amend it if it so wishes. But I didn’t say they were amending it. We are not amending the constitution on structure.”

    Last Thursday, the church said Adeboye remained RCCG’s General Overseer, despite Obayemi’s appointment as National Overseer of RCCG Nigeria.

    Adegbiji explained that Adeboye, fondly called ‘Daddy G. O.’, remained the head of the RCCG, and Obayemi, like other National or Country Overseers around the world, reports to the G. O.

    He said: “That decision does not in any way affect his position as the General Overseer of the RCCG.”

    The spokesman said the appointment became necessary partly because of the RCCG’s rapid growth and expansion, adding that the plan for a national or country overseer for RCCG Nigeria began before the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) implemented its now suspended Corporate Governance Code.

    Adegbiji had also confirmed that Obazee was once a School of Disciples teacher and pastor at the church.

    Obazee had said only 89 of the 23,216 registered churches in the country had complied with FRC provisions.

     

    Lawmakers weigh in

     

    The House of Representatives has ordered a “detailed” public hearing on FRC’s activities, particularly its decision to fix the tenure of the leadership of religious organisations.

    The House passed the resolution last Wednesday after members debated and endorsed a motion moved by the Minority Leader Leo Ogor.

    According to the lawmakers, no Federal Government agency was empowered by any law passed by the National Assembly to determine how many years a religious leader should serve in office.

    “No law, enacted by the National Assembly, empowers any agency to set the tenure of office for heads of non-profit organisations,” Ogor said.

     

    Code’s provisions

     

    Before it was suspended, the National Code of Corporate Governance 2016 took effect last October 17. It was issued in accordance with Section 50 of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act, 2011, which among other things requires the Directorate of Corporate Governance to develop the principles and practices of Corporate Governance applicable in Nigeria.

    The code is in three parts. The first is the Code of Corporate Governance for the Private Sector, which is described as “mandatory”. The second, which created the controversy, the Code of Governance for Not-for-Profit organisations (NFPOs), which has a proviso: “Comply or Justify non-compliance”. The third is the Code of Governance for the Public Sector.

    Code of Governance for NFPOs has eight parts: A-H. The code has provisions for organisational structure of such entities, position of the founder, financial statements, organisation’s assets.

    According to FRC, the Code was developed due to “the perceived challenges to good corporate governance practices in the not- for-profit sector of the Nigerian environment.”

    It defines NFPOs as “a transparent decision-making process in which the leadership of a non-profit organisation, in an effective and accountable way, directs  resources and exercises power on the basis of shared values”.

    It says NFPOs take the form of “non-governmental organisations, charities, charitable trusts, foundations, public benefit corporations, mutual benefit corporations, co-operative trusts, educational, religious, moral organisations and corporations.”

    Justifying the need for Corporate Governance in NFPOs, FRC said: “The need for corporate governance in NFPOs is hinged on good governance and orderly succession in view of the volume of funding they attract. Urged on by humanitarian concerns over either glaring poverty and neglect, or economic  mismanagement of some countries, donors have made significant donations directly to relevant NFPOs in the hope that they would engender greater mission fulfillment, donor value, and greater beneficiary satisfaction and trust than those given by governments.

    “Apart from foreign donors, domestic donors out of conviction, knowledge, philanthropy, need, deceit or ignorance contribute large sums of money to NFPOs.

    “Many NFPOs operate with unknown frameworks, but with governments completely in the dark as to both their ownership and principal accountability. In the context of current global insurgency, the operations and funding of NFPOs raise serious security concerns, hence the need for good governance of NFPOs in the country.”

    The Code discusses the position of the founder or leader of an NFPO. Section 9.1 states: “A Founder or Leader should not take on too many responsibilities in the organisation or have an indefinite term in the running of the organisation.”

     

    The 20-year leadership limit

     

    Section 9.2 states: “Where for any reason, a Founder or Leader of NFPO also occupies any of the three governance positions of Chairmanship of the Board of Trustees, the Governing Board or Council, and the Headship of the Executive Management (or their governance equivalents), the following provisions shall apply before the end of the organisation’s financial year in which this Code takes effect:

    “9.2.1. The Founder or Leader shall cease to occupy these three governance positions simultaneously. This is to ensure the separation of powers and avoid possible concentration of powers in one individual.”

    “9.2.2. The Founder or Leader may however choose – subject to the agreement of the organisation’s apex authority as expressed in the Annual General Assembly, Annual Meeting, Annual Stakeholder Engagement, Annual Conference, Annual Synod, Annual Fellowship Assembly or their equivalents – only one of these three governance positions subject to his current tenure.

    “This is to ensure a clear division of responsibilities at the head of the organisation between the running of the governing body and the executive responsibility for the management and fulfilment of the organisation’s mission.

    “9.3. Where the Founder or Leader has occupied all or any of these three governance positions  for more than twenty years, or is aged seventy years or above, the choice in section 9.2.2 above should only relate to the Board of Trustees as in section 9.4(c) below, except the constitution of the organisation otherwise provides.”

