KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Paul Crouch Jr, chief of staff at the famous Trinity Broadcasting Network, TBN was the first to catch a whiff of persecution from a recent event in the United States of America, the Grassler Investigation. In a strongly worded rejoinder to an article by columnist and Charisma Editor, J. Lee Grady, he describe the requests for information sent to six famous ministries in the Pentecostal/charismatic wing of the Church as an “inquisition”.
The so-called Grassler Investigation, by the way, has its origins in the letter sent by a ranking member of the US Senate Committee on Finance, Chuck Grassler requesting detailed information on the finances of the ministries of the following men and women of God: Creflo & Taffi Dollar; Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; Randy and Paula White; David and Joyce Meyer; Benny Hinn; and Eddie Long.
The Republican Senator had rationalised his action in a press release which reads in part like this: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
The six were to have responded to the senator by December 6. Some did, some requested for more time while at least another one has bluntly refused to comply citing infringement on his ministry’s rights and privileges. We will bring you developments in what promises to be a long drawn battle.
In the mean time however, this columnist senses an increase in the feeling that the Grassler Investigation is simply the first tentative steps in an impending wave of persecution of the Church in America. For this writer, since there is really ONLY ONE CHURCH, that can only imply a creeping challenge to the church irrespective of its geographical location.
Speaking during the week in Lagos, one of my pastors, who runs an international ministry, made copious references to the Grassler investigation as nothing short of persecution, implying that if it could happen to those ministers and their ministries, it can happen to any one. He didn’t mince words: this simply is persecution!
But easily the one development that suggests to me that the suspicion of persecution may be reaching fever pitch is the announcement of the founding of a body styled as Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, headed as chairman and chief executive officer, by one Gary Cass. Cass, formerly the executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America at Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA was touted as having “experienced firsthand what happens when Christians are marginalized and persecuted during his stint with Terry Law Ministries behind the Iron Curtain in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was involved in music evangelism.”
A former pastor who was arrested three times for his pro-life activism, Cass, recalling his experience during those dark days said: "the state told the church what they could and couldn't preach and forced real believers to go underground, and then as a result, risk arrest and imprisonment for not complying with the state's mandated version of what Christianity could be." Persuaded that the same thing can happen in the US, he called for vigilance, quoting one of America’s founding fathers, he said: "It's as Thomas Jefferson said, ‘we have to be eternally vigilant to protect these rights’.”
But it is these words of his that, I believe, reveal the underlying fears of the founders and supporters of the group: “If we allow ourselves to be defamed then we are being set up to be marginalized. Once we're marginalized, then we can be treated differently. And that is the beginning of the cycle that leads to persecution."
If Gary Cass is to be believed then there is only one conclusion to be drawn from recent well-publicised events in the Church: we are at the defamation stage of his three-steps-to-persecution! This in turn would be followed by the marginalisation stage which will inexorably lead to the persecution stage.
The pattern is so clear, the enemy has been unveiled! Makes you want to call a church-wide fast; call out the prayer warriors, begin a series of mountain-top events to cast out persecution demons. But just hang on a moment. Who is defaming whom?
When Ted Haggard finally confessed to homosexual liaison with a male escort and had not only to leave the ministry that he founded but also the leadership of the umbrella body of evangelicals, National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in November 2006; who defamed whom?
When charismatic televangelists Randy and Paula White recently separated after years of a troubled marriage; when Thomas W. Weeks punched up his televangelist wife Juanita Bynum at a hotel parking lo,t and subsequently had to split; who defamed whom?
Who defamed whom when three former professors, John Swails, Tim Brooker and Paulita Brooker filed a suit against Oral Roberts University (ORU), its president and three administrators in October, stating they were wrongfully terminated or forced to leave after bringing alleged school secrets to light. According to these insiders, they lost their jobs as retaliation for pointing out possible financial and ethical indiscretions on the part of school officials, including President Richard Roberts, son of founder Oral Roberts. Also named in the suit are Mark Lewandowski, provost; Jeff Ogle, associate provost; and Wendy Shirk, dean of the College of Arts.
Who defamed whom when, in spite of the grave allegations against him and a no-confidence vote among tenured staff of the ORU, our dear Richard Roberts implied that it took God Himself to get him to resign his exalted position. A report quoting him said it was God who sealed his decision to submit his resignation as president of the university…. “Every ounce of my flesh said ‘no’ to the idea,” Roberts said after weeks of allegations surrounding his mishandling of school finances. After praying about the decision with his wife, he felt God was insisting that he step down. Earlier he said God had told him to deny the allegations leveled against him. Upon his resignation, Roberts said, “For the first time in 60 days, peace came into my heart.” He also claimed God had promised “something supernatural for the university” if he stepped down...
Still on the ORU debacle, these two quotes from the Ministry Report magazine might help answer the question, who is defaming whom: “I'm sure there is corruption everywhere. But if you're holding students to such a high standard, making them sign an honor code and live by these strict principles, I expect the administration to be living an even stricter set of principles. To see something like this, it feels empty, like an elaborate masquerade party.” (Ben Conner, ORU freshman).
“There was a time when the wagons would circle and we'd protect our own. But we don't know what our own is anymore. People are asking questions and questioning answers, and we're not used to it.” (Carlton Pearson, former member of the ORU board of regents and current United Church of Christ minister).
Need I add more? The Gary Cass theory might have been useful in the days behind the iron curtain; today it is seductive deception. What we have on our hands is a call to self-cleansing. Paranoia won’t do it; large bunches of hyssop applied with sobriety and humility will.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Wednesday 19 December 2007
MICHAEL AONDOAKAA, HERO OR VILLAIN?
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic, is fast becoming the issue in Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade. And depending on your perception of the man’s activities since coming to office, he can be either an impediment to the crusade or a stickler for the rule of law; a shield for the corrupt or a determined agent of change in the way sleaze is fought; a demagogue or a nationalist; an emerging hero or a burgeoning villain.
Beginning with that famous press conference where he announced that all anti-corruption prosecutions were to henceforth originate from his office, through the allegations and counter allegations on the roles played or being played by his office and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the attempt to prosecute ex-Governor Ibori, Aondoakaa has found himself in the thick of controversies.
I have tried to listen to the man, I have tried to read his lips and analyse his body language and I am humble enough to admit that I am none the wiser for my effort.
Take his rhetoric. He says he has the right under the law to supervise the anti-corruption agencies including the power to authorize or withhold approval for prosecution; that has not and, from what I understand, cannot be controverted. So his decision to allow the EFCC to continue to initiate prosecution and step in only when he considers it necessary to do so is an act of magnanimity!
He says the request for documentary evidence from the EFCC to pursue the case against Ibori was procedurally flawed. According to him, the request should have come from the British Home Office and not from a lowly officer at the London Metropolitan Police. In his books that is a slap in the face of our sovereignty as a nation. He also pointed out that the attempt by EFCC to aid the London Mets was also inappropriate, because, EFCC had not only sent documents without his knowledge, even the letter requesting his retroactive authorization did not include copies of the documents he was supposed to be authorizing the Commission to release.
His words, according to a recent newspaper report:
“In Nigeria, a Crown counsel is the equivalent of a state counsel, a level 8 officer. So, I refused and told them that they had to do the right thing. I think Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, deserves some respect. They knew they were wrong, otherwise why did they now write through the Home Office requesting for mutual assistance to quiz Adenuga? I cannot compromise the sovereignty of this country. If they make incompetent requests, I will turn them down 20 times. Any request from the Metropolitan Police will be refused by this office, period. We had made a request in 2004 to the Metropolitan Police. They faulted us and refused until we did the right thing. If they bring another request under the MLAT signed by the appropriate authorities, I will attend to it. .When I rejected their request on Ibori, the then British Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Gozney, came here with a superintendent to say that they did not mean to undermine the AGF and I agreed with them. What I am saying is that the procedure they adopted was wrong. Otherwise, why are they now doing the right thing in the case of Adenuga?”
On his refusal to authorise the use of evidence sent to British authorities by EFCC, he was quoted as follows:
“Now, how can I sign something which did not pass through my office? I do not know the documents in question because they were not even attached to the letter the commission sent to me. How can someone accuse me of shielding Ibori under such a circumstance? People should ask why the commission has not initiated his trial all this while. The truth is that the EFCC sent the documents to London without authority. That is the position of government. I did not write any letter to President Umaru Yar’Adua that Ibori should not be prosecuted. There is nothing like that. I simply refused the request for mutual legal assistance because it was procedurally flawed.”
But of course, this stance of Aondoakaa is being taken with a pinch of salt, dismissed as mere posturing while providing a shield for some governors who are said to be his friends.
Dr Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader is one of such people. A media report recently quoted him as saying that the Attorney General was working with some unnamed officials in the Presidency to ensure that Ibori did not stand trial. Clark, a lawyer and former national information minister specifically queried what he said was the AGF’s letter to his British counterpart in the United Kingdom, requesting the stoppage of the trial of Ibori in London. “There must be something going on between the AGF and Ibori, if he has approved six cases out of eight leaving Ibori’s, there must be something going on. He mentioned all Ibori’s associates and say they cannot be tried by the British Government,” he said.
Opinions such as Clark’s have endured in spite of an earlier assurance by the Presidency that there would be no shield for any corrupt Nigerian, no matter how highly placed.
Presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi had issued a very categorical statement on the issue when the Ibori case first broke into national consciousness. The statement read in part:
“In the particular case of Ibori, contrary to suggestions that Yar‘Adua and his administration are wilfully shielding the former governor from prosecution by the EFCC and the British authorities, the President has in fact authorised a visit to Nigeria by officers of the Metropolitan Police who are conducting a criminal investigation of Ibori.
“Furthermore, the President has directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to give the fullest possible cooperation to the officers of the Metropolitan Police in their quest for evidence of offences allegedly committed by Ibori. Because the war against corruption is a process and not an event, the President believes that it is best to follow the path of legality in its prosecution.
“He (Yar’Adua) is convinced that while this may seem unduly slow to some people, it will ultimately prove to be a much more effective and enduring approach to the war against corruption in our country. I reaffirm that as far as Yar‘Adua is concerned, nobody, no matter how highly placed, and no institution, no matter what it considers the rightness of its cause, will be considered a sacred cow or above the law in the bid to rid Nigeria of corrupt practices.”
Beautiful, forthright statement, don’t you think? Yet the doubts won’t go away. And you wonder why. I don’t know for sure, but as a person, I have the usual struggle between my head and my heart. My head, worldly wise and wont to cast do-gooders as the biblical angels of light says to distrust the minister and his principal. My heart, which is where issues of life emanate, says to give him a chance; to err on the side of due process.
I have decided to hearken to my heart. Due process, after all, is of God. As I remember saying on this page before, God could have arbitrarily snatched the world back from satan after Adam wilfully handed it to him in the Garden of Eden. He did not. He patiently went through the due process of raising the “Seed of the woman”, (Genesis 3:15) that is the Lord Jesus, to be born, walk the earth and eventually “utterly crush and eternally defeat Satan” and wrest the prize back from him.
That is the way of God. That is the way Aondoakaa and the President say they are treading. So, let’s give them a chance to prove their sincerity, after all, as the Lord Jesus Himself said “…there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known (Matthew 10:26).
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic, is fast becoming the issue in Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade. And depending on your perception of the man’s activities since coming to office, he can be either an impediment to the crusade or a stickler for the rule of law; a shield for the corrupt or a determined agent of change in the way sleaze is fought; a demagogue or a nationalist; an emerging hero or a burgeoning villain.
Beginning with that famous press conference where he announced that all anti-corruption prosecutions were to henceforth originate from his office, through the allegations and counter allegations on the roles played or being played by his office and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the attempt to prosecute ex-Governor Ibori, Aondoakaa has found himself in the thick of controversies.
I have tried to listen to the man, I have tried to read his lips and analyse his body language and I am humble enough to admit that I am none the wiser for my effort.
Take his rhetoric. He says he has the right under the law to supervise the anti-corruption agencies including the power to authorize or withhold approval for prosecution; that has not and, from what I understand, cannot be controverted. So his decision to allow the EFCC to continue to initiate prosecution and step in only when he considers it necessary to do so is an act of magnanimity!
He says the request for documentary evidence from the EFCC to pursue the case against Ibori was procedurally flawed. According to him, the request should have come from the British Home Office and not from a lowly officer at the London Metropolitan Police. In his books that is a slap in the face of our sovereignty as a nation. He also pointed out that the attempt by EFCC to aid the London Mets was also inappropriate, because, EFCC had not only sent documents without his knowledge, even the letter requesting his retroactive authorization did not include copies of the documents he was supposed to be authorizing the Commission to release.
His words, according to a recent newspaper report:
“In Nigeria, a Crown counsel is the equivalent of a state counsel, a level 8 officer. So, I refused and told them that they had to do the right thing. I think Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, deserves some respect. They knew they were wrong, otherwise why did they now write through the Home Office requesting for mutual assistance to quiz Adenuga? I cannot compromise the sovereignty of this country. If they make incompetent requests, I will turn them down 20 times. Any request from the Metropolitan Police will be refused by this office, period. We had made a request in 2004 to the Metropolitan Police. They faulted us and refused until we did the right thing. If they bring another request under the MLAT signed by the appropriate authorities, I will attend to it. .When I rejected their request on Ibori, the then British Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Gozney, came here with a superintendent to say that they did not mean to undermine the AGF and I agreed with them. What I am saying is that the procedure they adopted was wrong. Otherwise, why are they now doing the right thing in the case of Adenuga?”
