The lamentation by the General Overseer of Jubilee Christian Church International, Rev. Kunle Adesina, that some clerics no longer strive for God’s anointing, but give priority to primitive accumulation and material aggrandizement, is understandable given the unbecoming behavior of preachers who flaunt stupendous wealth and live flamboyant and ostentatious lifestyles that do their sacred calling very little credit. The spectacle of these so-called “men of God” swimming in affluence while a majority of their followers live in abject poverty is incomprehensible and vexatious. The obscene display of wealth gives the impression that churches and mosques have become business enterprises, rather than spiritual institutions concerned with matters affecting men’s souls. There is therefore a growing clamor for government to institute a tax regime on the huge income religious organizations generate like other businesses. What is certain is that there is too much abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people by sharks under the guise of religion. The government must find a way of halting this anomalous trend.
Millions of souls, desperate for financial breakthroughs, miracles and healing, are rushing to churches for redemption. But pastors are no longer interested in getting people to Heaven. And while the Bible expressly states that salvation is free, in Nigeria, it comes with a cost: offerings, tithes, gifts, directives to buy literature and other products created by the men of God. According to Forbes magazine, five of the ten richest preachers in the world are Nigerians, with a combined estimated net worth of over $250 million. All of them built multi-million dollar empires from their churches. Today, they fly in private jets, drive fancy cars like Porsches, Mercedes Benz and BMWs, don gold jewelries and expensive Rolexes and Patek Phillipes, and own breathtaking mansions across the world.
With an estimated net worth of $150 million, Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith World Outreach Ministry, aka Winners Chapel, is Nigeria’s wealthiest preacher. The ministry he founded in 1981 has become one of Africa’s largest congregations. The Faith Tabernacle, where he hosts three services every Sunday, is Africa’s largest worship center, with a seating capacity of 50,000. Oyedepo owns four private jets and homes in London and the USA. He also owns Dominion Publishing House that publishes all his books. He founded and owns Covenant University, and Faith Academy, an elite high school.
Coming a distant second with an estimated net worth of $50 million is Chris Oyakhilome; founder and lead pastor of Believers’ Loveworld Ministries, aka Christ Embassy; with branches in Nigeria, South Africa, London, Canada and USA. His over 40,000 member congregation includes top business executives and politicians. His publishing company, Loveworld Publications, publishes Rhapsody of Realities, a monthly devotional which sells over 2 million copies at $1 apiece, raking over $2 million every month. His diversified interests include newspapers, magazines, a local television station, a record label, satellite TV, hotels, a fast-food chain and extensive real estate. His Loveworld TV Network is the first Christian network to broadcast from Africa to the rest of the world on a 24 hour basis. Pastor Chris was at the center of a $35 million money laundering controversy and was identified in the Panama Papers as one of the richest Nigerians, who has been hiding his money in tax havens.
The third richest Nigerian pastor, Temitope Balogun Joshua, aka Prophet TB Joshua, heads the Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN), which he founded in 1987, which accommodates over 15,000 worshippers on Sundays. Although his net worth is estimated at $15 million, his assets are worth over $40 million. He is Nigeria’s most powerful and controversial preacher. He claims inexplicable powers to heal all sorts of incurable diseases from cancer to HIV/AIDS. For miracle-craving worshippers, it’s the perfect seduction. The church currently has branches in Britain, Ghana, South Africa and Greece. He owns Emmanuel TV, a Christian television network, and is close friends with several politicians.
Next is Matthew Ashimolowo of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), with an estimated net worth of $10 million. In 1992, the Nigeria-based Foursquare Gospel Church sent Ashimolowo to open a satellite branch in London. But Pastor Matthew decided to set up his own church instead. Today, his KICC is the largest Pentecostal church in England. He earns an annual salary of $200,000, but his real wealth comes from varied business interests including his media company, Matthew Ashimolowo media which churns out Christian literature and documentaries.
Last but not the least, is Chris Okotie of the Household of God Church, with an estimated net worth of $10 million. Pastor Okotie made his first success as a pop musician in the 80s. He embraced the bible and set up what unarguably, is Nigeria’s most flamboyant church. His over 5,000 congregation consists predominantly of Nollywood celebrities, musicians, and socialites. He contested and lost the presidential elections for the third time under the Fresh Party, which he founded and funds. An automobile lover, he owns a Mercedes S600, Hummer and Porsche among several others.
These pastors are responsible for clamors that government should regulate and tax places of worship. Delegates at the 2014 National Conference overwhelmingly supported this idea. But, while that may seem logical and justified on the surface, the truth is that religious institutions are not businesses per se. They are incorporated trustees registered as non-profit organizations and are tax-exempt, because it is assumed, they are doing humanitarian work. But the way pastors carry themselves; and their apparent focus on material prosperity is an unusually offensive obsession that has done the soul little or no good. This has even been pushed against all acceptable religious standards, norms and values. The pastors exploit their members for their own personal aggrandizement and the sociological disharmony in the way their churches are run without a semblance of a human face is now an issue.
This notwithstanding, the moral failings of some pastors must not be become a justification for punishing others who remain on the path of rectitude and whose actions are measured in line with the tenets of their faith. On the other hand, businesses like schools and universities owned by religious institutions should be taxed appropriately. The offerings and other forms of collections by religious organizations from worshippers, and which are the sources of the wealth that the proponents of taxation are targeting, are not included in the list of taxable income under the Nigerian Tax Law. As a matter of fact, it is the congregation who make these contributions that lose by way of double taxation.
Elsewhere in developed countries, financial contributions made by members in churches and mosques are tax-deductible. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s taxation system is not streamlined and adequate records are not kept with the result that while some people pay more, others pay little or nothing. The support for a regime of taxation on churches and mosques is because pastors are making too much money at the expense of the people. God cannot be good, all the time; only to business savvy pastors.