    Section 9.4.c states: “Conflicts with founders or leaders should therefore be addressed by: (c) considering and ensuring Founder’s or Leader’s continued advisory or spiritual role by creating a Board of Trustees (BOT) for which the original Founder or Leader can become the First or Life Chair…”

     

    The caveat

     

    A caveat in Section 9.3 states: “In the case of religious or cultural organisations, nothing in this code is intended to change the spiritual leadership and responsibilities of Founders, General Overseers, Pastors, Imams and Muslim Clerics, Presidents, Bishops, Apostles, Prophets, etc. which are distinguishable from purely corporate governance and management responsibilities and accountabilities of the entities.”

    Analysts say the code allows founders or leaders of faith to have lifetime spiritual roles.

     

    Anything wrong with Code?

     

    Several analysts faulted the code for seeking to regulate the tenure of the leadership of religious organisations. To such analysts, the code should have stopped at its demands for transparency and accountability in the handling of its resources using accounting standards.

    A renown lawyer, Dr Sam Amadi, said despite the shortcomings of pentecostal churches whose activities ought to be regulated, FRC’s regulatory intervention was wrongly conceived and implemented.

    He said: “The corporate governance code as it relates to leadership succession in not-for-profit organisations is a regulatory misstep period. It shows how much we need to learn about the administrative state. The code erred in addressing the wrong issue and addressing it wrong way.”

    The code, he said, is an example of administrative regulation. He said it sources its legality from the powers the National Assembly grants the FRC to regulate the financial transactions of organisations in Nigeria.

    Such codes, he said, would be invalid if they violate the constitution. “The focus of the code is more on governance system or structure of not-for-profit organisations. When the executive or agencies in the executive branch of government take actions to execute the law through subsidiary legislation or other forms of legislative interventions, they must ensure that they do not violate any part of the constitution or enabling legislation or impose duties that are not within the ambit of the authorising law.”

    Amadi said administrative rulemaking ought to be focused on solving a legitimate problem that has public interest impact.

    “The code rambled so much about the mission and vision of Not-for-Profit Organisations and at times talked about strategies to cajole founders and leaders of churches to accept their replacement.

    “The question for administrative rulemaking is whether intervention will address any manifest public interest. In this case, what is the public interest in enforcing tenure for voluntary associations?

    “What legitimate public interests is served by stimulating how non-profits elect their leadership? Focusing on these issues is an illegitimate exercise of executive powers,” Amadi said.

    Amadi said every exercise of legislative power, whether by a legislature or an administrative agency, must comply with the constitution to be valid. Thus, the primary test of validity is compliance with the fundamental rights which are guaranteed.

    “The constitutional principle, established in many cases by Nigerian courts and courts in other democracies, is that before the state can interfere with these rights it must establish an overriding public interest. This is an interest that would be severely undermined but for such interference.

    “Section 40 of the Constitution guarantees to every person in Nigeria the right to associate freely with others in pursuit of lawful personal interests. By the language of the constitution, apart from political parties that require the recognition of the electoral management body, there is no constitutional restriction to the right of association.

    “Any regulatory intervention that would encroach on the right of free association must be justified on the basis of an overriding public interest. This is the canon of constitutional law in a written constitution with a guarantee of fundamental rights. It is the protection of substantive due process.

    “The guarantee of the right to freedom of association means that the government is restrained from interfering with this right except it shows that there is a threat to security, defence or public health or other. This restriction applies to both the exercise of legislative, executive or judicial power.

    “Neither the legislature, the executive or judiciary can make rules or orders to abridge the exercise of these rights without making out a clear case of overriding threat and danger to public interests. This is the essence of the heroics of the Supreme Court in many cases stating that any exercise of executive or legislative action against these guaranteed rights is unconstitutional.”

    Amadi believes the Code for NFPOs may be well intentioned, but is “bad and dangerous”.

    “It is bad because it violates the principles of administrative rulemaking by exceeding the powers granted to the Council by the legislature by being so imprecise and vague that it could not be a valid exercise of delegated legislation.

    “The code is dangerous because it attempts to abridge the right to free association without any compelling government interests or threat to national security, defence, public safety and public order. Therefore, it is an unlawful regulatory intervention,” he said.

    A public commentator, Ebuka Nwankwo, noted that most churches and mosques are registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as Incorporated Trustees in Nigeria, just as NGOs are.

    Thus, assets of churches are placed under the trust and confidence of their Trustees. And unlike a shareholder, a Trustee is not supposed to earn a profit, but expected to promote the objective of such organisation.

    Nwankwo said a corporation status is conferred on Trustees, who could be sued instead of the church or mosque. With this status, churches can go into businesses, such as running schools and hospitals, as far as they are not for profit.

    “The FRC, just like the Charity Commission in the UK, intends to use codes of conduct to ensure that leaders and founders of churches do not became dictators in their organisations.

    “One reason propounded for government involvement in regulating not-for-profit organisations is this: Organisations and individuals who enjoy tax exemptions should be prevented from using their offices to attain excessive benefits for themselves and their families.

    “Ordinarily, religious organisation are expected to be ethical but in some cases they have fallen short. Sadly, government – which ought to take examples from these organisations and could overstep its bounds – becomes the only institution left to ensure probity.