On his refusal to authorise the use of evidence sent to British authorities by EFCC, he was quoted as follows:
“Now, how can I sign something which did not pass through my office? I do not know the documents in question because they were not even attached to the letter the commission sent to me. How can someone accuse me of shielding Ibori under such a circumstance? People should ask why the commission has not initiated his trial all this while. The truth is that the EFCC sent the documents to London without authority. That is the position of government. I did not write any letter to President Umaru Yar’Adua that Ibori should not be prosecuted. There is nothing like that. I simply refused the request for mutual legal assistance because it was procedurally flawed.”
But of course, this stance of Aondoakaa is being taken with a pinch of salt, dismissed as mere posturing while providing a shield for some governors who are said to be his friends.
Dr Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader is one of such people. A media report recently quoted him as saying that the Attorney General was working with some unnamed officials in the Presidency to ensure that Ibori did not stand trial. Clark, a lawyer and former national information minister specifically queried what he said was the AGF’s letter to his British counterpart in the United Kingdom, requesting the stoppage of the trial of Ibori in London. “There must be something going on between the AGF and Ibori, if he has approved six cases out of eight leaving Ibori’s, there must be something going on. He mentioned all Ibori’s associates and say they cannot be tried by the British Government,” he said.
Opinions such as Clark’s have endured in spite of an earlier assurance by the Presidency that there would be no shield for any corrupt Nigerian, no matter how highly placed.
Presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi had issued a very categorical statement on the issue when the Ibori case first broke into national consciousness. The statement read in part:
“In the particular case of Ibori, contrary to suggestions that Yar‘Adua and his administration are wilfully shielding the former governor from prosecution by the EFCC and the British authorities, the President has in fact authorised a visit to Nigeria by officers of the Metropolitan Police who are conducting a criminal investigation of Ibori.
“Furthermore, the President has directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to give the fullest possible cooperation to the officers of the Metropolitan Police in their quest for evidence of offences allegedly committed by Ibori. Because the war against corruption is a process and not an event, the President believes that it is best to follow the path of legality in its prosecution.
“He (Yar’Adua) is convinced that while this may seem unduly slow to some people, it will ultimately prove to be a much more effective and enduring approach to the war against corruption in our country. I reaffirm that as far as Yar‘Adua is concerned, nobody, no matter how highly placed, and no institution, no matter what it considers the rightness of its cause, will be considered a sacred cow or above the law in the bid to rid Nigeria of corrupt practices.”
Beautiful, forthright statement, don’t you think? Yet the doubts won’t go away. And you wonder why. I don’t know for sure, but as a person, I have the usual struggle between my head and my heart. My head, worldly wise and wont to cast do-gooders as the biblical angels of light says to distrust the minister and his principal. My heart, which is where issues of life emanate, says to give him a chance; to err on the side of due process.
I have decided to hearken to my heart. Due process, after all, is of God. As I remember saying on this page before, God could have arbitrarily snatched the world back from satan after Adam wilfully handed it to him in the Garden of Eden. He did not. He patiently went through the due process of raising the “Seed of the woman”, (Genesis 3:15) that is the Lord Jesus, to be born, walk the earth and eventually “utterly crush and eternally defeat Satan” and wrest the prize back from him.
That is the way of God. That is the way Aondoakaa and the President say they are treading. So, let’s give them a chance to prove their sincerity, after all, as the Lord Jesus Himself said “…there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known (Matthew 10:26).
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Sunday 2 December 2007
INTEGRITY CHECK FOR THE CHURCH (3)
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
As we were saying, two recent developments: one here in Nigeria, the other in the United States may well be pointing in the direction of critical self-examination in the church.
To refresh your memory, reports emanating from the Federal Ministry of Finance indicate that at least one well-known church may have been implicated in the import duty waiver policy abuse that has led to the policy’s suspension. Specifically, it was said that waivers granted the church for the importation of building materials were extended to cover other imports. The value of duty thus evaded was, according to a media report, put at up to N20 billion.
Two investigations, I believe, are on-going; a general one by a panel led by Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma and the other hopefully by the Christian Association of Nigeria which requested for and eventually received certain documentary evidence of the church’s involvement in what one newspaper has dubbed “a holy scam.” Further comments on this particular issue must therefore await the report of these probes both of which we expect would be placed in the public domain.
The development in the US, on the other hand, revolves round an investigation into the uses to which churches are putting the finances collected by way of tithes, offerings and other collections for which they are tax exempt. Citing reports and complaints reaching his office, Senator Charles Chucks Grassler, an influential member of the Senate Committee on Finance wrote letters to six of the top Pentecostal/charismatic ministries asking detailed questions about their expenses pattern and the tax exempt status of some specific expenses or associated projects or establishments. The six who received and have till December 6 to reply the letters are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
As in the Nigerian case, it would be premature to comment on the culpability or otherwise of any or al the ministries until Senator Grassler and his colleagues on the finance committee conclude their assignment. So, I shall refrain from doing so. It’s however probably not out of place to attempt to read the handwriting on the wall.
First, let me state that the power of the Senate of the United States of America, to initiate the kind of investigation that Grassler is undertaking, derives from the oversight function of the legislature on issues pertaining to public finance. And if you wonder how the account of religious bodies could fit into the realm of public finance, read this quote from Grassler’s press release on the issue: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Second, I wish to state that, from my little knowledge of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the National Assembly has similar oversight powers and so can, should it feel a need to do so in the public interest, conduct such an investigation for the same reasons.
Thirdly, I also state that initiators of any such investigations in Nigeria will be subjected to emotional and religious blackmail, no matter who they are, their antecedents and intentions, but in the end, should they persevere, I would be surprised if they do not unearth cans and cans of worms (no puns intended).
I know for sure that I am treading on dangerous grounds here and might even be accused of inciting the legislature against the church, with such dire consequences as calls for my excommunication! No matter. This is an issue, I believe we need to be in your face about and that’s what I propose to do in my own little way.
Let’s begin with the tax exempt status of our churches and ministries. The status is universally conferred on not-for-profit organizations. This is as it should be because, if the profit motive is not the reason for your existence, there is technically nothing to tax. But what happens when a not-for-profit body establishes profit-making associates? Should such an associated company be exempted from tax?
A typical scenario goes like this: A ministry sustains itself from the tithes, offerings and other donations from members of the public, including, but not limited to its members and congregants. From this tax-free income, it establishes a book store, video and audio tape shop and sometimes even a printing press. Whether the materials and services sold in these outlets are solely those of that ministry or not, profit is made from such operations. Should such profit be tax-free particularly as the products and services are hardly ever subsidized?
Incidentally, this situation is clearly exemplified by the fees being charged by secondary and tertiary educational institutions established by churches and ministries. As I was preparing this article, a brother told me of a secondary school whose fees are so high that the teachers who are members of the owner-ministry and who live on the campus cannot afford the fees and so send there children to schools outside the campus residence. In addition to the tax exempt status of such institutions is the issue of how well staffers of these ministries and ministry-owned institutions are remunerated.
There is the issue of the fixing of remuneration for ministers. How much should a general overseer or superintendent or presiding bishop earn? Who fixes such income and by what criteria? Of course this speaks directly also to the issue of whether not-for-profit organizations should be run as sole-proprietorships. In other words, is a ministry independent of its founder or are they one and the same legal persons? What obtains today, with very few exceptions, is that there is no difference.
We can go on and on. The point being made, however, is simple: if the system in the USA threw up a Senator Grassler, it certainly will incarnate one in Nigeria sooner or later. And like Grassler, he might even be an anointed, tongue-talking, devil-chasing, born-again Christian; so that there won’t be convincing ground for demonisation.
To everyone who reads this and is wont to begin the name-calling right now, I commend the scripture in 1Corinthians Chapter 11 and verse 31 which the Message renders like this: “If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on.” That is my call to the Church.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
As we were saying, two recent developments: one here in Nigeria, the other in the United States may well be pointing in the direction of critical self-examination in the church.
To refresh your memory, reports emanating from the Federal Ministry of Finance indicate that at least one well-known church may have been implicated in the import duty waiver policy abuse that has led to the policy’s suspension. Specifically, it was said that waivers granted the church for the importation of building materials were extended to cover other imports. The value of duty thus evaded was, according to a media report, put at up to N20 billion.
Two investigations, I believe, are on-going; a general one by a panel led by Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma and the other hopefully by the Christian Association of Nigeria which requested for and eventually received certain documentary evidence of the church’s involvement in what one newspaper has dubbed “a holy scam.” Further comments on this particular issue must therefore await the report of these probes both of which we expect would be placed in the public domain.
The development in the US, on the other hand, revolves round an investigation into the uses to which churches are putting the finances collected by way of tithes, offerings and other collections for which they are tax exempt. Citing reports and complaints reaching his office, Senator Charles Chucks Grassler, an influential member of the Senate Committee on Finance wrote letters to six of the top Pentecostal/charismatic ministries asking detailed questions about their expenses pattern and the tax exempt status of some specific expenses or associated projects or establishments. The six who received and have till December 6 to reply the letters are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
As in the Nigerian case, it would be premature to comment on the culpability or otherwise of any or al the ministries until Senator Grassler and his colleagues on the finance committee conclude their assignment. So, I shall refrain from doing so. It’s however probably not out of place to attempt to read the handwriting on the wall.
First, let me state that the power of the Senate of the United States of America, to initiate the kind of investigation that Grassler is undertaking, derives from the oversight function of the legislature on issues pertaining to public finance. And if you wonder how the account of religious bodies could fit into the realm of public finance, read this quote from Grassler’s press release on the issue: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Second, I wish to state that, from my little knowledge of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the National Assembly has similar oversight powers and so can, should it feel a need to do so in the public interest, conduct such an investigation for the same reasons.
Thirdly, I also state that initiators of any such investigations in Nigeria will be subjected to emotional and religious blackmail, no matter who they are, their antecedents and intentions, but in the end, should they persevere, I would be surprised if they do not unearth cans and cans of worms (no puns intended).
I know for sure that I am treading on dangerous grounds here and might even be accused of inciting the legislature against the church, with such dire consequences as calls for my excommunication! No matter. This is an issue, I believe we need to be in your face about and that’s what I propose to do in my own little way.
Let’s begin with the tax exempt status of our churches and ministries. The status is universally conferred on not-for-profit organizations. This is as it should be because, if the profit motive is not the reason for your existence, there is technically nothing to tax. But what happens when a not-for-profit body establishes profit-making associates? Should such an associated company be exempted from tax?
A typical scenario goes like this: A ministry sustains itself from the tithes, offerings and other donations from members of the public, including, but not limited to its members and congregants. From this tax-free income, it establishes a book store, video and audio tape shop and sometimes even a printing press. Whether the materials and services sold in these outlets are solely those of that ministry or not, profit is made from such operations. Should such profit be tax-free particularly as the products and services are hardly ever subsidized?
Incidentally, this situation is clearly exemplified by the fees being charged by secondary and tertiary educational institutions established by churches and ministries. As I was preparing this article, a brother told me of a secondary school whose fees are so high that the teachers who are members of the owner-ministry and who live on the campus cannot afford the fees and so send there children to schools outside the campus residence. In addition to the tax exempt status of such institutions is the issue of how well staffers of these ministries and ministry-owned institutions are remunerated.
There is the issue of the fixing of remuneration for ministers. How much should a general overseer or superintendent or presiding bishop earn? Who fixes such income and by what criteria? Of course this speaks directly also to the issue of whether not-for-profit organizations should be run as sole-proprietorships. In other words, is a ministry independent of its founder or are they one and the same legal persons? What obtains today, with very few exceptions, is that there is no difference.
We can go on and on. The point being made, however, is simple: if the system in the USA threw up a Senator Grassler, it certainly will incarnate one in Nigeria sooner or later. And like Grassler, he might even be an anointed, tongue-talking, devil-chasing, born-again Christian; so that there won’t be convincing ground for demonisation.
To everyone who reads this and is wont to begin the name-calling right now, I commend the scripture in 1Corinthians Chapter 11 and verse 31 which the Message renders like this: “If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on.” That is my call to the Church.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
INTEGRITY CHECK FOR THE CHURCH (2)
KPerspective November 25 2007
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Last week, I drew attention to an altercation between the Federal Ministry of Finance and The Christian Association of Nigeria. As we saw, one of the reasons the Yar’Adua government suspended and is currently reviewing the previous administration’s import duty waiver policy is its widespread abuse; and among those being fingered for the abuse is at least one church.
Unfortunately, because the finance minister is a Moslem, it is all too easy to read motives other than the public good to his public declaration of the church’s culpability. And that would seem to be what CAN, through National Secretary Salifu implied in the first reaction when the news broke. The minister’s subsequent response and at least one newspaper report would seem to suggest, however, that there might be something in it worth our collective attention as members of the body of Christ, the Church. Which is why, I see in it the first note in a clarion call on the church to do an integrity check; a clarion that is bound to increase several decibels per day this season of the flood of righteousness. To see it otherwise, in my humble view, is to miss the import of this call to integrity and that would be truly tragic.
This is particularly so because, as I intimated last week, it does seem that the call to integrity in the church is not limited to Nigeria. And we need to understand it for what it is - yet another evidence that these are the end-times and the Lord Jesus is determined to come back for a glorious church.
As you read this, six of the more prominent Pentecostal ministers in the United States of America would most probably be getting their acts together to send, as Charisma magazine editor, J. Lee Grady put it in a recent column, “a boatload of paperwork to prove they are in compliance with U.S. tax laws”. This would be in reply to a request by Senator Charles Chucks Grassley, described as “the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.” The Big Six who received Grassley’s letter are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
Giving reasons for initiating this investigation, Grassley said in a media release: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Towards achieving his objectives, Grassley asked the six ministries to send to him, within a month from November 6, which was when the letters were faxed to them, a long list of explanations, clarifications and documents.
