THE RULE OF LAW AS RULE OF GOD

"The rump of the NJC which suspended the PCA knew they didn’t have the power and even if they did, their choice was clear, the moment they received court processes on the matter. The President knew or ought to know that he was backing an illegality by implementing the recommendation of the NJC. This, for me, was in character, however. As I have gone on record as saying before, much as I pray that Dr Goodluck Jonathan succeeds in office, I know that he cannot resist any opportunity to serve himself! He did it with the violation of the rotational principles of his party and he’s likely to do it as often as the opportunities present themselves."

There is a national crisis. It is not judicial, although it originates from there. It is a crisis of values. It is a crisis that has all the potentials to help or hinder our march to true nationhood and leadership in the comity of prospering nations, depending on how we handle it.

Of course, you know I am talking about the on-going controversy over the suspension of Justice Ayo Salami, President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), by the President of the Federal Republic on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

The story is very well known now to require a rehash, but then, journalism practice constrains me from presumptions.  So, the story goes like this, in brief. The PCA was found guilty by an administrative panel set up by the NJC of lying on oath against the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu in accusing him of interfering with the work of the Sokoto State Governorship Election Tribunal, empanelled by the PCA. He was asked to apologise within seven days or else. He didn’t and the NJC wielded the big stick, in spite of court processes filed by the PCA to stop it.

In the event, President Jonathan, who had the power to accept or decline the recommendation of the NJC, decided in the affirmative and with uncharacteristic swiftness, approved the suspension and appointed an  acting PCA on a Sunday.

Protesters have been on the streets of some major cities since Monday, calling on the President to reverse himself because, he had endorsed an illegality. The illegality, they pointed out, is simply the violation of the rule of law, which is the foundation upon which democratic governance is supposed to be based.

The Rule of Law, according to an online dictionary is “the principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced; the principle of government by law.”  The Legal Dictionary says it is “an authoritative legal doctrine, principle, or precept applied to the facts of an appropriate case rule of law that is most persuasive in light of precedent, reason and policy,” as well as, “government by law; adherence to due process”

The specific violation being widely canvassed in the on-going crisis is norm that once a matter has been placed before the court for adjudication, parties should do nothing to make the work of the court futile. Lawyers call it tampering with the res, or presenting the court with a fait accompli.

Apart from protests in the streets, organized by civil society groups, there has been very robust condemnation of the actions of both the NJC and the President, from several articulate quarters. They include political parties, the Nigeria Bar Association, National Association of Nigerian Students, Nigeria Labour Congress, prominent legal practitioners and many leading public commentators.

Of course, there have been a few voices coming in defence of both the NJC and the President. Such defences have been based on two reasons – the commentators’ judgment of the case, character and antecedents of the PCA and/or the right of any employer, in this case, the NJC to discipline an employee. Needless to say, these don’t go to the root of the matter.

You see, we are fast becoming a society without values. Values such as honesty, forthrightness, courage to stand for that which we know to be true are in short supply, in our nation. It is much more so in the leadership, unfortunately.

The rump of the NJC which suspended the PCA knew they didn’t have the power and even if they did, their choice was clear, the moment they received court processes on the matter. The President knew or ought to know that he was backing an illegality by implementing the recommendation of the NJC. This, for me, was in character, however. As I have gone on record as saying before, much as I pray that Dr Goodluck Jonathan succeeds in office, I know that he cannot resist any opportunity to serve himself! He did it with the violation of the rotational principles of his party and he’s likely to do it as often as the opportunities present themselves.

Yet a violation of the rule of law in a democracy, is a violation of one of God’s most fundamental laws; one by which He even bound himself! As any one with an even basic understanding of the Bible would agree, God stuck by due process in the process of restoring the earth He created and handed over to Adam, back to His children after it had been foolishly handed over to satan.

How do I mean? Recall that Adam and Eve were forbidden from eating what became known as the forbidden fruit. Genesis 2 renders it this way in verses 16 & 17: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Recall that Adam and Eve did eat the forbidden fruit (see Genesis 3: 1-19) and thereby surrendered their dominion over the earth to satan, who thus became ruler of the earth. He held unto it and even flaunted it in his wilderness encounter with Jesus in Matthew 4, when he took the second Adam: “…up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” (verse 8); and said to him, “…All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (verse 9).