    “And here is the lesson in all these: In order to minimise the interference of government in religious organisations, faith-based organisation should come back to the basics, which is nothing but selfless and genuine commitment to the teachings of their faiths,” Nwankwo said.

     

    Lawyers speak

     

    To lawyers, there is nothing wrong in regulating religious organisations. Second Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani, said churches and mosques were registrable under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990 and, therefore, subject to regulation by the laws of the  land.

    According to him, there is nobody or institution in any given state that cannot be subject to the laws of that state as there cannot be two sovereigns in a state.

    Ubani said laws must recognise individual and institutional rights and must respect them to avoid backlash including outright rejection and disobedience by the people.

    Such laws, he added, must respect internal regulatory laws that govern institutions and bodies as long as those internal laws do not offend the constitution or other general laws that are not meddlesome.

    Ubani added: “The Federal Government has the power to regulate charitable organisations and NGOs as long as they are registered under the laws of the country. As long as the charitable organisations which are non-profit have delved into profit making ventures, then they have made themselves liable to scrutiny and accountability which is the hallmark of organisations that have custody of public funds.

    “Therefore, churches, mosques and NGOs that have delved into commercial ventures should have their accounts scrutinised including submitting them to the government.

    “The government can also request them to pay tax on profits made from the commercial transactions. It is logical and makes a lot of economic sense, no sentiment attached.”

    However, Ubani believes the government has little right to regulate the tenure of the organisations’ leaders.

    “It is clearly not the government’s business. As I said earlier, these organisations have their internal constitutions and bye-laws with which they were registered in the first place. Since these internal laws of these organisations contain succession plans, it does not lie in the mouth of the government through any Code or whatever name called to begin to peg the tenures of the leaders of these organisations. It is pure meddlesomeness and overreaching of state powers.

    “Let us be logical here, can one remove someone whom he or she has not appointed? Headship of churches, mosques are divine calling and the government cannot pretend to say that they were there when the individuals were called, and so, upon what basis does it arrogate to itself the power to truncate any person’s tenure whom they have not called?” Ubani asked.

    The former Ikeja Branch chairman of NBA said the Code’s section on leadership tenure should be amended.

    “My humble submission is that the said Code dished out by the FRC should be reviewed and the offending portion that prescribes tenure for churches, mosques be removed to avoid unnecessary tension and misunderstanding in the country.

    “The country is experiencing enough tension. Any further creation of tension now shows lack of wisdom. That is not the best way to go,” Ubani said.

    A constitutional lawyer Ike ofuokwu said government should focus on good governance without regulating the tenure of leaders of organisations it did not appoint.

    “The truth is that government wants to dabble into all and sundry matters at the expense of its primary function of governance.

    “Why are we a secular nation and yet we are so focused on forex for pilgrims and the like? It is not in the place of government to regulate tenure of people it has not appointed in the first place.

    “If we were not there when God called them, how then can we regulate their tenure? God can even call you at the age of 70 and in that case do we advise such pastors to reject the call of God?

    “The Federal Government should apply caution in future so as not to polarise this country further along religious lines,” Ofuokwu said.

    Lagos lawyer Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem believes there should be limited regulation of religious organisations.

    “By this I mean that the finances of religious organisations should be made public for the benefit of the members whose funds are used in running them and for the benefit of government as regulators.

    “This will ensure accountability and protection of innocent citizens and congregants seeking salvation from being fleeced of their hard-earned money.

    “However, the religious organisations should be allowed to determine the duration of office of their spiritual heads in order not to unduly politicise places of worship.

    “I agree that the spiritual, administrative and financial authority should not be concentrated in an individual to ensure checks and balances,” Adetola-Kazeem said.

  • CAN to churches: no service in uncompleted building

    CAN to churches: no service in uncompleted building

    The National Leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday commiserated with Akwa Ibom State and people on last Saturday’s death of worshippers at Reigners Bible Church in Uyo, the state capital.
    It advised churches to avoid holding services in buildings under construction to avoid a recurrence.
    In a statement by its General Secretary, Dr. Musa Asake, CAN regretted the disaster and urged every Christian to identify with victims through prayers, gifts and condolence visits.
    The statement reads: “We identify with victims of the tragedy; we pray for their quick recovery as we ask God to console and comfort the bereaved. It is unfortunate that the devil struck when the world is getting ready to celebrate the birth of the Saviour, Jesus Christ, who came to destroy the work of the devil.
    “We thank God that Governor Udom Emmanuel, escaped in the tragedy, and we welcome his prompt intervention when he said the state would hold an enquiry to investigate if anyone compromised building standards.”
    CAN decried building collapse in the country.
    The umbrella Christian body urged relevant agencies to proffer a permanent solution to them.
    It said: “It is no more news that buildings often collapse in the country as a result of contractors using substandard materials, coupled with lack of building approvals or a thorough supervision by relevant agencies.
    “We call on the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) and other relevant bodies to check the menace of buildings with substandard materials in Nigeria, which has led to the demise of thousands of innocent people. Until severe sanctions are meted out to those responsible, they may not be able to stop their satanic antics.”
    CAN appealed to Christians across the world to join “us in praying for victims and the bereaved of the disaster”.
    The body also prayed for the leadership of the church to overcome the incident.