For example, the letter to Joyce Meyer and her husband, David required of them the following in the words of a newspaper report:
• A "detailed accounting" of all her and her husband's expense-account items, including clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• Information about any overseas bank accounts and deposits made outside the U.S. after international evangelical crusades.
• The tax-exempt purpose of items purchased for her ministry's headquarters, such as a $23,000 marble-topped commode, a $30,000 conference table and an $11,219 French clock.
• A detailed accounting of total monthly expenses for upkeep on the Meyers' personal residence, and any vacation homes, from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation of any personal use of the ministries' tax-exempt assets, including "jets, employees, facilities," from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation for how personal gifts from donors, such as money or jewelry, are handled and reported to the IRS.
Randy and Paula White, divorced pastors of Without Walls Ministries were asked for:
• A detailed explanation of the compensation paid to them, as well as cash and noncash gifts, housing allowances and personal use of assets.
• A detailed list of any expenses paid for by their church or ministries toward the purchases and monthly maintenance of their residences on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, and in New York, San Antonio and Malibu, Calif.
• Credit card statements for expenses paid by their tax-exempt entity, including a list of all expense account items such as clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• A list of all domestic and overseas bank accounts and investments belonging to their organizations.
• A list of all vehicles purchased, leased or maintained by their tax-exempt organizations.
• Copies of flight records of any aircraft leased or owned by their ministries, as well as flight itineraries for both of them.
• A copy of the bill of sale, type of payment used and an explanation of the reported tax-exempt purchase of a Bentley convertible as a gift for Bishop T.D. Jakes.
• A detailed accounting of $871,000 worth of items reportedly sold to the church since 2005 by two of the private businesses owned by them, and an explanation as to who determined that the church would purchase these items.
• An explanation of who determines how the funds of Without Walls and Paula White Ministries are spent, copies of all board minutes and whether any of the decisions, both operational and financial, are subject to oversight by an elected or appointed body.
Lee Grady summarized other key requirements listed in Grassley’s letters as follows:
• Information from Bible teacher Joyce Meyer about expensive furnishings in her Missouri headquarters—including a $30,000 malachite table, a $23,000 toilet with a marble lid and a $19,000 pair of Dresden vases
• Paperwork explaining how Benny Hinn’s ministry purchased his $3 million home in Dana Point, Calif.
• Receipts and other records explaining how Eddie Long paid for his $1.4 million estate on 20 acres in suburban Atlanta
• Records about vacation trips to Hawaii and Fiji that Kenneth and Gloria Copeland took using their ministry plane
• Clarification from Atlanta faith preacher Creflo Dollar about his role in raising a hefty portion of a $2 million gift donated to Kenneth Copeland.
Of course, reactions have been fast and furious with one of the most strident coming from Paul Crouch Jnr of Trinity Broadcasting Network who described Grassley’s effort as “an inquisition”.
Incidentally, Grassley is not a newcomer to this particular kind of exertion. In the words of Grady, “Grassley has been applauded in the past for blowing the whistle on financial abuses among secular nonprofit organizations including the American Red Cross.” So, it would be hard to make a tag of anti-Christianity on him stick. And as some commentators have already noted, any attempt to demonise the senator might rob the church of a wonderful opportunity to do an integrity check. That as I said earlier would be tragic indeed. (CONTINUES NEXT WEEK)
FROM MY IN-BOX
LET’S WALK OUR TALK
Lots of beautifully scripted words in your article, but I think for me, the 5th to the last paragraph in your commentary captures the essence of what's happening (or has already happened to our men & women of "character") - the human being you n I see and worship with in Church is the same human being we see and work with in our various offices. Where human BEINGS not "human robots" or "humanoid replicas"
cannot, refuse to or omit to STAND UP FOR the truth whether in Church, at work, at school or at play, the present situation we have will persist.
I recently met an elderly man on one of my marketing visits to a multinational company. He is neither an ordained Pastor nor a General Overseer of any Church.
He is presently a Departmental Head in his place of work. He told me that years ago (almost 2 decades now), he made a conscious decision to ensure the employment of qualified Christians. (He meets you, your CV is ok, he forwards it to his Human Resources Dept and follows through until you come in or they formally decline). Please note that he has never worked in the Human Resources Dept of the Company. He says that he realized then that many Christians never ever get the opportunity to "access" highly paid jobs in some "coveted" sectors of the economy. It may interest you to know that one pastor has worked in the Human Resource Dept of the same Company for years (and is still working) and no-one else in his Church has "made it in".
We speak a lot of English on these matters, but you and I can count how many of us "spiritual people" in Church really walk our talk. Do what you can, though. Maybe, God willing, some of the people who read y6our column or visit your site will be convicted by the Lord to do something more. Stay blessed!
CHERIE DIBIANA (Mrs)
Lagos, Nigeria
GOD IS MOVING AGAIN
I have taken time to go through the November Kingdom Perspective and I believe God is moving again in this country by using people like you to stir up hearts of men - after all, issues of life flow therefrom. It has certainly made good impact on me and made me do a re-think of what our life is worth without character? Someone once defined character of any man as '' what a man thinks, says and does in the closet''- i.e. a man is what he is when nobody else is watching him.
Once again, thank you for your labour of love and may the Lord reward you mightily in Jesus name. Blessings!!
SEGUN ASABA
Lagos, Nigeria.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Last week, I drew attention to an altercation between the Federal Ministry of Finance and The Christian Association of Nigeria. As we saw, one of the reasons the Yar’Adua government suspended and is currently reviewing the previous administration’s import duty waiver policy is its widespread abuse; and among those being fingered for the abuse is at least one church.
Unfortunately, because the finance minister is a Moslem, it is all too easy to read motives other than the public good to his public declaration of the church’s culpability. And that would seem to be what CAN, through National Secretary Salifu implied in the first reaction when the news broke. The minister’s subsequent response and at least one newspaper report would seem to suggest, however, that there might be something in it worth our collective attention as members of the body of Christ, the Church. Which is why, I see in it the first note in a clarion call on the church to do an integrity check; a clarion that is bound to increase several decibels per day this season of the flood of righteousness. To see it otherwise, in my humble view, is to miss the import of this call to integrity and that would be truly tragic.
This is particularly so because, as I intimated last week, it does seem that the call to integrity in the church is not limited to Nigeria. And we need to understand it for what it is - yet another evidence that these are the end-times and the Lord Jesus is determined to come back for a glorious church.
As you read this, six of the more prominent Pentecostal ministers in the United States of America would most probably be getting their acts together to send, as Charisma magazine editor, J. Lee Grady put it in a recent column, “a boatload of paperwork to prove they are in compliance with U.S. tax laws”. This would be in reply to a request by Senator Charles Chucks Grassley, described as “the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.” The Big Six who received Grassley’s letter are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
Giving reasons for initiating this investigation, Grassley said in a media release: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Towards achieving his objectives, Grassley asked the six ministries to send to him, within a month from November 6, which was when the letters were faxed to them, a long list of explanations, clarifications and documents.
For example, the letter to Joyce Meyer and her husband, David required of them the following in the words of a newspaper report:
• A "detailed accounting" of all her and her husband's expense-account items, including clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• Information about any overseas bank accounts and deposits made outside the U.S. after international evangelical crusades.
• The tax-exempt purpose of items purchased for her ministry's headquarters, such as a $23,000 marble-topped commode, a $30,000 conference table and an $11,219 French clock.
• A detailed accounting of total monthly expenses for upkeep on the Meyers' personal residence, and any vacation homes, from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation of any personal use of the ministries' tax-exempt assets, including "jets, employees, facilities," from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation for how personal gifts from donors, such as money or jewelry, are handled and reported to the IRS.
Randy and Paula White, divorced pastors of Without Walls Ministries were asked for:
• A detailed explanation of the compensation paid to them, as well as cash and noncash gifts, housing allowances and personal use of assets.
• A detailed list of any expenses paid for by their church or ministries toward the purchases and monthly maintenance of their residences on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, and in New York, San Antonio and Malibu, Calif.
• Credit card statements for expenses paid by their tax-exempt entity, including a list of all expense account items such as clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• A list of all domestic and overseas bank accounts and investments belonging to their organizations.
• A list of all vehicles purchased, leased or maintained by their tax-exempt organizations.
• Copies of flight records of any aircraft leased or owned by their ministries, as well as flight itineraries for both of them.
• A copy of the bill of sale, type of payment used and an explanation of the reported tax-exempt purchase of a Bentley convertible as a gift for Bishop T.D. Jakes.
• A detailed accounting of $871,000 worth of items reportedly sold to the church since 2005 by two of the private businesses owned by them, and an explanation as to who determined that the church would purchase these items.
• An explanation of who determines how the funds of Without Walls and Paula White Ministries are spent, copies of all board minutes and whether any of the decisions, both operational and financial, are subject to oversight by an elected or appointed body.
Lee Grady summarized other key requirements listed in Grassley’s letters as follows:
• Information from Bible teacher Joyce Meyer about expensive furnishings in her Missouri headquarters—including a $30,000 malachite table, a $23,000 toilet with a marble lid and a $19,000 pair of Dresden vases
• Paperwork explaining how Benny Hinn’s ministry purchased his $3 million home in Dana Point, Calif.
• Receipts and other records explaining how Eddie Long paid for his $1.4 million estate on 20 acres in suburban Atlanta
• Records about vacation trips to Hawaii and Fiji that Kenneth and Gloria Copeland took using their ministry plane
• Clarification from Atlanta faith preacher Creflo Dollar about his role in raising a hefty portion of a $2 million gift donated to Kenneth Copeland.
Of course, reactions have been fast and furious with one of the most strident coming from Paul Crouch Jnr of Trinity Broadcasting Network who described Grassley’s effort as “an inquisition”.
Incidentally, Grassley is not a newcomer to this particular kind of exertion. In the words of Grady, “Grassley has been applauded in the past for blowing the whistle on financial abuses among secular nonprofit organizations including the American Red Cross.” So, it would be hard to make a tag of anti-Christianity on him stick. And as some commentators have already noted, any attempt to demonise the senator might rob the church of a wonderful opportunity to do an integrity check. That as I said earlier would be tragic indeed. (CONTINUES NEXT WEEK)
FROM MY IN-BOX
LET’S WALK OUR TALK
Lots of beautifully scripted words in your article, but I think for me, the 5th to the last paragraph in your commentary captures the essence of what's happening (or has already happened to our men & women of "character") - the human being you n I see and worship with in Church is the same human being we see and work with in our various offices. Where human BEINGS not "human robots" or "humanoid replicas"
cannot, refuse to or omit to STAND UP FOR the truth whether in Church, at work, at school or at play, the present situation we have will persist.
I recently met an elderly man on one of my marketing visits to a multinational company. He is neither an ordained Pastor nor a General Overseer of any Church.
He is presently a Departmental Head in his place of work. He told me that years ago (almost 2 decades now), he made a conscious decision to ensure the employment of qualified Christians. (He meets you, your CV is ok, he forwards it to his Human Resources Dept and follows through until you come in or they formally decline). Please note that he has never worked in the Human Resources Dept of the Company. He says that he realized then that many Christians never ever get the opportunity to "access" highly paid jobs in some "coveted" sectors of the economy. It may interest you to know that one pastor has worked in the Human Resource Dept of the same Company for years (and is still working) and no-one else in his Church has "made it in".
We speak a lot of English on these matters, but you and I can count how many of us "spiritual people" in Church really walk our talk. Do what you can, though. Maybe, God willing, some of the people who read y6our column or visit your site will be convicted by the Lord to do something more. Stay blessed!
CHERIE DIBIANA (Mrs)
Lagos, Nigeria
GOD IS MOVING AGAIN
I have taken time to go through the November Kingdom Perspective and I believe God is moving again in this country by using people like you to stir up hearts of men - after all, issues of life flow therefrom. It has certainly made good impact on me and made me do a re-think of what our life is worth without character? Someone once defined character of any man as '' what a man thinks, says and does in the closet''- i.e. a man is what he is when nobody else is watching him.
Once again, thank you for your labour of love and may the Lord reward you mightily in Jesus name. Blessings!!
SEGUN ASABA
Lagos, Nigeria.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Tuesday 20 November 2007
INTEGRITY CHECK FOR THE CHURCH
A very interesting drama is playing out between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Christian Association of Nigeria. And it has all the potentials of a thriller; one that the tabloids can increase circulation by and make money from.
The story goes like this. Sometimes in September, Dr Shamsudeen Usman, Federal Minister of Finance addressed the media on why the government had to put on hold the granting of import duty waivers which was put in place by the last administration. He predicated the decision on wide spread abuse of the policy. In the process, he mentioned that some churches were among beneficiaries of the waivers through which certain importers are exempted from paying customs duty on items that would normally have attracted duties.
The Christian Association of Nigeria reacted on October 1 through National Secretary, Engr S. L.S. Salifu. Among other things, he was reported to have knocked the Minister for making unsubstantiated allegations against churches and then failing to reply his letter asking to be furnished with more information about the issue.
Apparently angered by the association’s attempt to impute untoward motives to the policy, the Minister, in a reply signed by his Special Assistant (Media), debunked the claim that he had not responded to their letter. While admitting that the reply was not prompt because the Minister was out of the country, he said a reply to his inquiry had indeed been sent.
The minister wrote: “…We were therefore shocked by your inaccurate and misleading public comments about the subject matter and the person of the Honourable Minister while efforts were on to process your request as directed...”