God, the maker of the heaven and earth, who reports to no one, could have done something unilateral about it! He didn’t. He chose to restore the earth to man by due process. He had made it clear that the wages of sin was death (see Romans 6: 23). He wasn’t going to go back on that! Instead of muscling the devil out of his cunningly stolen mandate, God brought the second Adam, got him to pay the price and wrested the earth from the impostor. Those who bear transient power and who name the name of the Lord, like Dr Jonathan, need to take a cue from the One with the eternal power. 

Ronald Reagan, former president of the United States of America in a March 8, 1983 speech delivered at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals, said: “Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.” Our God is a rule-of-law God.

BANKING: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE (4)

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor...a challenge

"...I am yet to come across any that operates strictly based on certain properly articulated Christian banking principles. I am aware of Kingdom Bank based in Nottingham, UK, but they evolved from being a mortgage outfit owned by Assemblies of God and, if I read them right, simply added savings into their portfolio. There are a couple of such institutions in the United States too. I am of course aware that there is the Vatican Bank and it is just that, a bank for the Vatican."

In closing last time I raised the following questions: Is there such a thing as Christian Banking? If there is, what are its main features and how does it differ from orthodox banking? If there’s no such thing as Christian banking, why isn’t there? Against the background of current experiences all over the world, shouldn’t there be Christian banking?

I shall try to answer these questions which I actually posed as one multifaceted question. This becomes even more pertinent against the background of an August 8 news report in the Moment, a Lagos-based daily, to which my attention has just been drawn.

Headlined, “Islamic Banking Opponents in Nigeria Seek Interest-Free Christian Banking Licenses”,  it reads: “Having failed so far to convince the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to withdraw its current guidelines on Islamic Banking, there are indications that some Christian groups may have decided to use a new approach to challenge the apex bank on the issue.

“Investigations by The Moment revealed that instead of continuing to protest against what they perceive to be the CBN’s attempt to use the guidelines to promote Islam over other religions, the Christian groups are now planning to apply to the apex bank for a non-interest banking licence that would allow them set up a bank that would operate in accordance with Christian principles (emphasis added).

“The Moment learnt that these groups, which in order to mobilise fellow Christians to support the plan have started going round churches in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, conceived this line of action in response to the CBN’s assertion that its guidelines also allow non-Muslim groups to apply for their own non-interest banking licence.

“For instance, the relevant section of the guidelines which top officials of the banking watchdog cite to support their claim, reads: ‘In line with CBN’s objective of promoting financial inclusion in Nigeria, individuals and groups wishing to practice non-interest banking based on established rules and principles other than Islamic may apply for a licence to operate such institutions, and the CBN will accordingly issue guidelines pertinent to that type of banking.’

“However, a source in Abuja informed The Moment that the Christian group’s decision to apply for non-interest banking licence was really to test the CBN’s pledge that other groups which apply would receive the same amount of attention that the current guidelines give to the Islamic religion. ‘In the church I attend, people are really angry over the CBN’s position on the Islamic Banking issue and they have decided to apply for a Christian banking licence to see if their application will be approved and what kind of guidelines the CBN will issue to govern Christian banking (emphasis added). They have also started going to other churches to get more people to support this plan.’

“Industry analysts told The Moment that if Christians apply for ‘Christian banking’ licence, the CBN could find it difficult drawing up guidelines for this form of banking mainly because it is not as well developed as Islamic Banking. Of particular interest is whether the contentious section in the current guidelines which states that the CBN will establish an Advisory Council of Experts to advise it on Islamic Banking will also be found in the guidelines for the other types of non-interest banking. Christians have criticised this proposed council of experts and they will be watching out to see if such a council will also be proposed for them, the analyst submitted’...”(emphasis added). I shall return to this report shortly.

