`In Cross River, we use churches to market govt policies’
What are the functions of your office?I always like to enlighten people about the functions of this office. I like to say that this office is not all about prayer even though it has to do with liaising with faith-based organizations. Nigerians pray more than they go to church. In fact, unconfirmed research has it […]
What are the functions of your office?
I always like to enlighten people about the functions of this office. I like to say that this office is not all about prayer even though it has to do with liaising with faith-based organizations. Nigerians pray more than they go to church. In fact, unconfirmed research has it that about 89% of Nigerians are prayer warriors. This department is a policy-making office on issue of religion. We work to see that we bring the preponderance of churches and other faith-based organizations in the state together for better governance, which is about using resources. It might surprise you to know that from the research made by this office there are 12 churches per kilometer in Calabar, which is a very huge number. So when you have that kind of number which is just an average. There are some streets that have more than that. If we have this huge number what do we do with it? We are established to harness the preponderance of these faith-based organizations to the benefit of government and the people. We also use this critical number to interface with the people. This is because we have observed that if a politician says something people would take it with a pinch of salt but when a religious leader speaks from the throne they take it as from God. As a result of this, we need to get leaders of faith-based organization, sit down with them one-on-one and get them to ask question about governance.
Why is your government much about churches?
We want to use the faith-based organisations to market government policies and if we can convince them, then they will be able to convince their followers. We use the office of Religious Matters to help in marketing government initiatives. Now we are doing a survey on the impact of religion on the society and how society can benefit from religion. We also arrange stakeholders’ forum for other units of government, especially when there are needs for people to know what government is doing. We also work with Christian Association of Nigeria. In fact, CAN has never been as active as it is now in the state because this office ensures that they are involved in important state issues. For instance, we make them to be at the forefront of annual pilgrimage drive. We make them an arm of government. The government feels that if we have much from religion we need also to make them benefit from governance.
Will you advise that your government tax churches?
Government does not tax churches. But if a church has any business ventures, we will place taxes on such. For instance, if churches have printing houses, schools, shopping malls, they will have to pay taxes to government. This is because they are businesses. I do not like people hiding under the toga of religion to rob government of its due. It is even written in the Holy Bible that what is due Caesar should be given to him. People will argue that when they pay tax government does not utilize it well. But in Cross River State, I can assure that this administration directly applies taxes on construction of roads in the hinterlands. There are other infrastructures ongoing. People just have the mentality of not wanting to pay tax to government. Despite that I am special adviser on religious matters, I am a pastor with four churches under me. In this state, what is close to tax on religious houses is the Cross River State Signage Agency (CRISSSA). Many churches advertise their programmes and pictures of their wives and husbands as the vicars on billboards all over the streets. So, if they mount such bill boards outside their premises, they have to pay.
Considering the level of corruption in government and elsewhere, do you honestly think that religion has played any critical role to abate this?
Religion in Nigeria is a mile wide and an inch deep. It is a fact that we have not allowed the tenets of faith to direct our national life. We have not been able to allow the morality preached by religion to impact. It is so because it does not exist in a vacuum. People in government are challenged by tremendous pressure of many needs. That is why some put their hands into the tilt and help themselves perhaps they think that what they earn do not meet up this tremendous pressure. People strongly believe that as a member of government you have much money. They therefore mount pressure. But this is not so! Faith-based organizations, or religion, have the moral responsibility to drive this matter seriously. Religious leaders should be able to confront government officials that come to their functions to donate, say, Two Million Naira and ask where they got such amount of money from! If a young man who I know cannot afford so much comes to my church to pay huge amount of tithe I will ask him how he managed to get such amount. For instance, when we were building our permanent site, a lady came to donate huge amount. I confronted her and she explained that when I asked brethren to donate towards the building she was moved but had no money. She had to go and sell her old car and brought the proceeds. Seeing such faith, we prayed and the next testimony three months later was that she won a raffle draw which she used to buy a new car.
Religious bodies should encourage their members to rely and use only their incomes and not to go beyond their means. Without this, and if politics does not cease to be a ‘do-or-die affair’, the situation will continue to be so. Corruption in government is the failing of religious leadership and not politics.