And in order to put the record straight, the Minister quoted what he described as the relevant portion of his statement at the media meeting as follows: “When we issue these tax incentives, what is the purpose? Are we achieving the purpose, or are we just giving up revenue? I was surprised. When you look at the list… I asked for the full list of all the waivers we’ve given from the Customs, FIRS, especially in those two areas. A lot of government departments are asking, a lot of state governments are asking for these waivers. Then some private sector parties, (you know). And even churches! Some people will say churches? Yes! Churches can get waivers but when you see the amount of money involved, you then ask, what is a church doing with such kind of money? A state government, I mean, somebody is organizing some game, and he gets a waiver to import 600 motor cars. What do you need 600 or 800 motors vehicles for? I mean, there is serious abuse in this area that has to be stopped! “
He pointed out that nowhere in his address to the press did he link the importation of 600 vehicles to any church saying that he “only expressed general reservation over inappropriate issuance of tax waivers to various levels of governments, agencies and non-corporates such as faith-based organizations – because of the massive loss of revenue involved, and the continued implication of this to our nation.”
The Minister then attached, “as a proof of his concern over the possible abuse to which they can be deployed,” two samples of such import waiver details, granted to a particular church, to show “the colossal amount involved, items imported and revenue implication to the nation.”
His conclusion: “Now that you have been adequately availed of facts of the matter, I have no doubt that as a man of God, you will take necessary measures to correct your misrepresentation of the Honourable Minister, especially in the eyes of your members – whom you said had inundated your office with requests for clarification on the subject matter as contained in your letter under reference.”
Saturday Sun, which is my source for most this, has been making a meal out of this developing story. In a front pager that was characteristically headlined, “HOLY SCAM…Obasanjo's church in N20 billion import waiver deals “, the newspaper three weeks ago, detailed some what it sub-headed as a N20billion Deal.
Identifying the beneficiary church involved as “one of the numerous by the Lagos/Ibadan highways which have created infamy for disrupting traffic flow and business activities in the nation at their functions”, the newspaper quoted from what it described as “a very valid and indisputable document obtained from a usually very reliable Presidency source” as follows:
That the beneficiary church “in 2006 got an import waiver of N9,831,109,309.00 through certificate number, BO/REV/12235/S.2/T.133 to import into Nigeria: construction materials; generators and vehicles. But the total value of the imports was N49,155,546,846.00”;
That “in 2007… through a memo number: BO/R10260/V111/161, the church was granted the extraordinary favour to import building/construction materials valued at N48,988,454,876.00 with a total waiver of N9,757,690.975.20. The two waivers total N19,588,800,284,20, while the bulk transactions amount to N98,144,347,130.20.”
Now, it must be stated that it is not unheard of for churches and registered charities to request for and be granted import waivers for goods such as medical equipment, educational materials and items for the needy donated to them from associates abroad. And if a case could be made for building materials, so be it. But the snag in this case, if Saturday Sun is to be believed, was ”that the said building materials were only a generic name used to bring in goods that should ordinarily have attracted huge tariffs.” The newspaper claimed “that some of the items purchased with the waiver include 300 cars - worth $6,923,000, 100 Jeeps (SUV) - worth $8,000,000, Video Equipment - worth $12,000,000.00, Plastic chair moulds - $769, Building materials, etc.”
The import of these – the Finance Minister’s letter to Engr Salifu and the public expose by the Sun – is that the ball would seem to have returned to Christian Association of Nigeria’s court. It now has a duty to get to the root of this matter and make its findings public, whatever that may be.
Interestingly the call to integrity in the church is not restricted to Nigeria. A similar scenario is playing out in the United States and next week we shall together examine what I see as this new move of God.
TO MY FRIEND, TUNDE
Olufemi Iyanda Omo-Baale, better known as Femi Ogunleye was the Public Relations Manager at Nigeria Airways at the time of this little tale. But this is not a piece about Omo-Baale who has since become the Baale of his Akinale, Ogun State community. He had facilitated a trip for yours sincerely to the United Kingdom and requested that I delivered a message to a certain friend of his.
Dutifully, I called up this friend of his and since he was out, left a message with his wife. On getting the message, this friend called me, wondering what I was doing in a hotel room and offered to come pick me up the following day, if it was alright by me. He did and that was how I met Stephen Babatunde Fagbenle, who you sure know simply as Tunde Fagbenle, now a syndicated columnist.
Tunde’s place, then at Tavistock Road, was in the late 70s and early 80s the alternate Nigeria House. It was a place many Nigerians found the succour, the general assistance that the Nigeria High Commission could not offer. His was that place where you could find eba, okro and cowleg at virtually any hour of the day.
We became friends and subsequently business partners, publishing together, Nigeria Banking Annual (incorporating Who’s who in Nigeria) and instituted the prestigious Nigeria Banker of the Year Award, among many other things.
Tunde does nothing by half! He is a full time husband, father, friend, club member, tennis player whatever! Whatever Tunde does, including being your friend, he does with all his heart. He and his wonderful wife, Buki, last year played parents to our dear son during his graduation at Richmond, (the American International University in London). He as usual did so with all his heart. He’s probably going to scold me for all of this, but I feel so good doing this. I once sent him a text in which I said that his life preaches more effective sermons than many fiery preachers do from their pulpits. He mildly rebuked me for it, but that about sums up my feeling about this wonderful man who turned 60 recently.
I could not be part of the celebration in London, and somehow never got to hear about the Nigerian “edition” until it was over and done with. Here then is my toast to a man with a heart of gold. God bless and keep you Tunde, and reveal himself to you in an even greater dimension in the years ahead.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
The story goes like this. Sometimes in September, Dr Shamsudeen Usman, Federal Minister of Finance addressed the media on why the government had to put on hold the granting of import duty waivers which was put in place by the last administration. He predicated the decision on wide spread abuse of the policy. In the process, he mentioned that some churches were among beneficiaries of the waivers through which certain importers are exempted from paying customs duty on items that would normally have attracted duties.
The Christian Association of Nigeria reacted on October 1 through National Secretary, Engr S. L.S. Salifu. Among other things, he was reported to have knocked the Minister for making unsubstantiated allegations against churches and then failing to reply his letter asking to be furnished with more information about the issue.
Apparently angered by the association’s attempt to impute untoward motives to the policy, the Minister, in a reply signed by his Special Assistant (Media), debunked the claim that he had not responded to their letter. While admitting that the reply was not prompt because the Minister was out of the country, he said a reply to his inquiry had indeed been sent.
The minister wrote: “…We were therefore shocked by your inaccurate and misleading public comments about the subject matter and the person of the Honourable Minister while efforts were on to process your request as directed...”
And in order to put the record straight, the Minister quoted what he described as the relevant portion of his statement at the media meeting as follows: “When we issue these tax incentives, what is the purpose? Are we achieving the purpose, or are we just giving up revenue? I was surprised. When you look at the list… I asked for the full list of all the waivers we’ve given from the Customs, FIRS, especially in those two areas. A lot of government departments are asking, a lot of state governments are asking for these waivers. Then some private sector parties, (you know). And even churches! Some people will say churches? Yes! Churches can get waivers but when you see the amount of money involved, you then ask, what is a church doing with such kind of money? A state government, I mean, somebody is organizing some game, and he gets a waiver to import 600 motor cars. What do you need 600 or 800 motors vehicles for? I mean, there is serious abuse in this area that has to be stopped! “
He pointed out that nowhere in his address to the press did he link the importation of 600 vehicles to any church saying that he “only expressed general reservation over inappropriate issuance of tax waivers to various levels of governments, agencies and non-corporates such as faith-based organizations – because of the massive loss of revenue involved, and the continued implication of this to our nation.”
The Minister then attached, “as a proof of his concern over the possible abuse to which they can be deployed,” two samples of such import waiver details, granted to a particular church, to show “the colossal amount involved, items imported and revenue implication to the nation.”
His conclusion: “Now that you have been adequately availed of facts of the matter, I have no doubt that as a man of God, you will take necessary measures to correct your misrepresentation of the Honourable Minister, especially in the eyes of your members – whom you said had inundated your office with requests for clarification on the subject matter as contained in your letter under reference.”
Saturday Sun, which is my source for most this, has been making a meal out of this developing story. In a front pager that was characteristically headlined, “HOLY SCAM…Obasanjo's church in N20 billion import waiver deals “, the newspaper three weeks ago, detailed some what it sub-headed as a N20billion Deal.
Identifying the beneficiary church involved as “one of the numerous by the Lagos/Ibadan highways which have created infamy for disrupting traffic flow and business activities in the nation at their functions”, the newspaper quoted from what it described as “a very valid and indisputable document obtained from a usually very reliable Presidency source” as follows:
That the beneficiary church “in 2006 got an import waiver of N9,831,109,309.00 through certificate number, BO/REV/12235/S.2/T.133 to import into Nigeria: construction materials; generators and vehicles. But the total value of the imports was N49,155,546,846.00”;
That “in 2007… through a memo number: BO/R10260/V111/161, the church was granted the extraordinary favour to import building/construction materials valued at N48,988,454,876.00 with a total waiver of N9,757,690.975.20. The two waivers total N19,588,800,284,20, while the bulk transactions amount to N98,144,347,130.20.”
Now, it must be stated that it is not unheard of for churches and registered charities to request for and be granted import waivers for goods such as medical equipment, educational materials and items for the needy donated to them from associates abroad. And if a case could be made for building materials, so be it. But the snag in this case, if Saturday Sun is to be believed, was ”that the said building materials were only a generic name used to bring in goods that should ordinarily have attracted huge tariffs.” The newspaper claimed “that some of the items purchased with the waiver include 300 cars - worth $6,923,000, 100 Jeeps (SUV) - worth $8,000,000, Video Equipment - worth $12,000,000.00, Plastic chair moulds - $769, Building materials, etc.”
The import of these – the Finance Minister’s letter to Engr Salifu and the public expose by the Sun – is that the ball would seem to have returned to Christian Association of Nigeria’s court. It now has a duty to get to the root of this matter and make its findings public, whatever that may be.
Interestingly the call to integrity in the church is not restricted to Nigeria. A similar scenario is playing out in the United States and next week we shall together examine what I see as this new move of God.
TO MY FRIEND, TUNDE
Olufemi Iyanda Omo-Baale, better known as Femi Ogunleye was the Public Relations Manager at Nigeria Airways at the time of this little tale. But this is not a piece about Omo-Baale who has since become the Baale of his Akinale, Ogun State community. He had facilitated a trip for yours sincerely to the United Kingdom and requested that I delivered a message to a certain friend of his.
Dutifully, I called up this friend of his and since he was out, left a message with his wife. On getting the message, this friend called me, wondering what I was doing in a hotel room and offered to come pick me up the following day, if it was alright by me. He did and that was how I met Stephen Babatunde Fagbenle, who you sure know simply as Tunde Fagbenle, now a syndicated columnist.
Tunde’s place, then at Tavistock Road, was in the late 70s and early 80s the alternate Nigeria House. It was a place many Nigerians found the succour, the general assistance that the Nigeria High Commission could not offer. His was that place where you could find eba, okro and cowleg at virtually any hour of the day.
We became friends and subsequently business partners, publishing together, Nigeria Banking Annual (incorporating Who’s who in Nigeria) and instituted the prestigious Nigeria Banker of the Year Award, among many other things.
Tunde does nothing by half! He is a full time husband, father, friend, club member, tennis player whatever! Whatever Tunde does, including being your friend, he does with all his heart. He and his wonderful wife, Buki, last year played parents to our dear son during his graduation at Richmond, (the American International University in London). He as usual did so with all his heart. He’s probably going to scold me for all of this, but I feel so good doing this. I once sent him a text in which I said that his life preaches more effective sermons than many fiery preachers do from their pulpits. He mildly rebuked me for it, but that about sums up my feeling about this wonderful man who turned 60 recently.
I could not be part of the celebration in London, and somehow never got to hear about the Nigerian “edition” until it was over and done with. Here then is my toast to a man with a heart of gold. God bless and keep you Tunde, and reveal himself to you in an even greater dimension in the years ahead.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
INTEGRITY CHECK FOR THE CHURCH
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
A very interesting drama is playing out between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Christian Association of Nigeria. And it has all the potentials of a thriller; one that the tabloids can increase circulation by and make money from.
The story goes like this. Sometimes in September, Dr Shamsudeen Usman, Federal Minister of Finance addressed the media on why the government had to put on hold the granting of import duty waivers which was put in place by the last administration. He predicated the decision on wide spread abuse of the policy. In the process, he mentioned that some churches were among beneficiaries of the waivers through which certain importers are exempted from paying customs duty on items that would normally have attracted duties.
The Christian Association of Nigeria reacted on October 1 through National Secretary, Engr S. L.S. Salifu. Among other things, he was reported to have knocked the Minister for making unsubstantiated allegations against churches and then failing to reply his letter asking to be furnished with more information about the issue.
Apparently angered by the association’s attempt to impute untoward motives to the policy, the Minister, in a reply signed by his Special Assistant (Media), debunked the claim that he had not responded to their letter. While admitting that the reply was not prompt because the Minister was out of the country, he said a reply to his inquiry had indeed been sent.
The minister wrote: “…We were therefore shocked by your inaccurate and misleading public comments about the subject matter and the person of the Honourable Minister while efforts were on to process your request as directed...”