The first shocking thing to note is that my not-so-exhaustive search has turned up nothing to suggest that there is anything known as Christian banking. There are Christian mortgage institutions and savings and loans outfits, so-called because they are owned by Churches,  finance Church building projects and church activities, but I am yet to come across any that operates strictly based on certain properly articulated Christian banking principles. I am aware of Kingdom Bank based in Nottingham, UK, but they evolved from being a mortgage outfit owned by Assemblies of God and, if I read them right, simply added savings into their portfolio. There are a couple of such institutions in the United States too. I am of course aware that there is the Vatican Bank and it is just that, a bank for the Vatican.

The question as to what the main features of Christian banking are and how it differs from orthodox banking does not arise at all, since there simply isn’t any such thing! And on why there’s no such thing as Christian banking, I think it’s simply because, orthodox banking originated from Christian environments and was originally operated along basic Christian principles.

Then the ultimate question: “against the background of current experiences all over the world, shouldn’t there be Christian banking?” That I would answer in the affirmative for the following reasons.

One, no matter its history, orthodox banking no longer serves the interest of the Church (Pastor Benny Perez and the Church of Las Vegas, for example) nor those of Christians (the average believer unable to finance his/her business). Two non-interest, profit/loss sharing and ethical banking, (main features of Islamic banking) substantially conform with the Christian faith, save for arguments over whether usury is excessive interest or any interest and also investment in piggery. Three, should banking wind up becoming an evangelizing tool, which seems far-fetched at the moment, we won’t be caught napping.

In closing, please take a look at the emphasis added in the news report quoted above. I believe the issue of guidelines should be seen more as a challenge to us Christians to develop and articulate Christian banking principles around which the guidelines for Christian banking would be built, rather than see as a test for the Central Bank of Nigeria. As for the so-called advisory council of experts at the CBN, neither Islamic nor Christian banking requires one at State expense, and, in my considered opinion, we should press until the existing Islamic council is disbanded. (CONCLUDED)

BANKING: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE (3)

CAN President Ayo Oritsejafor

"Pastor Benny, of course, would have none of that and he is fighting back – within the system, as well as, spiritually.  Exasperated, he was quoted in part as saying: “…hopefully these banks will come to their senses and start working with churches that are helping the communities. This church isn’t a business. This is my life. This is my calling. There are lives at stake.”  But that is precisely, the problem: the church is not a business; the banks ARE! Money is the life of the banker, making money is his “calling”; profit, mouth-watering profit, is at stake! "

As we saw last time, Benny Perez, Pastor of the Church of Las Vegas is in a battle to save the church’s property from foreclosure. As a result of the sub-prime lending crisis which brought the world’s financial system to its knees three years ago, the value of the church’s property, bought largely with borrowed fund, plummeted 90%. Las Vegas, incidentally, was among the worst affected property regions of the world. The bank which provided the fund with which the property was bought wants to cut its loss and scram, with potentially disastrous consequences, including loss of the property and the huge funds already expended on it.

Pastor Benny, of course, would have none of that and he is fighting back – within the system, as well as, spiritually.  Exasperated, he was quoted in part as saying: “…hopefully these banks will come to their senses and start working with churches that are helping the communities. This church isn’t a business. This is my life. This is my calling. There are lives at stake.”  But that is precisely, the problem: the church is not a business; the banks ARE! Money is the life of the banker, making money is his “calling”; profit, mouth-watering profit, is at stake! 

In sober moments, I am sure, even the pastor knows that it will take a miracle for him to save the church campus and have the necessary fund to continue his expansion project. I believe in miracles and I am joining him in prayer for one. This is because, within the system, as is, he doesn’t stand one tot of a chance! 

Which was why, we ended the last piece on this stark note: “Yes, every system serves its originators and operators. The current banking system, whether in the USA or Nigeria, was not established to serve the Kingdom of God on earth. If it ever does help the church, it is accidental, and it’s got to be on its own terms. If those terms hurt us, the system owes us no apology!”

