In this interview with LEKE BAIYEWU,
the Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde, speaks on
the planned levy on religious organisations and leadership in Nigeria
What’s
your reaction to the recent calls for taxation of religious organisations?
People calling for the taxation of
churches are like people calling for the sale of their mother. The Christian
church is the architect and the mother of Nigeria’s achievments. I don’t know
what Nigeria would have become without Christianity; we brought civilisation,
education, even publication – the first publication started in Abeokuta by the
CMS. We brought hospitals. Those who fought Church Missionary Society for the
independence of Nigeria were products of missionary schools.
So, those who are making the call
for taxation are saying, “Sell my mother, I don’t care.” And it’s an action
that is impossible. I am re-emphasising it, it is an impossible task. Those who
fight the church are fighting God. The first leprosy centre in Nigeria was
established by the Methodist Church Nigeria, followed by the Catholic Church.
The killing of twins was stopped by Mary Slessor of the Presbyterian Church in
Calabar.
There is an exception- We have the
Wesley House in Lagos built for commercial purposes. If you want to tax that,
it is good. If we are getting an income from it, as we put tenants there, it is
taxable. We are paying tax on the commercial buildings we have. But if you want
to tax our tithes and Sunday collections, you cannot because the church is not
for commercial purpose. And we plough what we have back into the society.
The churches are in partnership with
the government. For example the hospitals and schools built by the Methodist,
Catholic, Anglican, Seventh Day Adventists, etc, are a way we plough our money
back into the societ.
They think we were making profits in
our schools; it started with Lateef Jakande in Lagos, they took over our
schools and destroyed everything. Products of those schools are the armed
robbers of today; they are the area boys, the militants and the ‘Boko Harams’
because they were given education without morality and the fear of God. It
serves us right because we are lying on the bed we spread.
But
critics argue that missionary schools are too expensive and out of the reach of
a common man.
If knowledge is expensive, try
ignorance. The one they (government) are doing is not free. Education is not
free, somebody is subsidising. We are now establishing our universities where
there is no cultism and no strikes. When it is four years, it is four years.
But look at our government-owned universities, they are glorified secondary
schools. You can’t compare them with mission universities. I know a cousin who
went to the Lagos State University and spent eight years for a degree because
of strikes. Even with the argument that our school fees are high, we are still
subsidising.
Where did
the country get it wrong that people refer to the independence era as better
years?
We are the architect of our
problems. One, there is no fear of God again in the land, and the fear of God
is the beginning of wisdom. Islam preaches fear of God, Christianity preaches
fear of God but there is no fear of God anywhere again. When there is no fear
of God, there will be no love. Once there is no love, corruption sets in.
The love between the Hausa and the
Yoruba; the Yoruba and the Igbo; the majority and the minority are orchestrated
and counterfeit love. We have politicised everything. And the root of all of
these is corruption.
In the sixties, when people took
contracts to construct roads and other infrastructure, they didn’t give or take
percentage (bribes). The Ibadan-Ijebu Road, which was constructed by Gen.
Yakubu Gowon, is still solid because bribes were not given. When you award
contracts and you take percentages, the works will not be solid. It is not a
spiritual problem; it is a physical problem that boils down to corruption and
lack of the fear of God. People no longer work with conscience. And conscience
is the inner voice of God in you. Most Nigerians don’t have conscience again;
their conscience is dead. And when your conscience is dead, you do wrong
things. I served this country for about 40 years and I retired with no pension
or gratuity, and you want me to die for Nigeria? I can’t.
Some
people have said a revolution is looming. Do you agree?
I agree seven times. When you keep
people unemployed for a long time, you are asking for a revolution. And let me
tell you, Boko Haram has become a revolution; they don’t kill only Christians
again, they kill Muslims now. They go into their homes while they are praying
and shoot them. They are going beyond religion and it is becoming a revolution.
The Niger Delta militancy case is a revolution. You can’t take resources from
our place and develop the North, while you neglect us. A councillor is earning
more than a vice-chancellor of a university or a professor and you say there
will be no revolution. There will be revolution.
Nigeria is bleeding. We must try as
much as possible not to make it anaemic. Everyone is guilty; don’t apportion
blames to the politicians alone. The church is guilty because some people have
commercialised religion and that is why some say churches should be taxed –
because they see religious leaders living above their means. When you are too
flamboyant as a man of God, people will talk. But we cannot use isolated cases
to judge the church. The judiciary is not left out, in fact, it has disgraced
the nation. What about the police? They are licensed to kill through accidental
discharge. Everybody is almost lawless in this country.
Those who
are calling for a revolution have also faulted the 1914 amalgamation, saying
the regions should go their separate ways. Do you support this?
Revolution can come but it cannot
lead to a division. The revolution will not be restricted to any region because
we have all got it wrong. I will not advocate fa break-up. Going our separate
ways is not the answer to our problems. Getting it right and returning to God
is the answer. The spirit of those who died during the civil war will not
forgive us if we divide as a nation. Let me emphasise this: the spirit of those
who died, the innocent ones, during the civil war will not forgive us if
Nigeria divides. To jaw-jaw is better than to war-war.
There is nothing President Goodluck
Jonathan can do, except we pray for him. We are insatiable; nobody can satisfy
Nigerians. I pity him as a leader. I am a leader and I know what leadership
means. He cannot satisfy everybody. Even those who are not as knowledgeable as
he is are condemning him. It is easier to condemn than to offer advice.
This is the right time for all of us to pray for our country, our leaders and
offer constructive criticism and have good political leaders.
What baffles me in Nigeria today is
that the enemies of Nigeria are in the same party. Those who criticise the
Peoples Democratic Party bitterly are the members of the party. Most of those
who do not see anything good in Jonathan are members of the PDP. The party is a
house that is divided against itself and cannot stand. What I want is a formidable
opposition, not to gang up.
What I want is a party with
discipline; a party with manifesto. The only way out is for politics to be less
lucrative. We are not civilised and experienced enough in politics to run a
presidential system of government. It is too expensive; our economy is not good
and we depend on only crude oil. All the local councils and states go to Abuja
for federal allocation. How can we grow?
States cannot generate funds for
themselves and they think they can generate funds to run their states through
taxation of churches. They are deceiving themselves. We will pray and they will
collapse because God can fight for himself. Let them diversify. I am praying to
God to let oil dry up even during my lifetime so that we will learn a lesson of
not putting all our eggs in one basket. We have a long way to go and that
is why I say it is a general failure, not Jonathan’s failure. I pity him.
Jonathan is suffering from the penalty of leadership. To me, it is a collective
failure. We are all making Nigeria to bleed. We all need attitudinal change.
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