The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Religious bodies

  • Experts urge politicians, religious bodies, groups to adopt renewable energy for empowerment

    Worried by the need to address the consequences of climate change across the country, politicians, corporate organisations, religious bodies, trade groups, among others, have been urged to incorporate the distribution of renewable energy solution devices in their various efforts at empowering individuals and small scale business enterprises.

    The Country Director, NexGen Energy, Mrs. Ezinne Ibe, made the appeal while explaining to journalists the importance of embracing renewable sources of power, which she described as the future of power solution.

    According to Ibe, developing countries and advanced economies of the world have already embraced alternative solutions to addressing their power needs and as a good way of eradicating the negative health and environmental hazards associated with the use of fossil fuels.

    She noted that using renewable energy is not as expensive as many people think, aside the health and environmental friendliness of renewable energy. Her organisation, in collaboration with international partners, has provided energy solutions and devices that could be used to empower barbers, hair stylists, tailors, artisans and other small scale entrepreneurs with minimal energy requirements.

    Commending the government for the efforts at opening the doors for alternative power sources through the private sector, Ibe stated that there is still room for improvement.

     

  • Why govt, religious bodies must partner on education, by don

    The Head of Department of Religious Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife Prof David Ogungbile has called on government and religious bodies to collaborate for the revival of education in the nation.

    He said government and religious bodies must join forces and resources to give the nation quality education across all sectors.

    Ogungbile spoke yesterday at the inaugural educational seminar of Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide (MCCSW) as part of activities marking the 53rd anniversary of the church.

    Speaking on the Nigeria and qualitative education: How would religious bodies partner with the state in getting it right? Ogungbile said there was need to work together in advancing qualitative education by following the United Nations’ prescription.

    The don said the state and religious bodies should collaborate in reviewing the concept and policies of education to make it more qualitative.

    He said that the previous and current structure, curricula and programmes of education need to be re-examined to find out areas where things could be done better.

    “There should be a collective review of such programmes, structure and curricula.

    “Curricula must address all-round education which addresses the wholeness of the human being: language, culture, history, science, science, technology, medicine, ’’the professor said.

    He said government should consider religious bodies as partners in the sector and come up with tax-friendly regimes to encourage their intervention.

    Religious bodies, according to him, must advocate for welfare of teachers as well as provision of infrastructure in public schools.

    The Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Apostle Alexander Bamgbola, urged government at all levels to give priority to the education sector.

    According to him: “A nation that is not educated is not a nation, a nation where education is being destroyed that nation is being destroyed.

    “There is need to make learning attractive for the future of the country,’’ he said, noting that if school is made attractive, it will reduce the rate of dropouts.

    “When you plan for children, you plan for the future. When the future is solid, then other things will fall in place,’’ he said

    Prelate/ Supreme Head of MCCSW, Baba Aladura Elder Dr Israel Akinadewo, said the church was determined to reduce illiteracy in the Aladura movement and impart the next generation through education.

    He informed the church has granted scholarships to indigent students up to Post Graduate levels.

     

     

  • Firm gives gas cylinders to religious bodies

    LITE Gas, the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) brand of Gas Terminalling and Distribution Ltd, has begun  free distribution of 450 units of LPG cylinder bundle to members of religious bodies in Lagos State, under the Eko Gas project.

    The firm is a member of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry LPG Group.

    The group, in partnership with the Lagos State government, is distributing free  cylinders bundle and LPG worth over N6 million, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

    The firm recently kick-started the project with free sharing of 25 units of LPG cylinder bundle to low income members of the Lagos State  Muslim Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Surulere, Lagos.

    Each of the 25 beneficiaries went home with a complete set of cylinder filled with cooking gas, the mesh, regulator and cooker ring.

    The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Gas Terminalling, Mr. Abubakar Folami, said Lite Gas extended the gesture to the beneficiaries and the Surulere branch of the association “as part of its contribution to encourage the low income earners of the community to switch from the use of  dangerous and expensive energy sources to the much cleaner, cheaper, safer, efficient, affordable and readily available LPG, otherwise known as cooking gas and also educate them on the fact that cooking gas is not only meant for the rich, but also for every member of the community irrespective of their social class.”