Now, it is against this background that we must consider our options. First, I must state that I am a believer in supernatural provision. I believe that it is possible to build church facilities debt-free; that is without recourse to borrowing of any kind. And what applies to churches applies to individuals, depending on your level of faith and on the sovereign choice of God in each situation. However, I know that, borrowing, while not being the perfect will of God, is well within his permissive will. If that is true, we need to ask ourselves whether churches and individual Christians should be left at the mercy of a system that is clearly designed for purposes that can only occasionally coincide with ours.

Two not so widely publicized contributions to the on-going debate on the controversial introduction of Islamic banking have, in addition to Bro William Eze’s all-important question to me on whether God was trying to say something to us through the controversy, have helped to point me in a definite direction, which I shall share presently. But first let’s read the contributions by these two Nigerians, one Christian, the other a Muslim, together.

In a piece titled, “A Moslem on Christian Banking” in a recent of edition of Leadership newspaper, Yushau Shuaib, identified as a former press secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance and Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission counselled as follows: 

 “…Pastor Oritsejafor and his co-travellers clamouring against the introduction of Islamic banking should be advised to channel their energies towards ensuring the realisation of Christian banking in Nigeria that could be fashioned in line with biblical injunctions. Though Islamic banking system is globally recognised as a financial model for investment alternatives, the prohibition of usury or charging interest on loans as well as investment in prohibited goods and products are not only abhorred in the Quran but also have references from verses in the Bible. Some sections in the Bible that prohibit usury for instance in the King James version of the Bible include: Exodus 22:25-27, Leviticus 25:36-37, Psalm 15:1-5, Deuteronomy 23:19-20, Jeremiah 15:10 , Ezekiel 18:7-9, 17 and Matthew 25:27 just to mention a few. Though literatures on Islamic banking and finance are in their thousands, getting similar publications from the Christian perspectives should not be difficult to obtain.

“In fact the many Christian universities in Nigeria are not established to churn out graduates but to provide scholarly materials in various subjects. Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor should exploit those potentials and also engage scholars and intellectuals to work out the frameworks for Christian Banking in Nigeria. The Nigerian muslim will surely not object or condemn the initiative just like similar programmes and policies initiated and formulated by Christians.” 

The second piece by a blogger who describes himself as “a Nigerian student that experienced Christianity first hand; from a religious family in South Western Nigeria; a student of science that developed special interest in philosophy and religions early enough to enable him discern some truth from falsehood” concluded his piece on the subject like this: “If your religion doesn’t have a way out for the poor, if your religion says virtually nothing about finance, if all you talk about in churches is how people will make fortunes (to deliver to your coffers anyway); then let the way of life that has a guidance, and is willing to help us stay…”

Food for thought, don’t you think? For instance, could a mortgage funding product run along Islamic Banking lines have been friendlier to Pastor Benny and the Church of Las Vegas? This leads inexorably to the questions that have been tugging at my heart since. Is there such a thing as Christian Banking? If there is, what are its main features; how does it differ from orthodox banking and why is it not being pushed as vigorously as Islamic banking is being promoted? If there’s no such thing as Christian banking, why isn’t there? Against the background of current experiences all over the world, shouldn’t there be Christian banking, if there isn’t?  (CONTINUES)

BANKING: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE (2)

Pastor Benny Perez

"Charisma reported what it describes as the “ugly details” as follows: 'The Church of South Las Vegas paid $4.5 million for 3.3 acres of Las Vegas Valley land three years ago. In March, that land appraised for $475,000—a 90 percent decline. The church owes a combined $7.7 million on the property and land. It appraised for $2.3 million. So, like many property owners in Las Vegas—one of the hardest hit real estate markets in the nation—Perez is upside down … $5.4 million upside down'.”

The point has been made that the controversy over introduction of Islamic Banking into our financial system has become a kind of “hunch back problem”, which our dear President would need divine guidance to resolve. That is because the rhetoric on both sides has become violent. Also when it is remembered that the President is a Christian, you wonder how he’s going to avoid accusations of partisanship or sell-out as the case may be.  That was why I counselled that we should pray for him.

But as we pray, I had also suggested that we “begin to prayerfully take a close look at banking systems and practices and our place in it, as children of God”.  I also requested you, dear readers to reflect on how your “interface with banking practices, as they are today, (have) helped or hurt your assignment for God here?  

