For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God; and if it first begins at us,what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God- I Peter 4:17
Ola Olukoyede,the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC stirs the honest net last Wednesday September 23 when he declared before the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council(NIREC) holding in Abuja the nations capital which had the theme,”Shares Sacred Flourishing in Nigeria” that he had in his detention and in our courts many religious figures involved in financial crimes in the country.
For these serious and race disclosures,some of those seated must have shifted on their seats with the revelation which portends a surreptitious implementation of Apostle Peter’s warning about impending doom and shame for light lingered top men in the church,mosques and other religious calling .
For him,some of those Pastors,Bishops, Imams and Alfas who he said have been convicted betrayed no shame by continuos claim to sainthood which their borrowed titles wrongly conferred on them.
Said he,” So many case files,pastor, imam indicted for financial crimes. And some of them are even badly convicted and they are in jail”.
To portray the rot of the spirituality,Olukoyede expressed concern that both the convicted ‘God of men’ without shame still parade themselves with sinful adulation by their followers who gullibly confered sainthood on these characters who have betrayed their high callings,if any.
Olukoyede, himself a Pastor with the Redeemed Christain Church of God,RCCG expresses disappointment that,” while in jail they still refer to them as pastor and Imam”.
This, to him is a case of societal complicity by gullible followers and congregants whose action from all indication is an encouragement for those who have betrayed their calling.
It will be recalled that one self- styled Reverend King who was sentenced to death in Lagos some years ago over murder charges but yet to be hanged, till date still receive visitors from his ‘spiritually conquered’ followers who still call him their ‘saviour’.
In an apparent charge to the clergy and by extension the Churches,Mosques and others,Olukoyede challenged them thus,” we must have the courage to ask ourselves,has the depth of our religious profession been sufficiently reflected in the integrity of our public and economic life?
But then how would this not be when in the last three or two decades,the unrestrained flabouyancy by some church and religious leaders who display unrestrained penchant for living large in exotic houses,junket in private jets round the world under the guise of evangelism,while their members and congragants romance poverty.
Yet,members pay all manner of levies besides the Tithes and offering,zakat and other spiritual obligations- all to please their religious leaders who have weaponised poverty caused principally by Nigerias economic downturn .
Today,the admonition salvation is free, is as corrupted as the sinful mouths which collected the crumbs from the poor to live large at their expense.
But then,is Olukoyede,a senior Pastor in one of the Provinces in the RCCG in Lagos ready to pressurized government to have the courage and boldness to revisit move made to examine finances of churches by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria(FRC) and the RCCG in January 2017.
The move according to executive secretary of FRC centred on his push for enforcement of a National Code of Corporate Governance requiring heads of not-for-profit organizations- including religious groups to observe a maximum tenure of 20 years or age limits.
When interpreted it means Pastor Adejare Adeboye,who had served as the Nigerian General Overseer of RCCG for over two decades had to quit.
He complied with the regulation by appointing Pastor Joshua Obayemi as the national overseer in January 2017 while remaining the worldwide geberal overseer.
Thus enforcement of the rule it will be recalled, sparked intense public outcry and tension such that Obazee was sacked within 48 hours.
The real issue surrounding the controversy on church leaders spending stems from three factors namely collection,spend management and stewardship. In situations where the church or mosque in question belongs to individual leaders who establish them,there is hardly any control system beyond the leaders on spending resources.
Beside, the issue of accountability also become a big problem for such places of worship to subject themselves to control by the established system.
Hence, no difference between the resources of the church or mosque and the leadership.
For growing churches according to Duplo.com,issue of infrastructural gap occurs where the pentecostal churches grew organically and rapidly .
The RCCG,Living Faith Bible Church and Mountain of Fire and Miracle ministries and others falls into this category
When growth occurs,the tendency by leadership to use inbuilt organisational control to check finances becomes a problem as the established human infrastructure are not adequate to monitor finances in all department hence it gives room for fraud by the different layers of administration.
The establishment of revenue yielding ventures like schools,universities,health system Beside church or mosque offerings open up the system for financial malpractices especially if such revenue yielding ventures are not separated from offering and levies exempted from taxes.
This makes it difficult to audit the system as being done overseas where the church is run like non -profit organisation.
The issue of fraud as pointed out by Olukoyede is more prevalent in pentecostal missions unlike the established orthodox churches and mosques that has inbuilt organogram and fund control systems.
What is to be done?
Since it is rather difficult for government to control establishment of and registration of worship places,the onus lies on congregants to watch closely and not be carried away by get rich syndrome which most of the new churches and other religious places use to attract members.
The holy book of Hosea 4:2 says .”my people perish for lack of knowledge.
This explains the tendency for lazy believers to look for miracles and also account for why they are easily defrauded by their so called spiritual leaders.
The pervasive poverty in the country is country is another reason for establishment of worship centres where various leaders who have failed in business or trade easily set up worship centres without receiving divine call.
Since many are called into ministry but not chosen, they remain relevant because spirit of discernment is absent in believers who throng this centres or consult the self- appointed clerics for solution or miracles.
The society from the statement of Olukoyede also have its share of the problem as convicted leaders are still referred by their gullible followers.
Sometime in 2013 or thereabout,the Jet belonging to one of the church leaders was apprehended in South Africa for helping to ferry foreign currency abroad.such may be without the knowledge of the owner but since such Jets are normally hired out to airline operators for fees used to maintain them Therein lies the problem.
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It has exposed the fact that such Jets are not procured for evangelism but for business purposes.
When President Muhammadu Buhari came on board the increase in parking fees forced some church leaders who has about four Jets in their fleet to dispose some of them.
This makes the government object of criticism by the leaders.
The incidence of high level fraud by leaders and others in our worship places portray that we are simply religious people without fear of God which clearly is the beginning of wisdom.
Politics of appointment and promotions in the religious places which is more prevalent in our pentecostal churches is another serious issue which is the fundamental factor responsible for incidence of fraud and other associated problems plaguing the system.
Leaders are no longer referred as it used to be in the past because establishing religious centres has become the easiest pre-occupation because of lack of control due to our religiosity.
Olukoyedes revelation is a challenge to the system as the citizenry too are quick to criticise government when controls are introduced in establishment and leadership of such religious centres due to our religiosity.
There is no doubt that from his handling of the anti corruption crusade on which he has recovered Trillions of Naira from indicted public office holders and others,he will leave the office better and gy extension complement the image of the RCCG of which he is a Pastor and leader before his appointment.
For now, when cases of graft and other financial or criminal issues are brought,law enforcement have to be properly executed according to the law of the country for this remains the only avenue to save the system already compromised.