    He said: “The World Health Organisation (WHO), in its findings, said the use of fossil fuels, such as firewood, charcoal and kerosene are some of the causes of heart problems and cancer. So, our mission here is to encourage people to switch to the use of a much cleaner fuel – that is the LPG”.

    As part of the organisation’s safety enlightenment campaign for the beneficiaries, who were first-time converts to LPG usage, the Health and Safety Manager of Lite Gas, Mr. Micheal Olajide, demonstrated the process of assembling the complete set of the cylinder bundle and its use to the beneficiaries. He took them through other best safety practices for general use of LG for cooking.

    One of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Salifat Alayaki, expressed gratitude to the firm for giving her a gas cylinder.

  •  Religious bodies and taxation

    SIR: Despite initial misgivings concerning the real intentions of the promoters of on-going National Conference, it has since kicked off with some very interesting issues already on its front burner. One of such issues is the one that deals with subjecting religious bodies to taxation.

    Some have argued that since some religious institutions make more money than most corporate organisations, they should be brought into the tax net. Others are of the view that the extreme flambouyant lifestyle of some religious leaders in the country is indicative of the excessive wealth at their disposal and as such the organisations which they preside over, which generate such excessive fund in the first place, must be subjected to taxation. Others have equally argued that the business ventures of  most of these religious bodies should be subjected to taxation since they are strictly profit making undertakings.

    Those who are against the move have argued that since the income of religious bodies are largely made up of voluntary gifts, donations, offerings and contributions from willing members, who have already paid taxes on their income, taxing them would only amount to double taxation. Another argument that has been put forward by those opposed to taxation of religious bodies is that what they bring to the table in terms of  providing spiritual coverage for the country is invaluable. Consequently, subjecting them to taxation would be considered an act of ingratitude by the government.

    For one, the current debate on taxation of religious bodies should be seen as a wake- up call by religious leaders in the country, a reflection of the mood of some Nigerians in respect of the ungodly activities of some of them . It is generally believed that some of the religious organisations in the country have become business empires of their leaders who have become cult –figures being worshipped as gods by their followers. Some of them have been accused of subjecting their followers to lives of penury and distress while they continue to live in unbelievable opulence and extravagance.

    The call for taxation of religious bodies should, therefore, be seen as a manifestation of current thinking in the land that some of them are mere business conglomerates established to oil the insatiable thirst of their leaders for material acquisition. It is, indeed, paradoxical that some religious leaders, who preach the transient nature of the world to their followers, now go to any length to acquire worldly opulence. Years ago, calling for religious bodies and their leaders to be taxed, would have been regarded by many as a blasphemous move.  However, current trend within our religious organizations has shown that lots of them have sacrificed piety on the altar of mundane pursuit.

    It is, for instance, immoral and unjustifiable for religious bodies to establish institutions of learning that charge fees that are beyond the reach of majority of their members. In the pre-colonial and colonial periods, when European missionaries introduced western education into the country, what they offered was fee education. Their ultimate goal was to massively educate the people. Indeed, most modern day religious leaders benefited from the free education programme of the early missionaries. It is, thus, ironic that same people could preside over organisations that are taking education beyond the reach of the ordinary folks.

    By and large, the lesson to take away from the controversial issue of taxation of religious organisations is that religious bodies and their leaders should focus more on re-building the collapse spiritual fabric of the society. It is ethically wrong for some of our religious leaders to display extreme affluence in the face of so much poverty, hunger, frustration and impoverishment in the society. Instead of encouraging pointless display of materialism, they need to work hard to ensure the regeneration of waning divine principles such as contentment, selflessness, discipline, integrity and love within their organisations, and the society at large.

    • Tayo Ogunbiyi ,

    Alausa-Ikeja, Lagos