And in order to put the record straight, the Minister quoted what he described as the relevant portion of his statement at the media meeting as follows: “When we issue these tax incentives, what is the purpose? Are we achieving the purpose, or are we just giving up revenue? I was surprised. When you look at the list… I asked for the full list of all the waivers we’ve given from the Customs, FIRS, especially in those two areas. A lot of government departments are asking, a lot of state governments are asking for these waivers. Then some private sector parties, (you know). And even churches! Some people will say churches? Yes! Churches can get waivers but when you see the amount of money involved, you then ask, what is a church doing with such kind of money? A state government, I mean, somebody is organizing some game, and he gets a waiver to import 600 motor cars. What do you need 600 or 800 motors vehicles for? I mean, there is serious abuse in this area that has to be stopped! “
He pointed out that nowhere in his address to the press did he link the importation of 600 vehicles to any church saying that he “only expressed general reservation over inappropriate issuance of tax waivers to various levels of governments, agencies and non-corporates such as faith-based organizations – because of the massive loss of revenue involved, and the continued implication of this to our nation.”
The Minister then attached, “as a proof of his concern over the possible abuse to which they can be deployed,” two samples of such import waiver details, granted to a particular church, to show “the colossal amount involved, items imported and revenue implication to the nation.”
His conclusion: “Now that you have been adequately availed of facts of the matter, I have no doubt that as a man of God, you will take necessary measures to correct your misrepresentation of the Honourable Minister, especially in the eyes of your members – whom you said had inundated your office with requests for clarification on the subject matter as contained in your letter under reference.”
Saturday Sun, which is my source for most this, has been making a meal out of this developing story. In a front pager that was characteristically headlined, “HOLY SCAM…Obasanjo's church in N20 billion import waiver deals “, the newspaper three weeks ago, detailed some what it sub-headed as a N20billion Deal.
Identifying the beneficiary church involved as “one of the numerous by the Lagos/Ibadan highways which have created infamy for disrupting traffic flow and business activities in the nation at their functions”, the newspaper quoted from what it described as “a very valid and indisputable document obtained from a usually very reliable Presidency source” as follows:
That the beneficiary church “in 2006 got an import waiver of N9,831,109,309.00 through certificate number, BO/REV/12235/S.2/T.133 to import into Nigeria: construction materials; generators and vehicles. But the total value of the imports was N49,155,546,846.00”;
That “in 2007… through a memo number: BO/R10260/V111/161, the church was granted the extraordinary favour to import building/construction materials valued at N48,988,454,876.00 with a total waiver of N9,757,690.975.20. The two waivers total N19,588,800,284,20, while the bulk transactions amount to N98,144,347,130.20.”
Now, it must be stated that it is not unheard of for churches and registered charities to request for and be granted import waivers for goods such as medical equipment, educational materials and items for the needy donated to them from associates abroad. And if a case could be made for building materials, so be it. But the snag in this case, if Saturday Sun is to be believed, was ”that the said building materials were only a generic name used to bring in goods that should ordinarily have attracted huge tariffs.” The newspaper claimed “that some of the items purchased with the waiver include 300 cars - worth $6,923,000, 100 Jeeps (SUV) - worth $8,000,000, Video Equipment - worth $12,000,000.00, Plastic chair moulds - $769, Building materials, etc.”
The import of these – the Finance Minister’s letter to Engr Salifu and the public expose by the Sun – is that the ball would seem to have returned to Christian Association of Nigeria’s court. It now has a duty to get to the root of this matter and make its findings public, whatever that may be.
Interestingly the call to integrity in the church is not restricted to Nigeria. A similar scenario is playing out in the United States and next week we shall together examine what I see as this new move of God.
TO MY FRIEND, TUNDE
Olufemi Iyanda Omo-Baale, better known as Femi Ogunleye was the Public Relations Manager at Nigeria Airways at the time of this little tale. But this is not a piece about Omo-Baale who has since become the Baale of his Akinale, Ogun State community. He had facilitated a trip for yours sincerely to the United Kingdom and requested that I delivered a message to a certain friend of his.
Dutifully, I called up this friend of his and since he was out, left a message with his wife. On getting the message, this friend called me, wondering what I was doing in a hotel room and offered to come pick me up the following day, if it was alright by me. He did and that was how I met Stephen Babatunde Fagbenle, who you sure know simply as Tunde Fagbenle, now a syndicated columnist.
Tunde’s place, then at Tavistock Road, was in the late 70s and early 80s the alternate Nigeria House. It was a place many Nigerians found the succour, the general assistance that the Nigeria High Commission could not offer. His was that place where you could find eba, okro and cowleg at virtually any hour of the day.
We became friends and subsequently business partners, publishing together, Nigeria Banking Annual (incorporating Who’s who in Nigeria) and instituted the prestigious Nigeria Banker of the Year Award, among many other things.
Tunde does nothing by half! He is a full time husband, father, friend, club member, tennis player whatever! Whatever Tunde does, including being your friend, he does with all his heart. He and his wonderful wife, Buki, last year played parents to our dear son during his graduation at Richmond, (the American International University in London). He as usual did so with all his heart. He’s probably going to scold me for all of this, but I feel so good doing this. I once sent him a text in which I said that his life preaches more effective sermons than many fiery preachers do from their pulpits. He mildly rebuked me for it, but that about sums up my feeling about this wonderful man who turned 60 recently.
I could not be part of the celebration in London, and somehow never got to hear about the Nigerian “edition” until it was over and done with. Here then is my toast to a man with a heart of gold. God bless and keep you Tunde, and reveal himself to you in an even greater dimension in the years ahead.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
A very interesting drama is playing out between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Christian Association of Nigeria. And it has all the potentials of a thriller; one that the tabloids can increase circulation by and make money from.
The story goes like this. Sometimes in September, Dr Shamsudeen Usman, Federal Minister of Finance addressed the media on why the government had to put on hold the granting of import duty waivers which was put in place by the last administration. He predicated the decision on wide spread abuse of the policy. In the process, he mentioned that some churches were among beneficiaries of the waivers through which certain importers are exempted from paying customs duty on items that would normally have attracted duties.
The Christian Association of Nigeria reacted on October 1 through National Secretary, Engr S. L.S. Salifu. Among other things, he was reported to have knocked the Minister for making unsubstantiated allegations against churches and then failing to reply his letter asking to be furnished with more information about the issue.
Apparently angered by the association’s attempt to impute untoward motives to the policy, the Minister, in a reply signed by his Special Assistant (Media), debunked the claim that he had not responded to their letter. While admitting that the reply was not prompt because the Minister was out of the country, he said a reply to his inquiry had indeed been sent.
The minister wrote: “…We were therefore shocked by your inaccurate and misleading public comments about the subject matter and the person of the Honourable Minister while efforts were on to process your request as directed...”
And in order to put the record straight, the Minister quoted what he described as the relevant portion of his statement at the media meeting as follows: “When we issue these tax incentives, what is the purpose? Are we achieving the purpose, or are we just giving up revenue? I was surprised. When you look at the list… I asked for the full list of all the waivers we’ve given from the Customs, FIRS, especially in those two areas. A lot of government departments are asking, a lot of state governments are asking for these waivers. Then some private sector parties, (you know). And even churches! Some people will say churches? Yes! Churches can get waivers but when you see the amount of money involved, you then ask, what is a church doing with such kind of money? A state government, I mean, somebody is organizing some game, and he gets a waiver to import 600 motor cars. What do you need 600 or 800 motors vehicles for? I mean, there is serious abuse in this area that has to be stopped! “
He pointed out that nowhere in his address to the press did he link the importation of 600 vehicles to any church saying that he “only expressed general reservation over inappropriate issuance of tax waivers to various levels of governments, agencies and non-corporates such as faith-based organizations – because of the massive loss of revenue involved, and the continued implication of this to our nation.”
The Minister then attached, “as a proof of his concern over the possible abuse to which they can be deployed,” two samples of such import waiver details, granted to a particular church, to show “the colossal amount involved, items imported and revenue implication to the nation.”
His conclusion: “Now that you have been adequately availed of facts of the matter, I have no doubt that as a man of God, you will take necessary measures to correct your misrepresentation of the Honourable Minister, especially in the eyes of your members – whom you said had inundated your office with requests for clarification on the subject matter as contained in your letter under reference.”
Saturday Sun, which is my source for most this, has been making a meal out of this developing story. In a front pager that was characteristically headlined, “HOLY SCAM…Obasanjo's church in N20 billion import waiver deals “, the newspaper three weeks ago, detailed some what it sub-headed as a N20billion Deal.
Identifying the beneficiary church involved as “one of the numerous by the Lagos/Ibadan highways which have created infamy for disrupting traffic flow and business activities in the nation at their functions”, the newspaper quoted from what it described as “a very valid and indisputable document obtained from a usually very reliable Presidency source” as follows:
That the beneficiary church “in 2006 got an import waiver of N9,831,109,309.00 through certificate number, BO/REV/12235/S.2/T.133 to import into Nigeria: construction materials; generators and vehicles. But the total value of the imports was N49,155,546,846.00”;
That “in 2007… through a memo number: BO/R10260/V111/161, the church was granted the extraordinary favour to import building/construction materials valued at N48,988,454,876.00 with a total waiver of N9,757,690.975.20. The two waivers total N19,588,800,284,20, while the bulk transactions amount to N98,144,347,130.20.”
Now, it must be stated that it is not unheard of for churches and registered charities to request for and be granted import waivers for goods such as medical equipment, educational materials and items for the needy donated to them from associates abroad. And if a case could be made for building materials, so be it. But the snag in this case, if Saturday Sun is to be believed, was ”that the said building materials were only a generic name used to bring in goods that should ordinarily have attracted huge tariffs.” The newspaper claimed “that some of the items purchased with the waiver include 300 cars - worth $6,923,000, 100 Jeeps (SUV) - worth $8,000,000, Video Equipment - worth $12,000,000.00, Plastic chair moulds - $769, Building materials, etc.”
The import of these – the Finance Minister’s letter to Engr Salifu and the public expose by the Sun – is that the ball would seem to have returned to Christian Association of Nigeria’s court. It now has a duty to get to the root of this matter and make its findings public, whatever that may be.
Interestingly the call to integrity in the church is not restricted to Nigeria. A similar scenario is playing out in the United States and next week we shall together examine what I see as this new move of God.
TO MY FRIEND, TUNDE
Olufemi Iyanda Omo-Baale, better known as Femi Ogunleye was the Public Relations Manager at Nigeria Airways at the time of this little tale. But this is not a piece about Omo-Baale who has since become the Baale of his Akinale, Ogun State community. He had facilitated a trip for yours sincerely to the United Kingdom and requested that I delivered a message to a certain friend of his.
Dutifully, I called up this friend of his and since he was out, left a message with his wife. On getting the message, this friend called me, wondering what I was doing in a hotel room and offered to come pick me up the following day, if it was alright by me. He did and that was how I met Stephen Babatunde Fagbenle, who you sure know simply as Tunde Fagbenle, now a syndicated columnist.
Tunde’s place, then at Tavistock Road, was in the late 70s and early 80s the alternate Nigeria House. It was a place many Nigerians found the succour, the general assistance that the Nigeria High Commission could not offer. His was that place where you could find eba, okro and cowleg at virtually any hour of the day.
We became friends and subsequently business partners, publishing together, Nigeria Banking Annual (incorporating Who’s who in Nigeria) and instituted the prestigious Nigeria Banker of the Year Award, among many other things.
Tunde does nothing by half! He is a full time husband, father, friend, club member, tennis player whatever! Whatever Tunde does, including being your friend, he does with all his heart. He and his wonderful wife, Buki, last year played parents to our dear son during his graduation at Richmond, (the American International University in London). He as usual did so with all his heart. He’s probably going to scold me for all of this, but I feel so good doing this. I once sent him a text in which I said that his life preaches more effective sermons than many fiery preachers do from their pulpits. He mildly rebuked me for it, but that about sums up my feeling about this wonderful man who turned 60 recently.
I could not be part of the celebration in London, and somehow never got to hear about the Nigerian “edition” until it was over and done with. Here then is my toast to a man with a heart of gold. God bless and keep you Tunde, and reveal himself to you in an even greater dimension in the years ahead.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
CORPORATE NIGERIA & THE BOGEY OF SECULARISM
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
There is this matter arising from the recent Real Men Luncheon of the Christian Men’s Network Nigeria that space constrained me from mentioning last week. It came up during the interactive session and it is the issue of event and project sponsorship by the big spending companies in the country. And it subdivided into two.
First was the aspect of certain unwholesome practices by officials of many of these companies. The contributor puts it somewhat like this: You have an event requiring corporate sponsorship to fly. You have done your homework by tailoring your proposal to suit the needs of a particular product or service. You present the proposal to the appropriate official and he finds it worth his while. Several meetings later, he finally says to you: “congratulations, your proposal has been accepted.’
Of course you are happy. You shake his or her hand and ask, ‘when are we signing the deal?’ Not so fast, he replies, and he begins to state his terms. First you will go back and repackage your N20 million proposal to read N30 million and second you will commit to paying the extra N10 million to him as his ‘cut’ from the deal. You are shocked and it shows in your countenance. He notices and reminds you the budget you presented has not been tampered with and that in any case that is standard practice in his department! He didn’t say it in too many words, but the picture is clear: do it my way or no deal.
The gentleman who painted the scenario then asked guest minister, Elder Felix Ohiwerei who had just delivered a powerful, thought-provoking message on the theme, “Wanted: Men of Character”: what should a man of character do in such a situation?
Now, Ohiwerei was eminently qualified to answer this question having served in marketing and product management positions on his way to the CEO’s position at Nigerian Breweries Plc, one of Nigeria’s biggest spending companies in sponsorships.
And he did not mince words. In my time, I never made any such demands. Once a proposal met the needs of the products in my charge, that was it! And on what to do in a situation like that, his admonition was something like this: you should simply say no. mean it and stick by it! Any fear that you might lose the sponsorship is unfounded; nobody can take away what God has given you. If the marketing official can rob you of it, then it was not meant to be yours in the first place. A child of God must be prayerful; if you are, don’t worry, you’ll get whatever is yours, even if some people have to be sacked or just taken out of your way by some other means.