  • CAN to churches: Avoid holding service in uncompleted buildings

    CAN to churches: Avoid holding service in uncompleted buildings

    The national leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has commiserated with the people and government of Akwa Ibom State on the tragedy that occured inside the Reigners Bible Church, Uyo at the weekend which led to the death of several worshippers.

     CAN advised churches to avoid holding worship service inside a building under construction to avoid a repeat.

    In a statement signed by the General Secretary of the body, Rev Dr Musa Asake, lamented the disaster and tasked every Christian to identify with the victims through prayers, gifts and condolence visits.

    The statement reads: “We identify with the victims of the tragedy, we pray for their quick recovery as we are asking God to console and comfort all the bereaved. It is very unfortunate that the devil struck when the whole world is getting ready for the celebration of the Birth of the Saviour, Jesus Christ, who came to destroy the work of the devil.

     “We thank God that His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel, who himself narrowly escaped with his life in the tragedy and we welcome his prompt intervention when he said the state government will hold an inquiry to investigate if anyone compromised building standards”.

     CAN recalled the tragedies of building collapses being experienced in the country and called on the relevant agencies to rise up to the building disasters with a view to putting a permanent solution into them.

    Asake said: “It is no more news that buildings often collapse in the country as a result of contractors using sub-standard materials coupled with lack of building approvals or a thorough supervision by the relevant agencies.

     “We call on the Society of Engineers and other relevant bodies to rise up to the menace of building with sub-standard materials in Nigeria which have led to demise of thousands of innocent people. Until severe sanctioned are met on those who are responsible, they may not be able to stop their satanic antics.”

     CAN appealed to Christians all over the world to join “us in praying for the victims and the bereaved of the disaster” also prayed for the leadership of the church for the grace to overcome the unfortunate incident.

     It said: “we also advise churches to discourage the idea of holding worship service inside a building under construction to avoid a repeat of the avoidable tragedy.”

  • 30 renounce cults as police, churches fight vice

    30 renounce cults as police, churches fight vice

    The horror of cult groups being in secondary schools, not just tertiary institutions, inspired the collaboration of the Abia State police command and various religious organisations to  tackle vice in schools. The police and the churches came under one umbrella to fight a common threat. The venue was Abia State Polytechnic, Aba which keyed into the plan.

    The commercial city is facing various security challenges such as cult activities, robbery and kidnapping, among others.

    This collaboration has yielded fruit. Over 30 students, spread across the genders, and of various secondary and tertiary institutions, denounced their membership of cult groups.

    Many speakers helped soften the hearts of those who renounced. The  state Commissioner of Police  Adeleye Oyebade, who is also a pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), was one of such powerful speakers. So was  the Aba Area Commander, ACP Peter Wagbara, who disclosed that he once belonged to a cult group. This revelation amazed his audience.

    Clergymen and even ex-cultists from Abia State Polytechnic equally played an inspiring role at the event.

    In an interview with journalists at the end of the event, the state police commissioner said the crusade was in line with the community policing policy of the Inspector General of Police Mr. Idris Ibrahim.

    He added that churches and campus fellowships in different secondary schools and higher institutions in the state were among the stakeholders the police are partnering with to ensure a crime-free state.

    The police boss who said that over 80 per cent of criminals arrested in the command were committed by youths who are involved in kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes and further investigation has it that the youths were involved in the crime as a result of influence of peers and engaging in cult-related activities.

    He said, “In line with our responsibility to fight crime in Abia State, we have resolved to reach out to students in the secondary schools and higher institutions to sensitise, counsel and educate them on the dangers of cultism, drug abuse and other criminal activities.

    “When you look at the age bracket of the youths going into crime this time around, you will find out that those of them in Schools are more in number. So our message is that they should abstain from crime and take their studies seriously to enable them prepare to be the leaders of tomorrow.

    “We are partnering with Churches to achieve this aim, so that when the Student repent the Churches can follow them up to ensure that they will not go back to cultism and crime again”.

    Earlier, the area Commander Aba area Command of the State Police Command ACP Peter Wabara stated that the Police have segmented Aba into seven groups, adding that the anti-cult crusade will be taken to each of the groups in Aba and its environs.

    Wagbara said the event would help to cut the rate of crime under his command. He also used the opportunity to call for the support of all stakeholders to tackle what he described as cankerworm that has continued to pose a threat to the peace of Aba residents and visitors alike.

    He promised that Aba would continue to enjoy the good working synergy between the police and other sister agencies to ensure that crime was reduced to its lowest ebb in Aba and the state in general.

    Some Aba residents said they couldn’t believe that the police could agree to such moves, adding that they were astonished to have seen the result of such collaboration as many students especially, from the secondary school sessions courageously denounced their membership to various secret cult groups, an event that they suggested should be annual.

    In a remark, the Rev John Eze of the Christian Pentecostal Mission Aba, lauded the state police command for organizing the anti-cult crusade in the city.

