First Gentleman with Wilson Orhiunu
Email: babawill2000@gmail.com Twitter: @Babawilly
It is hard not to notice the attacks against pastors and churches on social media among Nigerians. The usual way this happens is that a picture of a pastor anywhere in Africa is posted which an inciting caption and next thing the venom flows freely.
Of course, everyone is entitled to their rights to poke fun at whatsoever they choose. It is when these attacks start to cloth themselves with the borrowed robes of objectivity that things become dangerous.
Lest we forget, the early missionaries to Nigeria opened schools and mission hospitals across the country. Reading the CVs of many notable Nigerians will attest to the fact that many attended Christian schools.
The relief efforts in Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War had a huge input from the church.
Countless scholarships and community programmes exist nationwide that are not given publicity the way the negative stories are publicised. It is true that bad news sells, but Nigeria is not a 100% Christian nation.
The Pew Research Centre stated that Nigeria has 48.3% of its population Christian and 48.9% Muslim with 2.8% followers of other religions.
Of the 65 to 70 million Christians in Nigeria, only a minority belong to Pentecostal churches who tend to be at the end of vitriolic abuse by many.
One of the biggest accusations I have heard which never ceases to amaze is the accusation that churches and pastors have led to Nigeria’s and even Africa’s under development.
There are no doubt major problems to solve in Nigeria ranging from the killing of Christians on a weekly basis by nomadic herdsmen to poor health services, poor or no education (10 million children unschooled in Nigeria), internal security, poor infrastructure and high youth unemployment.
There have been billions of dollars looted from the treasury since Independence in October 1960 and years of poor investment of our oil revenue happened before our collective eyes.
Some say blame the pastors as they all fly in private jets. This is hate speech and stokes the flames of hatred in the hearts of hungry people seeking to lash out at a scapegoat.
The funny thing is everyone in Nigeria with a brain knows where the real money went. The salaries of every public official have always been public knowledge as have been the size of their houses and business portfolios on leaving office. No big man especially ex-army ones are called to explain in simple language how they acquired their wealth.
The big scandals have been in broad daylight. Kudirat Abiola, Dele Giwa, and Bola Ige all died as did MKO Abiola and nothing happened.
No pastor has an oil block or a big government contract. Pastors look after the souls of the Christians who willingly attend their services. Some parishioners have been battered by the winds of poverty generated from years of no planning.
It is true that with thousands of pastors everywhere, the charlatans are bound to jump in for a quick buck. There are many wolves in sheep’s clothing but these are not the ones holding Nigeria down.
This myth of private jets is nothing but a myth.
No one ever puts forth any numbers. I know of four churches in Nigeria that own private jets. I read that there are about 200 privately owned jets registered in Nigeria. Four out of two hundred is 2%.
If people feel it is wrong to own a private jet that is a matter of opinion. What is wrong is exaggerating the number of private jets in the country as if pastors operate all the private jets there are.
If a ministry with branches in many African countries decides to purchase a means of transportation to aid their work that is their business. Parishioners who are against this are free to leave that church as no one is bound by contract to belong to a church.
The issue of tithes and offerings go on all the time. That also is a free will offering that no Christian is forced to give. I attended St Finbarr’s Colleague, Akoka in Lagos State. This was a Catholic school and guess where the money came from to send down Father Slattery from Ireland to Lagos to found the school; the offerings given by Christians. I have benefited from Christian education and I believe in paying tithes and offerings to my local church.
It is a fundamental human right to practise the tenets of your religion and people are free to poke fun. But no one should tell me that the crumbling infrastructure that we are all seeing in Nigeria is the result of paying tithes.
In the social media criticism of religion in Nigeria, everyone stays clear of the Muslims and the other traditional religions.
Africa is no doubt an underdeveloped continent. With recent wars many countries like Somalia, Sudan and Chad, it is no surprise that these countries are backward. These are predominantly Muslim countries. With a population of about one billion people and a vast array of natural resources, an African country should be a world power by now. Corruption, poverty of ideas and ideals, poor planning and deaths from preventable diseases (malaria and HIV kill up to 500,000 people a year in Nigeria) all add up to keep the continent dark. Abundant sunlight and no solar panels and yet some are fixating on a pastor’s shoes.
If this dangerous behaviour and sentiments towards the pastors are not curbed, some will go on to advocate the elimination of the church form Nigeria to solve Nigeria’s problems.