The other aspect of the issue pertains to the attitude of brand and product managers to sponsorship of religious projects and events. To paraphrase the words of the gentleman who raised the issue: this people simply refuse to sponsor Christian programmes. Ohiwerei, who is of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, did not see why. In his opinion, if a proposal meets the needs of a product or brand; there is no reason why it should be rejected. It depends on the disposition of the helmsman, he said.
Time, unfortunately did not allow for a thorough discussion of this issue which incidentally, yours sincerely feels very strongly about. Let me share my experience in this respect.
A few years ago, I set out to formally launch a Christian magazine. The idea was to bring the magazine into the market with a bang, because I had felt rebuked for sneaking the publication into the market during the first attempt. So we packaged a launch programme. We were to have what we called “Joy in the Kingdom Luncheon” with as many men of God from across the denominations as possible invited. It was to be followed later by a more public “Joy in the Kingdom Concert”. I won’t bother you with the details. The Marketing Team was led by my dear departed friend, Tony Alenkhe, one time Promotions Manager for Sony Music, the company that made superstars like Shina Peters, Mike Okri, Wasiu Ayinde and many more. By this time, he was born again, and like me, eager to put all his knowledge and experience into the service of a kingdom project like KINGDOMPeople magazine.
Wherever he went with the team, the answer was the same. The response went like this: We are secular; you see and so cannot touch events like this! If we sponsor a Christian event, we will incur the wrath of Moslems! Counter arguments that they could simply balance things out by seeking Moslem projects to sponsor did not impress them. Some even encouraged us to divert our energy and creativity into something secular so they can do business with us! So, days rolled into weeks, weeks into months and months into years and finally the project was rested to await better times.
Meanwhile, under the garb of secularism, most of Corporate Nigeria has been busy spending a sizeable percentage of their sponsorship budget on programmes and projects that are, to put it plainly, simply satanic. They spend hundreds of millions of Naira every year bringing in musicians of doubtful morality; who sing songs that are value-corroding and whose costumes do nothing to encourage decency in the sartorial choices of our youth.
Most of the big spenders love to exploit seasons of religious festivities to sell their products and services but do not want to associate with the religions. The closest that Corporate Nigeria gets to doing positive things is through their budgets for corporate social responsibility (CSR) which is miniscule compared to what is spent under the guise of marketing, most of which warps up our values.
There is absolute need for a rethink. I believe this has to start at the Board level where policies are either made directly or endorsed by default. Christians in these places have to stand up for their faith. Well, I would expect Moslems to do the same. That can only lead to taking the resources away from the kingdom of darkness .More Marketing Naira has to be put into clearly edifying projects and, truth is, for such projects to be really effective they have to have spiritual grounding. This is not antithetic to meeting the promotional needs of any product. Enough creativity resides in the kingdom to ensure that the products don’t suffer. After all, haven’t things gone so awry, with creativity in such small supply that a soft drink range’s television commercial has to feature scantily-dressed “blondes” to be effective? Must every product, non-alcoholics inclusive, be sold on the wings of seduction? The fixation with sex seems to be partly responsible for the boycott of events and projects without it! That is why even malt drinks would not advertise in a Christian magazine.
Where are all the young men and women we see in churches and at other conferences? Aren’t some of them brand or product and marketing managers? How are they serving their faith if they let all of these things happen right under their noses? What about the script and copy writers; the directors and producers? Is it a case of keeping your faith away from the workplace? No, things cannot go on like this.
I am a practical person, however, and so, I believe the place to start is to begin to engage ourselves on these issues. Seminars and workshops may be necessary for Christians in these professions to prayerfully find solutions to this game of the evil one.
Recently, journalists held a workshop about evangelism and the media and I think that is wonderful. You see, many editors, for instance still have to be weaned from the orientation that issues of religion should be confined to Sundays (for Christians) and Friday (for Moslems). True religion is a way of life and therefore an everyday affair! The question, of course is who will bell the cat? The answer for now, as the saying goes, is blowing in the wind. But, not for too long, I assure you.
TIME TO GET UNDER THE WORD, MADAM
And so, Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh finally ate humble pie. She resigned her office as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria. You may recall that we said in “Madam Pharaoh as Goddess Artemis” (October 28) that “… not even a hurried, peremptory adjournment of House plenary for more than a week can save this woman’s job. But as I say that I know that she and her handlers still have a lot of fight in them. So I can see them not giving up even at this stage.”
We were right on each score. She did lose her exalted position, but not without a fight! Even after a motion of impeachment against her and her deputy had been moved and seconded, Etteh still had to be persuaded, even pleaded with before she agreed to take the path of honour. I wish her well in the next phase of her political career, but whatever else she does or fails to do, she should please go back to church and sit under the word for a season. It is not for nothing that the bible said: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105). It will do her a world of good and who knows, she may yet bounce back.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
There is this matter arising from the recent Real Men Luncheon of the Christian Men’s Network Nigeria that space constrained me from mentioning last week. It came up during the interactive session and it is the issue of event and project sponsorship by the big spending companies in the country. And it subdivided into two.
First was the aspect of certain unwholesome practices by officials of many of these companies. The contributor puts it somewhat like this: You have an event requiring corporate sponsorship to fly. You have done your homework by tailoring your proposal to suit the needs of a particular product or service. You present the proposal to the appropriate official and he finds it worth his while. Several meetings later, he finally says to you: “congratulations, your proposal has been accepted.’
Of course you are happy. You shake his or her hand and ask, ‘when are we signing the deal?’ Not so fast, he replies, and he begins to state his terms. First you will go back and repackage your N20 million proposal to read N30 million and second you will commit to paying the extra N10 million to him as his ‘cut’ from the deal. You are shocked and it shows in your countenance. He notices and reminds you the budget you presented has not been tampered with and that in any case that is standard practice in his department! He didn’t say it in too many words, but the picture is clear: do it my way or no deal.
The gentleman who painted the scenario then asked guest minister, Elder Felix Ohiwerei who had just delivered a powerful, thought-provoking message on the theme, “Wanted: Men of Character”: what should a man of character do in such a situation?
Now, Ohiwerei was eminently qualified to answer this question having served in marketing and product management positions on his way to the CEO’s position at Nigerian Breweries Plc, one of Nigeria’s biggest spending companies in sponsorships.
And he did not mince words. In my time, I never made any such demands. Once a proposal met the needs of the products in my charge, that was it! And on what to do in a situation like that, his admonition was something like this: you should simply say no. mean it and stick by it! Any fear that you might lose the sponsorship is unfounded; nobody can take away what God has given you. If the marketing official can rob you of it, then it was not meant to be yours in the first place. A child of God must be prayerful; if you are, don’t worry, you’ll get whatever is yours, even if some people have to be sacked or just taken out of your way by some other means.
The other aspect of the issue pertains to the attitude of brand and product managers to sponsorship of religious projects and events. To paraphrase the words of the gentleman who raised the issue: this people simply refuse to sponsor Christian programmes. Ohiwerei, who is of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, did not see why. In his opinion, if a proposal meets the needs of a product or brand; there is no reason why it should be rejected. It depends on the disposition of the helmsman, he said.
Time, unfortunately did not allow for a thorough discussion of this issue which incidentally, yours sincerely feels very strongly about. Let me share my experience in this respect.
A few years ago, I set out to formally launch a Christian magazine. The idea was to bring the magazine into the market with a bang, because I had felt rebuked for sneaking the publication into the market during the first attempt. So we packaged a launch programme. We were to have what we called “Joy in the Kingdom Luncheon” with as many men of God from across the denominations as possible invited. It was to be followed later by a more public “Joy in the Kingdom Concert”. I won’t bother you with the details. The Marketing Team was led by my dear departed friend, Tony Alenkhe, one time Promotions Manager for Sony Music, the company that made superstars like Shina Peters, Mike Okri, Wasiu Ayinde and many more. By this time, he was born again, and like me, eager to put all his knowledge and experience into the service of a kingdom project like KINGDOMPeople magazine.
Wherever he went with the team, the answer was the same. The response went like this: We are secular; you see and so cannot touch events like this! If we sponsor a Christian event, we will incur the wrath of Moslems! Counter arguments that they could simply balance things out by seeking Moslem projects to sponsor did not impress them. Some even encouraged us to divert our energy and creativity into something secular so they can do business with us! So, days rolled into weeks, weeks into months and months into years and finally the project was rested to await better times.
Meanwhile, under the garb of secularism, most of Corporate Nigeria has been busy spending a sizeable percentage of their sponsorship budget on programmes and projects that are, to put it plainly, simply satanic. They spend hundreds of millions of Naira every year bringing in musicians of doubtful morality; who sing songs that are value-corroding and whose costumes do nothing to encourage decency in the sartorial choices of our youth.
Most of the big spenders love to exploit seasons of religious festivities to sell their products and services but do not want to associate with the religions. The closest that Corporate Nigeria gets to doing positive things is through their budgets for corporate social responsibility (CSR) which is miniscule compared to what is spent under the guise of marketing, most of which warps up our values.
There is absolute need for a rethink. I believe this has to start at the Board level where policies are either made directly or endorsed by default. Christians in these places have to stand up for their faith. Well, I would expect Moslems to do the same. That can only lead to taking the resources away from the kingdom of darkness .More Marketing Naira has to be put into clearly edifying projects and, truth is, for such projects to be really effective they have to have spiritual grounding. This is not antithetic to meeting the promotional needs of any product. Enough creativity resides in the kingdom to ensure that the products don’t suffer. After all, haven’t things gone so awry, with creativity in such small supply that a soft drink range’s television commercial has to feature scantily-dressed “blondes” to be effective? Must every product, non-alcoholics inclusive, be sold on the wings of seduction? The fixation with sex seems to be partly responsible for the boycott of events and projects without it! That is why even malt drinks would not advertise in a Christian magazine.
Where are all the young men and women we see in churches and at other conferences? Aren’t some of them brand or product and marketing managers? How are they serving their faith if they let all of these things happen right under their noses? What about the script and copy writers; the directors and producers? Is it a case of keeping your faith away from the workplace? No, things cannot go on like this.
I am a practical person, however, and so, I believe the place to start is to begin to engage ourselves on these issues. Seminars and workshops may be necessary for Christians in these professions to prayerfully find solutions to this game of the evil one.
Recently, journalists held a workshop about evangelism and the media and I think that is wonderful. You see, many editors, for instance still have to be weaned from the orientation that issues of religion should be confined to Sundays (for Christians) and Friday (for Moslems). True religion is a way of life and therefore an everyday affair! The question, of course is who will bell the cat? The answer for now, as the saying goes, is blowing in the wind. But, not for too long, I assure you.
TIME TO GET UNDER THE WORD, MADAM
And so, Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh finally ate humble pie. She resigned her office as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria. You may recall that we said in “Madam Pharaoh as Goddess Artemis” (October 28) that “… not even a hurried, peremptory adjournment of House plenary for more than a week can save this woman’s job. But as I say that I know that she and her handlers still have a lot of fight in them. So I can see them not giving up even at this stage.”
We were right on each score. She did lose her exalted position, but not without a fight! Even after a motion of impeachment against her and her deputy had been moved and seconded, Etteh still had to be persuaded, even pleaded with before she agreed to take the path of honour. I wish her well in the next phase of her political career, but whatever else she does or fails to do, she should please go back to church and sit under the word for a season. It is not for nothing that the bible said: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105). It will do her a world of good and who knows, she may yet bounce back.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
CHARACTER, MEN & THE "LEGION"
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
In “Dinning with Heroes” (October 21), I had spoken about the privilege my involvement with the men’s ministry affords me to join with “a crop of men, some young and starry-eyed; some burnt but wiser, to together work on our manhood.” I had also expressed joy that the process gives me the opportunity of meeting with and sometimes even dinning with truly great men. These truly great men, I described as “real men; men of integrity and character; men who strove in private and public life to be Christlike – and are of course still striving”
I identified Elder Felix Ohiwerei as one of such people, announced that he would be speaking at the then impending Christian Men’s Network Nigeria’s event and then gushed:
“…it will feature one of my heroes, Felix Ohiwerei, former Chairman and Chief Executive of Nigeria Breweries Plc. A man who ran an alcohol beverage company successfully and didn’t come out with a “beering” reputation; a man who has not been the darling of the soft sell magazines in spite of his fame and fortune; and whose preoccupation with service to God some have seen as zealous. That’s the man I and my brothers would be having lunch with…and it would be his pleasure and ours to have you join us!”
Of course, not many men accepted my open invitation and a sizeable percentage of those who even had direct invitation either came very late or could not make it at all, which is hardly surprising. It rained that day, you see; and being a Saturday, an environmental sanitation day when Lagosians are “gated” till 10am, the reasons are legion! But I shall come back to that later.
Elder Ohiwerei was billed to speak on “Wanted: Men of Character” and he began by acting the man of character that he is by arriving the Sparkles, Ikeja GRA venue of the event from his Ikoyi home a quarter hour before the schedule take-off time of 12noon. Of course that got everybody straightened out, as it were. And when he began to speak, you sought in vain for any airs; no posturing, no affectations; nothing but down-to-earth heart-talk from a father to those he saw as the hope of our nation. And what he had to say was so inspiring that on conclusion the fifty-something or so men, who had the priviledge of hearing him, gave a spontaneous prolonged standing ovation.
For space constraints and the nature of the forum, this is not the place to recount all he said, but let me attempt a snapshot of the highlights. He began by stating what looked like the obvious, but which is certainly fundamental to the understanding of the subject. You are a man, he said, “you think, you speak and you act. What you think influences what you say and do. Your thoughts, your words and your deeds determine what you project; so it all begins with the heart.” He therefore defined character as “the personality of a man as determined by his thought, his word and his deed.”