In making this request, I was hoping that we would be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the system, how those attributes line up with the way and manner Christians are supposed to conduct their affairs in whatever their hands find to do here on earth.

My preliminary thoughts are that we, in this part of the Christian world, have not had the incentive to give this issue any thought for two reasons. One, real or perceived weaknesses in the financial system have been located mainly within a rotten socio-economic and political milieu, which would be corrected once the operating environment responds to treatment. 

Secondly, it does seem as if interaction between the Church, in this context, the institutions, rather than the congregants, is mutually beneficial. The reason being that many of the major church institutions, which produce leadership of the church associations and groups, are veritable sources of deposits to the banks and can benefit from existing interest regime or even negotiate theirs. In addition, most of them hardly ever have the need to resort to bank funding for their projects. 

This is where the story of the current travails of Benny Perez, senior pastor of the Church of Las Vegas, in the United States comes into the picture. A Charisma News report last week styled the situation as a battle with the “Babylonian system to save its campus from foreclosure.” The church, a 4,000-member charismatic megachurch is located in Henderson, Nevada,   widely recognised as the gambling capital of the world.

Charisma reported what it describes as the “ugly details” as follows: “The Church of South Las Vegas paid $4.5 million for 3.3 acres of Las Vegas Valley land three years ago. In March, that land appraised for $475,000—a 90 percent decline. The church owes a combined $7.7 million on the property and land. It appraised for $2.3 million. So, like many property owners in Las Vegas—one of the hardest hit real estate markets in the nation—Perez is upside down … $5.4 million upside down.” 

The report continued: “Perez says the real battle began when the bank wanted to collect $1.8 million in church offerings earmarked for a building project for the fast-growth church. When Perez tried to negotiate with the bank to reduce the principal of the $7.7 million loan in line with actual property values, the bank refused. 

“After prayer and legal counsel, The Church of South Las Vegas decided a strategic default was the best stewardship move. The church stopped making payments on the loan on May 1. The bank subsequently filed suit against the church on June 17. And in July, the church filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in effort to save its campus. ‘People are asking if it is biblical to do a strategic default and declare bankruptcy,’ Perez says. ‘Our answer is we will leave that to smarter people. All I know is that for us as a church, it is a stewardship issue. Would you keep throwing thousands of dollars into a black hole? The bank wants to milk our savings and everything we have until we can’t pay anymore. Bankruptcy was a business decision.’”

Explaining the church’s strategy, the report said, filing for bankruptcy protection, ensures that the church “doesn’t have to leave the property - at least for now - because foreclosure is stayed”, since the Church has no debt. 

Perez, continues the report, “still hopes to negotiate with the bank. But the reality is that The Church of South Las Vegas could wind up losing its current home .Charisma quoted Perez as saying: “Somebody needs to stand up to this and I am standing up…Other pastors facing foreclosure are calling me asking what they should do. I can’t tell them what to do about the financial situation, but I do tell them not to walk in fear and not to keep throwing money away to these banks. You have rights and hopefully these banks will come to their senses and start working with churches that are helping the communities. This church isn’t a business. This is my life. This is my calling. There are lives at stake.”

Interestingly the pastor, as we are wont to do, had a spiritual angle to the issue. Charisma quoted him as saying: “This is a spiritual battle. The enemy loves to stop churches by using money. We are one building away from feeding and clothing more people, reaching more youth and children, and helping more prostitutes…Our church would probably double in another year if we could get the new building up. It’s been a war for three years. This is not about a bank. It is a principality and a power standing between us and the Promised Land.”

Now, there are a number of issues thrown up by this report. The easiest to deal with, in my opinion, is the spiritual angle as articulated in Pastor Perez’s statement in the immediate last paragraph. Yes, every system serves its originators and operators. The current banking system, whether in the USA or Nigeria, was not established to serve the Kingdom of God on earth. If it ever does help the church, it is accidental, and it’s got to be on its own terms. If those terms hurt us, the system owes us no apology! (CONTINUES)