TheCable

BY IK MUO

I wish to start with an apology to everybody in general and to nobody in particular. The apology is because I am exhuming something that had been settled last year but we all know that nothing is settled until it is rightly settled. That ‘something’ relates to the retirement or sacking of Pastor Adeboye sometimes ago, the sacking of the  CEO of Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria( FCRN) over the same matter,  the suspension of the contentious code and all the matters related thereto!( apologies to lawyers) and the consequential actual or purported restructuring of RGGC( which does not concern me much because I do not want to interfere in the internal affairs of the religious octopus). I also wish to apologise for  bringing this mater up at a time like this when the only marketable commodity is politricks and when the South East PDP governors are doubting the potency the ATIKUOBI  HERBAL CLEANSER, preferring rather to drink their own self-made concoctions!

I believe we still remember what happened then, the actions and the reactions. Pastor Adeboye made a shocking three-in-one announcement to his flock and the world at large on Saturday 7/1/17: his retirement as GO Nigeria, the appointment of his replacement and his retention of office as GO worldwide. These developments, coming less than two months to his 75th birthday, were sequel to a new code of corporate governance released or enforced by FRCN, which stipulated that the tenure of all GOs and similar people in Mosques and NGOs should not go beyond 20 years and that they should not handover to their relations, which in effect means that they would no longer be a family business. It was also expected that many poplar faces on TV would follow suit. As expected, there were reactions and vicarious fallouts, right, left and center.

Jim Obaze was sacked with ignominy  as the CEO of FRCN, the board was dissolved and the contentious  code  was suspended, all almost with immediate effect.  One of the arguments was that even though the code has been approved, the FRCN had not been authorized to enforce it. The House of Reps decided to thoroughly investigate the activities of FRCN, wondering where it got its powers from since its mandate  did not include the tenure of religious leaders. The RCCG, through the head of the Church Media and PR also told us that Jim Obaze , who was also a RCCG zonal pastor, had vowed to remove the GO, over some  disagreements related to his pastoral duties. Pastor Oyedepo, who was expected to toe to line of Adeboye reacted angrily, saying _You cannot make decisions on how long a prophet of God should lead when you were not even there when the commission started, you did not employ him, how be it then that you can sack him.

Pastor Tunde Bakare retorted that those fighting against the code were lawless and trying to cover up some spurious transactions. He also stated that the law actually said that no one should be the chief Pastor, chief treasurer and the chief administrator, all in one. He asked his colleagues who  were against the provissions: if you wont obey the law, why did you register under the law? Felix Omobude, the president of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria declared that for accountability, Government had a right to set a template because people contribute to the churches, assuring that IF THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO LOOK INTO OUR BOOKS, WE WILL PRESENT THEM.  Anthovy Cardinal Okojie, the retired ( but apparently not tired) Archbishop of Lagos was of the view that Government ws given the opportunity to interfere because of the attitude of the leaders who personalize their churches. Speaking around that time, though propelled by different circumstance, Wole Soyinka advised us to tame religion before religion killed us all in Nigeria. The general question thus was government interference in religious matters; to be or not to be.

I believe that because religion is practiced in the society, the Government should somehow be involved but the question should be to what extent. In other climes, government is involved in religious affairs. In an African country, the government out-rightly banned one religion! In the USA, not long after the GO affair,( April, 2017) federal investigators invaded the North Central office of global televangelist Benny Hinn. Before then, Hinn and five other OUTRAGEOUSLY WEALTHY US Pastors ( Joyce Meyer, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long and, Randy & Paula white)had been under investigation. One of the factors that had prompted government intervention in any issue over the years had always been failure of those responsible to do the right thing and consequently, one of the key strategies to ward off government meddlesomeness is to do the proper thing. As our people would say MALU IHE MMADU AGWANA GI ( be wise or sensible, without anybody telling you). Our religious leaders have over the years crossed the boundaries of commonsense in their actions and utterances.   Some engage in outrageous religious showmanship and ostentation, outright criminality, weird and fetish practices, prey on and defraud their gullible followers,  while some live lives that are contrary to what they preach or the stipulations of the holy Books.

Some Muslims, led by THE BUTCHER OF ZAMFARAhad publicly declared that the Quran was superior to the national constitution. Some pastors and their churches have been mentioned in criminal cases as receivers of stolen funds. Some have become involved in all sorts of businesses, getting involved in several worldly affairs, forgetting that  they are in the world but not of the world( John 15:19). Unfortunately, they have soiled their white robes in the process. At the end of it all, it is about integrity and transparency. What is wrong in telling the people of God who contributed the money of God, how the money of God is spent, since God does not spend Naira & Kobo?  I worship at St Sebastian’s Catholic Cathedral Ijebu-Ode, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, Okota Lagos and St Michaels Catholic Church, Igboukwu. Go to the cathedral next Sunday , pick up the bulletin and you will see FULL details of the money received the previous week. At OLSOW, the bulletin publishes monthly the amount collected as commitment offering and how it was spent while at St Michaels, the project Sunday collection is announced  every month and an annual account is given at the end of the year, including the amount generated by various zones. Of course, they all have financial committees, involved with generating and spending church funds.

Meanwhile,  some questions have been running around my mind  since then. What offence did Obaze actually commit? When does a policy become effective: when it is enacted or when it is authorized?  Was the relevant government official asleep when he or she okayed the code? Why did government act so swiftly and high handedly over the GO affair? Would the government have acted in such a manner if the GO of Muo Holy Ghost Fire Ministries had been involved? As Pastor Bakare once asked, if God called you did he also call your wife? And lastly, to what extent should government be involved in religious affairs?

Meanwhile, I agree with Sam Ohuabunwa that LEAVING RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS BY WHATEVER NAME TO GO ABOUT THE WAY SOME ARE GOING, DEHUMANIZING HUMAN BEINGS AS NE REVD KINGS DID, REFUSING TO RECOGNIZE THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE STATE AS SOME ISLAMIC GROUPS OR FLEECING POOR ADHERENTS TO LIVE LUXURIOUS LIVES IS NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE TRUE WORSHIP OF GOD ( BusinessDay, 17/1/17, p37). And religious leaders who are desirous of limiting the extent of government meddlesomeness in their affairs, should do the right thing, on their own, without any prodding.

Muo, PhD; Department of Business administration, Olabisi Onabanjo Universoty, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun state sent this piece via [email protected]