    He said, “I consider today as one of the days I have been waiting for as a minister of God, for the Police to initiate this programme is an answered prayer, I think God has decided to bring the “name God’s own State Abia” into a reality.

  • Police, churches tackle crime in Aba

    Police, churches tackle crime in Aba

    There is an uptick in crime in Aba, the commercial nerve of Abia State, but something is being done about it. The police and churches have teamed up to put kidnappers, robbers and other criminals at bay.

    At a meeting, the police and leaders of various churches agreed to collaborate more, and that the churches would intensify efforts in grooming good citizens.

    Aba Area Commander Peter Wabara, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, told our reporter at the end of about three hours of talks with the church leaders that the police were collaborating with the churches because of their role in inculcating good moral values and virtues in parishioners.

    According to the Commander, “We are only trying to deepen our community policing policy as directed by the (Acting) Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Kpotun Idris who on assumption of office, directed that committee of eminent persons be set up in order to widen consultation with critical stakeholders in the business of policing, that the committee of the eminent personalities was inaugurated in Umuahia by the Abia State Commissioner of Police, CP Adeleye Onyebade.

    “What we are doing is a follow-up and we have identified religious bodies as critical stakeholders as people that we should partner with to enable us reach out to a larger percent of the populace as part of our strategy and campaign to checkmate crime and criminality in Aba and the state at large.

    “We are partnering with the church specifically to target teenagers and youth who are involved in kidnapping, robbery and other crime related offences. We realised that the church, especially in this part of the country and Aba in particular have large followership and we want to use that platform to talk to them using entertainment and amongst others”.

    Continuing, Wagbara added “We have event coming up on October 6 at the Abia State Polytechnic. The event is targeted at students from various higher institutions and secondary schools in Aba metropolis and its environs. Ex-cultists, armed robbers and others who have turned to a new leaf from their old ways including Men of God, and other respectable citizens will be on ground to talk to the youths. Our view is to catch them young, to restrain them from crime and to use the scheduled programme to further push the campaign against youth involvement in crime especially as we are entering the ember months”.

     

  • ‘Why local churches must be healthy’

    ‘Why local churches must be healthy’

    Church growth expert, Dr Francis Akin-John, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on how local churches are falling by the side and how to stem the tide in a line with a new campaign he just launched. Excerpts:

    You just kicked a campaign tagged Healthy Local Church Africa. Are you planning to cover the entire continent?

    If God opens the doors, why not? From reliable research, Christianity has experienced geometrical increase in the last 100 years in Africa. At the turn of the decade, they were just about 60 million Christians in Africa. But just 25 years ago, Christianity has shot up to 760millions. But a lot of them are not in any local church.

    So, where are they?

    A lot of them have left churches because of disenchantment with how we handle things. We are large in congregational meetings but we are short on discipleship and spiritual health. So, our intention is to have healthy local churches in the continent.

    It appears like a tall dream. How do you intend to go about it?

    We intend to organise seminars and conduct training for churches and ministers.  We want to provide quality books, tapes and resources. We are also looking at consultancy and looking at how to help churches, either big or small denominations, to train their pastors in true church health. For example, a lot of denominations centralise operations in such a way that local churches are not allowed to function healthily.

    They are just there but not reaching their communities for impact. So, we intend to educate and mobilise church leaders to begin to allow local churches function. That’s the only way we can reach communities. The idea of centralising everything is killing innovations and affecting the health of local churches.

    When you say centralising operations, what do you have in mind?

    If you look at things very keenly in churches, we do things the way goverment is centralised in our nation. The center is strong the states and locals are weak. Yet, it is the resources of the states that make the centre strong

    It means a mega church with branches that are not allowed to function and grow. They are functionally, financially and morally tied to the headquarters. They remit 90 percent, sometime100 percent of their revenues to the central body.

    The control is so much that they cannot function or grow on their own. Everything is subjected to what happens at the headquarters. That is what is killing local churches in Africa. Yes, we can start churches and have a measure of control in terms of monitoring their doctrines and pastoral authorities.

    But they need autonomy to grow on their own and move at their pace for growth. Take for example the issue of pastoral transfer has killed many local churches. Yes, transfer is good in some situations but when pastors are transferred every one,two years, it is killing.

    When people know a pastor will soon be transferred, they won’t support him like they should. Research has shown that a local church will grow faster when people know the pastor has come to stay for a long time. If you check churches that are growing worldwide, the pastor has been there for 20, 25 years.

    What are the other factors that affect the health of local churches?

    Another factor is competence of pastors. Many local pastors do not know the peculiar nature of their environment. Then, you have to also consider the administrative structures of many local churches. Many of them are faulty. Many of our churches only focus on Sunday and mid-week services. There is nothing on growing people and the communities. There is nothing on specific departments and groupings. Most people that worship in local churches only meet once. They are not bonding together and the love of Christ is not there.

    In most African churches, we have established elders and council members that have money but do not have the qualities of Christ. In some cases too, we have good elders that have to contend with bad pastors.

    Shouldn’t pastors be accountable also to church authorities in any way?

    Oh, they should be accountable. They must be accountable to God and the boards of the church. The church should not be a one-man show. The pastor must be a servant and the first among equals. The pastor should never see himself as the Alpha and Omega.