Standing as sprightly as ever at age 70, Elder Ohiwerei took his audience down the memory lane. He recalled those days when it was his practice to simply leave the doors of his house open for an expected visitor while he leaves for work…when the most heinous crime anyone ever committed to his knowledge was the removal of the four tyres of a car while the owner slept blissfully in it!
He posited that the Nigerian civil war was the turning point; when all values nosedived and character became the exception, leading to a leadership crisis. This of course was not a rationalization of the state of affairs, but a simple statement of cause. Nor was his speech just a litany of what had gone wrong; this was a ministration about what needs to be done. It was not a just a call for moral reawakening, but a call to return to God and his ways of doing things. So, inevitably notable examples were given from the Bible. From the Lord Jesus to Samuel to David to Joseph, the man of God who is a top member of Redeemed Christian Church of God made a number of prescriptions.
Among these is the need to pursue only things of eternal value. Understand, the fallacy that “everybody has a price” does not apply to you. You are made in God’s image and after his likeness, so how can you have a price! Never forget that a true leader seeks to serve and not to be served; he is other-centred, not self-centred. The Lord Jesus exemplifies this. That is why he said the son of man has come to serve and not to be served. That is why he washed his disciples’ feet just before the last supper. That is the origin of the concept of servant-leadership which the President has offered to Nigerians.
Elder Ohiwerei climaxed his ministration with the forthright declarations of Samuel when he handed over rulership of Israel to their first king, Saul. In this respect, he quoted the first few verses of Chapter 12 of the first book of Samuel: “ And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand. And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt (verses1-6).
How many of our leaders can boldly stand before the people after their stewardship and make such a declaration, he asked. How many can boldly declare that they have not stolen from the commonwealth; that they have oppressed no one; that they have met the needs of the people? About how many of our leaders can the people truthfully, honestly, without equivocation say as they did of Samuel: “Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand.” The only charitable answer, you and I know, has to be “few, very few, indeed.”
The interactive session which followed afforded men in the audience the opportunity to ask questions and make observations. This proved really revealing. In answer to one of the questions on his experience as a born-again Christian at the helm of a big company like Nigeria Breweries, he recalled one of his encounters with corruption at one of Nigeria’s seaports.
According to him, the top man in charge of raw materials was for some reasons not available and so he was contacted on the need to “do something” (euphemism for paying some bribes) about clearing their consignments at the port. He refused. Things began to drag and raw material stock was running low with possible adverse consequences for production. He knew he had to do something else! So he instructed that fresh orders for raw materials be made and air-freighted into the country. This was done. Production was not affected and he virtually had to be begged to come and clear the earlier consignment.
Needless to say, this sent signals to people in certain quarters and the rest, as they say, is history!
What Elder Ohiwerei was saying was I did not just talk the talk, I walked the walk. It could not have been easy, but he had the courage to do what had to be done. One of the most important components of character therefore is courage; courage to stand for what you believe; courage to pursue your dream and vision.
And this incidentally brings me back to the “legion” of reasons I identified earlier as possibly responsible for the level of attendance at the Luncheon; the same courage is required to give whatever it takes to be at places we need to be on time, rain or not; environmental sanitation or not. But one has been around for a season on this beat and knows that the “legion” that keeps men away from events like this is similar to the one that had held bound that demon-possessed man set free by the Lord Jesus, as recorded in Mark 5: 1-18. I know because, time and time again, you can pack halls to overflowing with of men were the subject business or prosperity; but mention character, sex or purity, the “legion” bares its fangs! Men and brethren, these things not ought to be so.
Thanks Elder Ohiwerei for pointing the way.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
In “Dinning with Heroes” (October 21), I had spoken about the privilege my involvement with the men’s ministry affords me to join with “a crop of men, some young and starry-eyed; some burnt but wiser, to together work on our manhood.” I had also expressed joy that the process gives me the opportunity of meeting with and sometimes even dinning with truly great men. These truly great men, I described as “real men; men of integrity and character; men who strove in private and public life to be Christlike – and are of course still striving”
I identified Elder Felix Ohiwerei as one of such people, announced that he would be speaking at the then impending Christian Men’s Network Nigeria’s event and then gushed:
“…it will feature one of my heroes, Felix Ohiwerei, former Chairman and Chief Executive of Nigeria Breweries Plc. A man who ran an alcohol beverage company successfully and didn’t come out with a “beering” reputation; a man who has not been the darling of the soft sell magazines in spite of his fame and fortune; and whose preoccupation with service to God some have seen as zealous. That’s the man I and my brothers would be having lunch with…and it would be his pleasure and ours to have you join us!”
Of course, not many men accepted my open invitation and a sizeable percentage of those who even had direct invitation either came very late or could not make it at all, which is hardly surprising. It rained that day, you see; and being a Saturday, an environmental sanitation day when Lagosians are “gated” till 10am, the reasons are legion! But I shall come back to that later.
Elder Ohiwerei was billed to speak on “Wanted: Men of Character” and he began by acting the man of character that he is by arriving the Sparkles, Ikeja GRA venue of the event from his Ikoyi home a quarter hour before the schedule take-off time of 12noon. Of course that got everybody straightened out, as it were. And when he began to speak, you sought in vain for any airs; no posturing, no affectations; nothing but down-to-earth heart-talk from a father to those he saw as the hope of our nation. And what he had to say was so inspiring that on conclusion the fifty-something or so men, who had the priviledge of hearing him, gave a spontaneous prolonged standing ovation.
For space constraints and the nature of the forum, this is not the place to recount all he said, but let me attempt a snapshot of the highlights. He began by stating what looked like the obvious, but which is certainly fundamental to the understanding of the subject. You are a man, he said, “you think, you speak and you act. What you think influences what you say and do. Your thoughts, your words and your deeds determine what you project; so it all begins with the heart.” He therefore defined character as “the personality of a man as determined by his thought, his word and his deed.”
Standing as sprightly as ever at age 70, Elder Ohiwerei took his audience down the memory lane. He recalled those days when it was his practice to simply leave the doors of his house open for an expected visitor while he leaves for work…when the most heinous crime anyone ever committed to his knowledge was the removal of the four tyres of a car while the owner slept blissfully in it!
He posited that the Nigerian civil war was the turning point; when all values nosedived and character became the exception, leading to a leadership crisis. This of course was not a rationalization of the state of affairs, but a simple statement of cause. Nor was his speech just a litany of what had gone wrong; this was a ministration about what needs to be done. It was not a just a call for moral reawakening, but a call to return to God and his ways of doing things. So, inevitably notable examples were given from the Bible. From the Lord Jesus to Samuel to David to Joseph, the man of God who is a top member of Redeemed Christian Church of God made a number of prescriptions.
Among these is the need to pursue only things of eternal value. Understand, the fallacy that “everybody has a price” does not apply to you. You are made in God’s image and after his likeness, so how can you have a price! Never forget that a true leader seeks to serve and not to be served; he is other-centred, not self-centred. The Lord Jesus exemplifies this. That is why he said the son of man has come to serve and not to be served. That is why he washed his disciples’ feet just before the last supper. That is the origin of the concept of servant-leadership which the President has offered to Nigerians.
Elder Ohiwerei climaxed his ministration with the forthright declarations of Samuel when he handed over rulership of Israel to their first king, Saul. In this respect, he quoted the first few verses of Chapter 12 of the first book of Samuel: “ And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand. And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt (verses1-6).
How many of our leaders can boldly stand before the people after their stewardship and make such a declaration, he asked. How many can boldly declare that they have not stolen from the commonwealth; that they have oppressed no one; that they have met the needs of the people? About how many of our leaders can the people truthfully, honestly, without equivocation say as they did of Samuel: “Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand.” The only charitable answer, you and I know, has to be “few, very few, indeed.”
The interactive session which followed afforded men in the audience the opportunity to ask questions and make observations. This proved really revealing. In answer to one of the questions on his experience as a born-again Christian at the helm of a big company like Nigeria Breweries, he recalled one of his encounters with corruption at one of Nigeria’s seaports.
According to him, the top man in charge of raw materials was for some reasons not available and so he was contacted on the need to “do something” (euphemism for paying some bribes) about clearing their consignments at the port. He refused. Things began to drag and raw material stock was running low with possible adverse consequences for production. He knew he had to do something else! So he instructed that fresh orders for raw materials be made and air-freighted into the country. This was done. Production was not affected and he virtually had to be begged to come and clear the earlier consignment.
Needless to say, this sent signals to people in certain quarters and the rest, as they say, is history!
What Elder Ohiwerei was saying was I did not just talk the talk, I walked the walk. It could not have been easy, but he had the courage to do what had to be done. One of the most important components of character therefore is courage; courage to stand for what you believe; courage to pursue your dream and vision.
And this incidentally brings me back to the “legion” of reasons I identified earlier as possibly responsible for the level of attendance at the Luncheon; the same courage is required to give whatever it takes to be at places we need to be on time, rain or not; environmental sanitation or not. But one has been around for a season on this beat and knows that the “legion” that keeps men away from events like this is similar to the one that had held bound that demon-possessed man set free by the Lord Jesus, as recorded in Mark 5: 1-18. I know because, time and time again, you can pack halls to overflowing with of men were the subject business or prosperity; but mention character, sex or purity, the “legion” bares its fangs! Men and brethren, these things not ought to be so.
Thanks Elder Ohiwerei for pointing the way.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
MADAM PHARAOH AS GODDESS ARTEMIS
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Anyway, I wasn’t playing Afghanistanism; I was not avoiding any issues, not least of all, the inelegantly tagged “Ettehgate”. No, I just wrote as I felt led. And that has to be the pattern for as long as this column shall last. So, please believe me; I seek to prove or disprove nothing by returning to the crisis at the lower house of the National Assembly today.
You see, I’ve been at great pains over the matter because I sincerely wanted Mrs Etteh to succeed as much as, if not much more than, our other sisters have done in the various assignments they have handled, particularly at the national level. Deep inside me, I believe that the continued success of the “Esthers” in our land would rouse the “Josephs” from sin and pride-induced slumber. But here we are, unfortunately, faced with the myth-shattering spectacle of a female Pharaoh!
If you are wondering what makes Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria, a kind of throw-back from the ancient biblical days of
Do you see any similarities? Madam Speaker has had several opportunities to demonstrate honour; to reflect her Christianity, if as her name would seem to suggest, she is one, by letting God fight her battles; to display exemplary leadership, but she let them all pass.
When the story first broke that she had authorized a whopping sum of N628 million for the renovation of her official residence and that of her deputy, she was outside the country; granted. But what happened when she returned? She maintained what her handlers might have touted as “dignified silence” but which, with the benefit of hindsight must now be seen as contemptuous “I dey kampe” silence! When the House finally convened and the issue was tabled, she could have dignified her office by not presiding at the session to select members of the panel being established to probe the allegations. She chose differently. Then if she thought she could ride the tide and coast home unscathed, the resort to violence by her colleagues on the day she was billed to testify before the Idoko Panel should have wiped out all such illusions. It did not.
One might excuse that by positing that as a pretty woman, she was probably no stranger to knights in shinning armour fighting to become the exclusive apple of her eyes; particularly as that legislative “roforofo fight” did not left no broken limbs and no flying dentures; and so no hospitals or surgeries were required. But how do you explain what happened when thing went several notches up and we had a lifeless body, hospital and a grave? Someone with half a heart would have been so remorseful as to simply walk away from the tragic drama. But what do we have? This woman is sitting not-so-pretty on the Speaker’s seat. She sure must have a stone where God originally located a heart!
Those who in the name of installing the “first female Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives” foisted this woman upon an unsuspecting nation sure produced after their kind, didn’t they?
I can imagine one question racing through your mind: Pharaoh’s heart was said in the Bible to have been hardened by God; is it the same with Madam Speaker? No, I don’t know for sure, but I can guess that if God allowed, it is so that evil may not triumph. For, had she played honourable and decent earlier, she might have swayed opinions in her favour to the detriment of our nation.
Now what next, you ask. Again, I do not claim to have the answer, but this much I would say, not even a hurried, peremptory adjournment of House plenary for more than a week can save this woman’s job. But as I say that I know that she, and her handlers, still have a lot of fight in them. So I can see them not giving up even at this stage.
All of which reminds me of a drama involving some of the early evangelists, goddess Artemis and the people of
“A certain silversmith, Demetrius, conducted a brisk trade in the manufacture of shrines to the goddess Artemis, employing a number of artisans in his business. He rounded up his workers and others similarly employed and said, "Men, you well know that we have a good thing going here-- and you've seen how Paul has barged in and discredited what we're doing by telling people that there's no such thing as a god made with hands. A lot of people are going along with him, not only here in
The “Demetriuses” amongst us who want to die or kill for this modern day Artemis had better take to heart the warnings of the Town Clerk as contained in the last two sentences but one of this long passage which strike me as uncannily applicable to the current situation. Please read those sentences again with the following suggested insertions. In the place of “our city” put, “our democracy”; in place of
Tuesday 9 October 2007
NO MADAM SPEAKER, IT’S ABOUT THE PEOPLE
KPerspective October 6 2007
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
With REMI AKANO
e-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
The House of Representatives is on recess. The recess, according to House leadership, is to enable the Honourable members consult with their people and do committee assignments. This is as it should be and I sincerely hope they spend the two-week period for those two purposes, especially the first – consultation with their electors.
I say that because if they do, they are likely to discover that the people are so disenchanted that if they have their way the House should stay permanently on recess! I am not exaggerating.
