Religious excesses – government bungles another good policy

Another good idea was mismanaged this week. The Financial Regulatory Council of Nigeria has a bad reputation among most Nigerians for being a power-hungry organization. They tried to put in place a one-size-fits-all corporate governance code which makes everyone defer to them. That has been challenged. Then they pushed ahead with a corporate governance code for non-profit organisations (churches and mosques), and before we knew it, they played into the hands of those smart Alecs who run churches and President Buhari had to bend to the whims of the moneymen of the Nigerian churches. That was after suffering what could be an irreparable loss of goodwill as a result of the burning tongue of Pastor Adeboye who had asked his church members to go out, register and take active part in politics (read to mean “Get ready to vote out Buhari in 2019 for daring to change the headship of the Redeemed Christian Church of God”).

The challenge with religion in Nigeria is two-pronged. Each major religion has its own issues. The Christians proliferate and many smart Alecs have seen it as moneymaking venture. The Muslims suffer from a proliferation of sects…. one of them became Boko Haram. Another is being brutally put down by ElRufai. Too many exists up north, undocumented. We recall Maitatsine. Reasonable Muslims are afraid of those sects. Boko Haram has killed more Muslims by far, than Christians.

So the issues with religion in Nigeria, are not merely financial. Where does ‘FINANCIAL REPORTING COUNCIL” come in? Why not have a holistic approach to this problem? When a company registers at the Corporate Affairs Comiision as Limited Liability, because you intend to make profit, the Federal Inland Revenue Service takes over. When a church or mosque or NGO registers at the same CAC, who takes over? Nobody. In the first places, mosques don’t operate like churches and don’t necessarily have to have the same structures. So regulating religion requires deep thinking. 

Lately, many of the mushrooming churches don’t even bother going to CAC, or advertising their Board of Trustees for 21 days as required. All those who used to stay at bus stops performing magic and robbing people have turned to pastors. Some stay small, but make serious money. Our people have a quirk in their DNA that makes them believe some of these guys. Poverty also does not help. What the FRC under Obazee tried to do would have only targeted churches who are large and organized enough to follow due process. However a lot of the atrocities happen much lower down the food chains. 

The problem with Boko Haram, for example, is not money. Yes some people fund them and give them arms, and nothing has been said about those. Boko Haram even attacks the poor and never the rich. They kill people at bus stops, poor markets and mosques. They are blind to the mansions of the rich who have been lately reveling in lavish ceremonies. If Boko Haram had been documented when they started, and we knew who their trustees are, people like Ali Modu will not be denying that he never knew them at all for the records would have been clear. 

The Trustees of an NGO are the ones saddled with bringing such an organization to heel if they stray. They are held responsible for the activities of the organization. The Trustees are meant to be responsible people, identifiable in society. When a list of Trustees is submitted, even their international passport copy is obtained among other documentation. They are contacted where necessary to be sure they agreed to be trustees.

What we need is a comprehensive approach to religion, which has of late gutted this country in more ways than one. Religion divides us down the middle – especially the Middle Eastern ones. For many adherents, anyone who doesn’t believe the way they do is hell-bound, and they are ready to dispatch you there immediately. It is a sad issue.

So the issue is not about forcing GOs to step down. That is an overkill, and a clumsy, counterproductive move. Even in the United Kingdom, strict as they are, they don’t force the head of religious organizations to step down. I wrote two strong articles on the need for Charities Commission in the last few years and had to research the UK and how Charities Commission get their returns etc. Nowhere did I find that heads of organizations should step down after some years. See what happened with Nigerians banks and how the founders dashed back to their banks when the ‘sentence’ imposed by CBN for them to step aside expired? People start organizations and it becomes their ‘baby’. If corporate people can be so attached to the organizations they start, why would spiritual people be excised from their organizations so unceremoniously? Why demote a man in the organization he started to become shopfloor member? That should be strictly a personal decision.

Those who know ‘spiritual’ things will call this an abomination; that asking the a preacher to retire is like asking him to go and die. In the US we know there are many old preachers who die preaching and heading the organizations they started. The issue is clearly not about how long they stay as the head of the organizations they create. And churches or mosques do not trade with government money, so the limit to effect changes in their headship should really not arise. This is where Obazee got it wrong. If you believe they are defrauding people, just stay on the money until you are able to unravel the plots. You will end up cleaning the system methodically. I learnt he was a pastor under Adeboye, and so must have loads of information about how they liberally share people’s monies. He ought to have been smarter and not let his emotions get ahead of him, moreso as the Vice President and his reporting minister, Enelamah, are serving senior pastors of the same church. 

In all these, I aver again, that what we need is a CHARITY COMMISSION that will be on ground and do its work, DOCUMENTING these organizations, putting some sanity into their activities, ensuring they are not here to rip people off, or to turn into terrorist organizations. It is not only about money… and should never be made to look like it’s merely a Christian affliction.

Let us think about the ramifications of this problem. Think about churches that ‘pastors’ use as fronts for armed robbery, printing of fake currencies, receipt of stolen goods, baby factories, and other crimes… then think of churches where they drive nails in children’s heads because they are suspected to be ‘witches’. Think of those ‘pastors’ like the one in Akwa Ibom who claimed on camera to have killed more than 110 children who are ‘witches’. Think of the effect on productivity in the land as our young and strong people take to ‘preaching’ and making money while no one actually produces anything tangible… Then think of Boko Haram, and small terrorist organizations brewing in parts of the country, where decades of socioeconomic mismanagement, elite deception and greed has disconnected them from society and they are seething with their own brand of anger. Is that not what Boko Haram was about? Hopefully, the government will learn a lesson or two in how to think critically about policies, and how to navigate the tortuous world of organized religion.