    He has to overcome inferiority complex and not fail to accept suggestions and criticisms from others. If he considers himself above all of these, he will create problems in the local church. He will drive away a lot of good people that want to contribute to the growth of the church genuinely.

    So, this campaign is for the next ten years?

    Yes, it is. But I’m afraid it will be for the rest of my life. I don’t see myself doing anything different from this henceforth. With the kind of insights, information and passion that God has given, I will do this for the rest of my life across the globe.

    Why concentrate on local, instead of global or mega churches?

    It is local churches that make global church. Global churches are created from local churches. It is through local churches that we can make communal impact. If you see denominations that boast of having many branches, ask them how many of them are truly healthy.

    Mega churches are created from local churches. If the local churches are not healthy, the global church is finished. They are the basis units of Christianity. If local churches are making impact in their communities, we’d soon cover the world for God. The sad thing is that we don’t care for local churches. Most district heads and provincial pastors are only interested in financial reports from local churches.

    It is at the local church level that we can mould lives and disciple people. If we fail there, we will fail everywhere else. It is unfortunate that most local churches spend 90 percent of time, money and resources erecting physical structures. Nothing is wrong with that but if we pay as little as half of that on building people for the Lord, we will have changed the world. Some people talk of building institutions but they fail to realise that it is man that build institutions.

    If the man is not built, no institution will stand. Man has always been the plan of God. Build a godly man for God and he will build healthy institutions. My fear is that if we continue building structures and not people, we will soon have the same scenario happening across Europe.

    You see many massive structures without people. Many churches have become monuments. Those structures only get filled with frightened worshippers when there are terrorist attacks, funerals or New Year, as we see recently in Europe. It is happening here already. We have structures but we are not building people.

    Is the concept of a healthy church not just idealistic? Is it really possible to have a healthy church?

    The answer is absolutely and categorically yes. It is not idealism. Everyone seeks medical health. When there is any threat, we rest, take drugs or go to the hospitals. We don’t wait till we are sick to seek help. It is the same with the church because it is the body of Christ.

    If you ask can the church the healthy? I will throw it back can the human body be healthy? Yes, it can. You are here because your body is healthy. So, if you can be healthy, the body of Christ too can be healthy.

    There are criteria to consider knowing if a church is healthy. One is a healthy pastor who is competent. That church must have started by God’s expressed directive. Also, there must be healthy relationship. Then, there must be healthy members that are changed and transformed.

    There must also be loving atmosphere, not an environment where we gossip and back-bite one another. People must be able to use their gifts and endowments. You mustn’t pull down people because they are gifted.

    The idea of a healthy church is not about perfection. There can be no perfect church because it is full of people with fallible and mistakes. So it is not canvassing for a perfect church but a growing, rapturable church.

    Church health is not a utopian or figment of imagination. It is possible. It may not happen in a year but we keep working at it. Those who want healthy bodies watch what they eat and how they live. It is the same with the church. We can’t just run church without periodic check-ups. Big things don’t kill churches; it is small things that kill off churches.

    Small things like what?

    Like a pastor falling into moral or financial failure; like not living in peace in the community. Constituting a nuisance through noise or parking indiscriminately. If you are at loggerheads with your neighbours, it will kill the church. Like someone falling into immorality and we refuse to discipline him or her, it will kill the church.

    If there is grumbling and murmuring yet we ignore them, it will kill the church. Pastors believe once people are coming and the anointing is working, the church is fine. That is erroneous. Physical bigness is not a sign of healthiness. You can be big and be unhealthy.

  • Cleric urges churches to provide affordable education

    The General Overseer of Omega Power Ministry (OPM), Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere, has urged churches to set up training ventures that are affordable and can ease social and economic problems of the society.

    The cleric criticised churches that established academic and other training institutions and made them unaffordable for the poor, describing the practice as a contradiction of the tenets of Christianity.

    Chinyere spoke when he inaugurated the second phase of the renovation of 12-classroom block, computer centre with Internet facilities and Corpers’ House at Ikwuorie Comprehensive Secondary School, Abia State.

    Apart from giving to the school, he said the ministry has a number of other ventures that have improved the social status of many people in Port Harcourt, its base, and Abia.  For instance, he said about 6,000 people have benefited from the Free School Graduates Scheme in Oil and Gas run by the ministry in Port Harcourt since it started four years ago.

    He said the beneficiaries who were trained at a pilot centre located at Circular Road, Elekahia, Port Harcourt, have since set up their own oil and gas businesses while several others have also secured employment with reputable firms.

    Chinyere also said the beneficiaries of the oil and gas training cut across religious denominations with a good number of them being Muslims.

    He said the OPM has also provided free computer and driving trainings and runs free Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools in both states, which are all funded by the OPM Foundation.

    Attributing the ministry’s success to obedience to God’s commandment, he urged other church leaders to provide similar services for the society, saying the church was established on earth for such purpose.

    “The underlining truth is that each time we do these, God blesses our members immensely. As God blesses them, they in turn give offerings and pay their tithes. It becomes possible to execute these free training schemes while also reaching out to the poor and needy in our churches and the larger society,” he said.