Look at it this way: What has this House really been in about 150 days except on recess? The noblest things they have done is to mourn and bury the dead. The rest of the time has been spent scrambling for committee positions, particularly the so-called juicy ones and stage a legislative pugilist of the year show in defence of due process and anti-corruption. To the eternal ‘credit’ of this present House, the nation celebrated her 47th National Independence Anniversary with accusation of corruption against the Speaker as an ugly backdrop.
Were I to have the privilege of meeting my representative, I would have drawn her (or is it his?) attention to at least two reports that ought to serve as a wake-up call to our so called legislators.
The first is a “survey on best and worst performing countries in
Conducted by Professor Rotberg of Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the index gave Nigeria its best performance in security and safety with 62.8 score, followed by 49.5 in human development, 44.3 in rule of law, transparency and corruption and 44.2 in participation and human rights.
The survey, according to the professor used 58 indicators of governance, and evaluated each of the 48 sub-Saharan African countries according to five categories of analysis. The categories used were safety and security, rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunities and human development. He explained: that the premise for designing the categories “is that good governance is the delivery of essential political goods to the people.”
Speaking on Nigeria’s ranking in the survey, Rotberg was quoted as telling Voice of America: “It is quite clear in Nigeria’s case that you lose massive points for conflict; and Nigeria, as everyone knows, has been under turmoil and conflict. Secondly,
For reasons of comparison, I would have drawn the Honorable legislator’s attention to a part of the report which reads:” Mauritius was named the best performing government, while Somalia, which has not had a government for several years and is considered a ‘failed State,’ was rated the worst….Among the top best-performing countries in the survey are Seychelles, South Africa, Botswana and Cape Verde…”
The second report which would have put the issue in clearer perspective and hopefully show where the legislature comes into the picture glaringly was highlighted by Kayode Komolafe in his The Horizon column in ThisDay newspaper recently. I seek your indulgence to quote the first few paragraphs of the piece he titled, Compare N686m with N628m:
“Compare these two amounts of money: N686 million and N628 million. The first (about Euro 3.9 million) is the amount the European Union is reportedly making available for the provision of clean water and sanitation in 12 towns and communities of
“In arithmetical terms, the difference between N686 million and N628 might appear marginal, but there is a world of difference between the uses to which they are put in the Nigerian socio-economic and political system. It is this huge difference that clearly shows what hundreds of millions of naira could do in improving the quality of lives of hundreds of thousands of people even at current value of the currency…Three Local Government Areas would benefit from the scheme in each of the two states chosen for the implementation. They are Gumel, Tankarkar and Maigatari in Jigawa; and Nkanu East, Udenu and Igbo-Etiti in
I wonder whether these two reports would have meant anything to my representative or not, but, I certainly cannot see any signs that it would pull any string in Madam Speaker’s heart. And I make this statement very regrettably.
As I indicated in this column last week, I did not want to join in pointing fingers because the report of the Honourable Idoko-led investigation panel was being awaited. More importantly, I wanted most desperately for the right Honourable Patricia Olubunmi Etteh to survive and eventually succeed; to continue the great run of success by the “Esthers” at least pending the time that the “Josephs” of our nation will get our acts together.
Well, the report came and although it refrained from recommending sanctions partly because, its terms of reference had been so craftily worded to avoid that; and partly to prevent a kind of “hung jury”; it did identify wrongdoings. Responsibility for some of them lay squarely at the Speaker’s table; while the National Assembly bureaucracy could be fingered for others.
Predictably, reactions came, as the cliché goes, fast and thick. Calls for Madam Speaker’s resignation top the list. One of the most damning came from PUNCH columnist, Azubuike Ishiekwene who in a piece titled,” It’s time to go, Madam” noted among other things that “The Idoko Panel …has said, unanimously, that the process of the award of the contract was marred by serious procedural lapses. Contrary to the requirement of the Public Procurement Act, the contract was neither advertised, nor was a quorum constituted before it was awarded. The bill of quantities and the technical drawings that ought to have informed a rigorous and competitive process were not filed and some of the companies that got the contract were not even registered as required by the law. On top of this, the speaker’s personal aide, Iquo Minima, who gained notoriety in the last House for slapping a fellow legislator, Emmanuel Bwacha, won the N71m to provide the furnishings. The speaker had approved this sweet deal and other contracts for the renovation six days before she hastily constituted another meeting to ratify the decisions. Her defence that she was misguided is not unlikely, but is at best shallow and at worst irresponsible, given the fact that one of her personal aides benefited directly from the contract. The whole thing was a sham by any standards, which the speaker, in her sober moment, would find hard to explain, even if it had been a contract she personally awarded for the renovation of any of the hairdressing salons in her two houses in
But it is Madam Speaker’s reaction to the reactions to the panel report that I find most amazing. It is her reaction that gives me the impression that the speaker thinks this is all about politics, NOT people, NOT principles, NOT morals and certainly NOT about staying with the solemn pledge she made to the Nigerian people in her first few minutes of taking office.
A statement issued from her office disingenuously, not to say shamelessly, spoke about “emotional blackmail” and described calls for her resignation as “unfair, inaccurate and unfortunate". This according to her was because, “the Speaker set up that probe panel along with her colleagues. She was elected by her colleagues. Only her colleagues can decide what happens next”.
Hear Madam Speaker please: “Those championing this curious cause of ‘Etteh-must-resign’ are those aware of the facts of the case and their campaign is beginning to look like a haunt borne out of hatred. The probe panel’s report has been laid on the table and what it contains are conclusions, not recommendations for punishment. One wonders when non-members of the House of Representatives started deciding how 360-members of the lower chamber run their affairs... “If I get her drift, our representatives have a kind of divine right to shut us out of “their affairs”, once elected. Translation: it’s none of your business, noise makers. Apart from the “small matter” of the credibility of the process that brought many of these representatives into office, since when has the people’s sovereignty been annulled by elections?
She continues: "The House of Representatives is made up of people elected by Nigerians to represent them. Those who elected them trust them enough to do the right thing. The House has procedures and rules on every issue and only members can decide how the House is run…What the procedure says is that the report will be debated when the House reconvenes after its two-week recess…” Due process eh? The same that the panel said was not followed?
Next she said: “…It is therefore unfair and misleading for people to stay outside and tell 360 members of this honourable House what to do. It is like telling Nigerians that the people they elected cannot do the job…When non-members start instructing the House how to run their affairs, then there is cause for Nigerians to worry…” There is indeed cause for Nigerians to worry but not about any infringement of the divine right of self-serving legislators, many of whom were rigged into office in the first place. There is cause to worry when popular opinion of the vocal section of the hunger-silenced majority is being so arrogantly disdained in high places.
Then the clincher: “Nothing in the conclusions of the panel report showed that the Speaker in any way has been indicted…” Well, I agree; black is white and chalk is cheese! If Mrs Etteh sometimes reads her bible, she should please read Proverbs 12:19; 16:18 and see whether she doesn’t need a change of heart.
IS THE ERA OF ESTHERS ABOUT TO END?
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
With REMI AKANO
e-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Somebody please tell me that this is all a nightmare, a bad dream from which I shall soon shake awake! Somebody, please rouse me from this troubled sleep!! How is it that a nation that’s having the wonderful experience of the era of the “Esthers” is, all of a sudden, being told that it’s all over, before the “Josephs” are ready? How distressing.
Many years ago, the late and (according to me) great Dr Edwin Louis Cole, founder of the Christian Men’s Network, was visiting one of the countries of Southern Africa (cannot readily remember which, now). A group of people had been praying fervently, seeking the face of the Lord for change in their land. Finally, the word came. And it went something like this: “there have been the days of the “Esthers”; now is the era of the “Josephs”. Put very simply, even simplistically, there are those moments in the life of a people when deliverance comes through the womenfolk, but it does come to an end and the men take their place, once again at the head of the table.
As I follow, with amazement the tragi-comedy playing out at the Federal House of Representatives over the award of contracts for the official residence of Madam Speaker, the Honourable Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh and her deputy, I found myself musing: Is it all over; is the era of the Esthers over; so soon; so unceremoniously; so prematurely; and most unhappily of all, before the Josephs are ready?
Esther, for those who might need reminding, was the Jewish orphan girl in the Bible who, under the tutelage of Mordecai, her elderly cousin, became Queen at the imperial court of King Darius of
As I implied on this page last week,
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala shone like a million stars, managing the finances of this nation with a certain clarity of direction and an eye on international best practices. Were she anything but a lady of integrity, you can guess what her fate would have been when she finally fell out with the “king.” Instead of becoming
Obiageli Ezekwesili was, for the most part, the woman with all the difficult jobs. Madam Due Process, as she became popularly known, had to step on several, possibly hundreds of giant toes in her foray into the forbidden territory of price monitoring and ensuring value for each contract-Naira. Recall how she repackaged and branded a vibrant and attractive product out of a dull, drab and unproductive, but rich solid mineral sector of our national economy. Brand MSMD will hopefully never return to the bad old pre-Oby years. And even if she did dive into controversial waters at the Ministry of Education, none could doubt her zeal and passion for change; change for development.
Esther (yes one of them was really so named) Nenadi Usman held her own, first as Minister of State under Okonjo-Iweala and later as her own “man” at the Federal Ministry of Finance. Remember the courageous disclosures about increase in foreign exchange transfers as soon as governors received allocations from the federation account. How the governors sought to skin her alive!
Professor Dora Akunyili, easily the long distance runner is still around. Veteran of many battles and winner of all, she stands tall, an Amazon in the battle against one of the best organized crime syndicates in
Ifueko Omogui is also still holding sway at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), restructuring, re-orientating and also, building a brand. So is Irene Chigbue whose success has been relatively modest at the Bureau of Public Enterprises. And I dare mention the calmness and relative dignity with which Remi Oyo carried out her task as spokesperson for a boss unknown for civility! She stood out of a crowd of uncouth and acerbic mouthpieces, conveying Obasanjo’s views without denigrating the opposition unnecessarily and assaulting our sensibilities. It was indeed an era of the Esthers and even the men couldn’t but applaud and ask for more.
Clearly, it is to these women, rather than to her two hardly distinguished terms at the House of Representatives that Madam Speaker owes her election, some say selection as presiding officer of the lower house of the National Assembly and Nigeria’s Number Four citizen. And it is therefore in her ability to walk in the same integrity and character that her position’s tenability would generally be appraised.
But see what we have playing out (by the time you read this, it would most probably have played to a kind of dénouement). Madam Speaker, according to her accusers, approved a certain amount of money for the renovation of her official residence and that of her deputy. They put the figure at N628million. The National Assembly bureaucracy says the project was an upgrade, not a renovation, and that the figure was N591million not N628million. Madam Speaker says the figure is far lower at just over N200 million and in any case she and her deputy would have spent that much on hotel expenses were she to be as profligate and unmindful of the ordinary man as her opponents are making her out to be.
Her opponents say the contract award did not follow due process. She says it did. In passing, perhaps Mrs Ezekwesili should be recalled from her desk at the World Bank to decide who’s right on this score. The Honourable Idoko-led panel established to investigate the issue has been inundated with tons of documents and plenty of sometimes sanctimonious or condemnatory; sometimes forthright or evasive verbiage from witnesses at its public sittings. The panel members have also had the privilege of ringside tickets to one of the most thrilling mixed-grill physical combats in recent times. It was a combination of boxing, kick-boxing and wrestling. Fela would have called it “roforofo fight”, I call it legislative madness. They say they have expunged it from their records and so it did not happen! Thank God, that even if they were to, commando-style, have the tapes seized from the various television stations, they cannot expunge it from our memories.
But, I digress. From the belated rebuttals coming from the speaker’s office, Mrs Patricia Etteh obviously thinks this is a fight for her political life and to some extent, it is. But I think it is much more than that. She needs to ask herself a number of soul-searching questions. Is she totally innocent of the crime she’s being accused of? I mean, was she advised by some brilliant do-gooder to save the nation over N200million Naira from hotel expenses and make a bit of it for herself in the process; thus making a name and a nest-egg? Did she make any promises to those who glowingly eulogized her at nomination, and once in office decide it wasn’t the correct thing to do? What bargains did she make to clinch the office?
These questions and many more go to the heart of some of the things I have been saying on this page. One, that every Christian in public office must live their Christianity to the full, not partially. That is to say the Christian must literally wear the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) wristlet, so that in every situation, in taking any decision, the question rings in his or her heart. What would Jesus have done? Yet if the Church leaves her members to be sponsored to office by people who do not share the values of true Christian living, it will come at a price, the price of compromise. And I have also said that the organized bodies of the Church have a pivotal role to play in this.
I shall refrain from making any pronouncements over Madam Speaker’s culpability or innocence, but there are those, like the writer of this joke, who have: “Epitaph: Here lies the remains of an e-speaker, digital hairdresser, analog friend of baba, 3-terms representative of her people and patriot of the next century who saved her country the ordeal of having to pay the statutorily allowed N2.09345794392million per day in a hotel but chose to renovate and upgrade her official residence for only N238,852, 192.90. She came, saw nothing, said nothing, did nothing. There will be two verdicts: the verdict of the House and the verdict of the people (CyberschuulNewsJoke).
Contrast that with this extract from Madam Speaker’s inaugural speeches: “…I solemnly pledge not to disappoint you. I promise, from the bottom of my heart, to serve with God‘s wisdom, the people of Nigeria and ensure a strong House…My vision is to provide leadership for a re-invigorated legislature that will be responsible and responsive to the yearnings of Nigerians… Let us fasten our seat belts as the flight of the sixth House of Representative of the
That’s why I am musing: Is the era of the Esthers unraveling so soon?
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