    Chinyere urged the pupils of Ikwuorie Comprehensive Secondary School to make good use of the donated facilities and protect them from vandalism.

    The Principal of Ikwuorie Comprehensive Secondary School, Dr Sophie Nnadozie, praised the OPM leader for transforming the once abandoned classroom block into a model one.

    “Any investment in education is a rightly placed priority which will affect generations yet unborn. Posterity will uphold the indelible foot prints of this our magnanimous son,” she said.

  • ‘Churches teaching too many wrong values’

    ‘Churches teaching too many wrong values’

    Nigerian-born Pastor Sunday Adelaja is the founder of Embassy of God Church, Kiev, Ukraine, the largest Pentecostal church in Europe.  He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on the wrong concepts that churches in Nigeria are promoting. Excerpts:   

    During your last visit to Nigeria, you were emphatic that the church was the major problem with the nation’s stunted growth. Do you still maintain that stance?

    I wish to state categorically that I am not talking about any particular ministry. There is nothing personal at all. I am not against any man of God or any denomination. I’m just pointing out what I believe is the truth about the situation in our country.

    I wish to appreciate all the men of God that have labored in our country. I think they did their best. I believe they taught us what they know. But we still have to admit that things were wrong and these things have to be corrected.

    What are some of these things?

    In my opinion, the leadership and the structure of the church in Nigeria are as guilty as the politicians. We Christians like to judge, condemn and point fingers at the politicians. In some cases some churches are worse and some of the practices in churches might be worse than what the politicians do.

    I am a strong believer in the fact that whatever is happening in any country, the number one cause of it is the damaged value system of that nation.  I think we have a faulty and perverse value system in Nigeria. That is the root cause of all our problems, not just political leadership.

    The political leadership comes from our society. Our leaders are not been imported from Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau or from some exotic places like Fiji totally different from us. They are not bringing their strange fire to our camp. No!!!

    How do you mean?

    For us to have a corrupt value system as a nation and then be hoping to produce godly leaders is hypocrisy of the highest order. It doesn’t just happen!

    It would take a miracle to have such leaders, what would normally happen is that even when such leaders emerge they would be largely opposed.  They would be criticised because what they are doing will not make sense to most of the citizens. Most of the people on the ground profess different value systems.

    The value systems the reformed leaders are bringing to our society would conflict with the ones that people are used to. The people would be condemning them. The conflict equals clashes. That means there would be controversies and disagreements.

    That is what happened when we had a quite disciplined, god- fearing, pious leader in Muhammadu Buhari in the ‘80s. He was overthrown and the people rejoiced because the discipline and order he was bringing to our people was totally strange to them.

    We are used to living the way we like to live. We are used to keeping our freedom, our liberty, our way of doing things. If we now have a god -fearing leader that wishes to develop the country, he would have to first alter the way we do things. Until we change, nothing changes. We didn’t want to change, so when Babangida who was more like us overthrew Buhari, we were happy.

    How does the church come in then?

    The truth is that our value system comes from our pulpit. Our value system comes from our religious beliefs. Our value system comes from our religious practices. Our value systems come from our educational system. In Nigeria, the authority of the religious institutions is much higher than the authority of the educational system.

    So, most of our value system is influenced by faith and religion. That is why I am saying it is the faulty and corrupt messages we have introduced to our pulpits that is responsible for producing corrupt practices in our society.

    Can you give examples of this?

    A pastor could say that somebody would be a millionaire before the end of the year. Whereas we are in November or December and there are 500 people in that auditorium. All of them will shout amen!!! Yet Pastors don’t correct them saying that no, you would not become a millionaire before the end of the year even if you shout amen for the whole day.

    The only person that would become a millionaire is the person that has worked for it. The only person that would become a millionaire is the person that has at least signed a contract. When pastors don’t clarify that, everybody begins to believe that some miracles would happen.

    So when such a member goes to his office and he sees an unsigned check, for a million dollars and nobody is claiming responsibility for it, he claims it. He believes that it is God that has provided for him. That is how corruption gets from the pulpit to the society.  That particular member would claim that God has answered his Pastor’s prayer.

    He would boldly come to give testimony the following Sunday while the naïve and ignorant members would shout hallelujah! Meanwhile they too are expecting similar miracles and on and on. That is how the vicious circle of corruption from the pulpit to the whole country runs.

    But isn’t breakthrough real?

    Breakthrough is a word from breaking forth. Water, springs or streams break forth from under the ground. For it to break forth, it must have been forcing its way for ages or for years before it all of a sudden breaks through.

    The breakthrough that we see all of a sudden is as a result of hard work, invincible hard work. Yet we don’t emphasis the hard work aspect, we don’t emphasize the preparation aspect. We only emphasize the breakthrough. We think that those breakthroughs only come through prayers. That is another root of corruption.

    Everybody goes out of the church looking for a breakthrough. So any opportunity they see, even though they are not legal, which they didn’t labor for, they want to take advantage of. We are promoting through our preaching and teachings from our pulpits the culture of getting something for nothing.

    That means, I don’t need to do much but I can get something I can become rich. That way we are promoting corruption in the whole country. Instead of us to promote the culture of hard work before profit, we rather promote frivolity from our pulpits.

    So, all miracles have to be worked out?

    The rule of life is that you work hard for your results. You don’t wait for grace or favor to give you results without working for them. We don’t teach people in our churches that truth.

    If you don’t work for wealth even if you get that wealth through your parents, relatives or spouse, you are still a thief (Prov. 28:24). You are robbing the people who gave you that wealth.

    That is because somebody worked for what you are claiming. How can you just be going to church and claiming something for yourself? That is another faulty doctrine we have, that promotes corruption in the country.

    When you teach that people can claim anything, how can they claim when they are not qualified for it? How can they just claim simply because they have greed for it? We are promoting greed, we are promoting lust.

    There is no product without the process of production. We tell people they can get something by faith, to only believe. We tell them to just give offerings. We teach them about faith offering. We teach them about tithe and offering. Not that I don’t believe in tithe and offering but that is not the way of receiving wealth. It is the way of preventing curses from coming to your resources.

    For you to really have wealth, giving tithes and offerings are not enough. Tithes and offerings open up heaven to you. God doesn’t send money from heaven. You have to go to work and be involved in the process of production. It is only that way wealth and riches will come to you.

    Another problem we have in the nation that is contributed by the church is that we teach millions of people that they should expect miracles. Pastors teach about miracles without telling them the truth about the order of life.

    The way we are all supposed to live on a daily basis is not through miracles or by miracles. We are supposed to live by laws and principles that God has placed in the laws of nature, in the principles of life and order.

    Life depends on laws and rules. But we tell people about miracle, miracle, miracle. No matter what you talk to a Nigerian about, they will tell you about the fact that God will do it. We are asking God to do for us what he has asked us to do for ourselves. There is no way God can do for man, what man is supposed to do for himself. There is no way man can do for God what God can only do.

    Most of our prayers in Nigeria maybe about 80 percent are a waste of time. This is because we ask God to do for us what he has asked us to do for ourselves or we ask God to do for us what he has already done.

    Thanks to that deceptive teaching, our people expect miracles from morning till night. Our people are looking for miracles. So, any opportunity that presents itself godly or ungodly we take as God’s miracle or blessing. That is a major factor encouraging corruption in the land.

    In the real sense we don’t teach people that the possibility of miracle is not the order of the day. It is only two percent of our daily life that should depend on miracles from God. The order of life is the observation of God’s laws and order. Obedience to the laws of God and the society brings wealth and blessings.

  • Should we close churches to reopen cinemas?

    ONE of the ways that foreigners have mocked the slow growth of cinema business in Nigeria is to say that we have closed down cinemas to open churches.

    Indeed, while the cinemas of yesteryears have been bought over by modern businesses, and painfully axed down with nostalgia, it is not unlikely that some of them may have been replaced by annexes of some big church brands.

    The foreigners’ perception of the irony of cinema story in Nigeria is relative to the extent that cinemas dwindled until the recent but slow revamp, while churches have grown in geometric progression. This is not what you find in other climes.

    As you walk along tube stations in London, adore billboards on the streets of New York and Toronto, or take a pleasure trip round Johannesburg, or Durban in nearby South Africa, you can’t miss the captivation of film posters which rival most product advertisements. Whereas in Nigeria, posters of church revivals, bearing photos of the pastor and his Mummy Mission-wife compete with the popular MTN slogan of ‘Everywhere You Go’.

    Vono Andile, my South African friend who had imagined that Nigeria is such an unrivalled football loving nation came visiting last year, but found it amazing that there are more church posters than advertisement of local football leagues.

    We joked and laughed.

    The question that comes to my mind is, how do we see the future of African cinema, when apart from that ‘lousy’ comparison between film and church advertisement, there are more Hollywood posters in our re-emerging cinemas than Nollywood’s?

    The other aspect is that although the analogy of the church posters may sound heretical, it is illogical in my Public Relations’ media point of view for a charity or non-commercial and untaxed organisation, under which the church falls to rival a commercial organisation like Nollywood in advertisement.

    Of course, the churches are not to blame, for how else do you promote the work of the Lord effectively without the modern techniques of evangelism that also have more TV channels dedicated to ‘deliverance’ dramas than all the Africa Magic and Mzanzi Magic channels put together.

    The present government, in its readjustment of priorities, must begin to identify potentially viable non-oil sectors of the economy and give them some feathers to fly. This is talking about enabling environment that not only reduces the cost of film production, but also walking the talk of piracy minimisation.

    Cottage and community cinemas should be encouraged to change the cinema-going culture from the elitist recreation that some Nigerian cinemas have made it.

    With these in place, it can only be a win-win for the Nigerian motion picture industry and the Nigerian government, as filmmakers will not only be able to repay loans conveniently, there will be more employment and basis for government to tax the filmmakers and jump start the country’s GDP.

    Art and entertainment must continue to hit our psyche as real businesses and not the ‘play’ thing for which it has been carelessly underrated like other sectors of the economy, as against the almighty oil.