THE Senior Pastor of Housefavour Church, Lagos, Revd. Olubo Bayode, during a recent media chat, may have whipped up angry reactions when he called for proper auditing of church accounts to check financial recklessness and abuses. 'Many funds belonging to churches have ended up in private pockets,' said Bayode. 'Our leaders are just siphoning church funds. Most of these accounts are never transparent or audited,' he noted, adding: 'Government must regulate and audit churches.'Also, a Senior Correspondent at The Church of England Newspaper, George Conger, wrote of an inquiry by the United States Senate: 'Six US television evangelists are under investigation by a US Senate committee for allegedly abusing their tax-exempt status to fund lavish personal lifestyles that include mansions, jets, Rolls Royces, and 12,000 toilet seats.'Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, asked the six to provide detailed information on expenses, compensation and executive amenities.'I'm following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries,' Senator Grassley said. '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.'A common underbelly of many religions is the 'let's-leave-it-all-to-God' attitude. This is not surprising; religion flows, more often than not, with belief in a blameless Being, and human assistants, who, one way or the other, have imbibed traits of the Divine, and display same.In the Judeo-Christian tradition, for instance, a worshipper may not walk up to a priest to press enquiry into what becomes of a sacrificed sheep or tithe. The devotee would, most likely, turn around and head for home with the mindset: 'I have offered unto God, far as I know. What becomes of my gift concerns me nothing.'Such situation is quite common in religious circles in Nigeria. And effort to pry would not only be resisted, but would most likely be termed reprobate.THE religious setting, which prompted the US Senate Committee inquiry, may have been replicated in Nigeria. It is not news any longer that heads of some religious establishments in the country are heirs to stupendous wealth, which they display in a most brazen manner.In its article, 'The Five Richest Pastors In Nigeria', leading source for reliable business news and financial information, Forbes, writes: 'God is good, especially if you're a Nigerian pastor with some business savvy. These days, millions of souls, desperate for financial breakthroughs, miracles and healing, all rush to the church for redemption. And while the Bible expressly states that salvation is free, at times it comes with a cost: offerings, tithes, gifts to spiritual leaders, and a directive to buy literature and other products created by men of God.'Pastors are no longer solely interested in getting people to heaven; they've devised intelligent ways to make good money while reaching out to souls.'The repository continued: 'Many other Nigerian pastors are similarly building multi-million dollar empires from their churches. Today, pastors fly around in private jets; drive fancy cars like Daimlers, Porsches and BMWs, don Rolexes and Patek Phillipes, and own breathtaking mansions all over the world.'But it isn't churches alone that money flows into; care institutions, like orphanages and old people's homes, scattered across the nation, receive donations in cash and kind that run in the millions. The question is: how are these donations managed' Should society be contented with the let's-leave-it-all-to-God attitude' Or is there need for an EFCC-styled investigation'According to Revd. Monsignor John Aniagwu, the Parish Priest of Saint Leo's Catholic Church, Ikeja, 'Honestly, we don't go back to the homes to check how these items are being used. We hope and expect that those in charge would use them for the purposes they are meant. The orphanages run by the Catholic Church' we don't entertain fears whatsoever because we expect the Reverend Sisters to be absolutely honest and truthful in what they are doing,' he said.'But these other ones that we don't control, that belong to individuals and organisations, there is no way of cross-checking what they are doing. We work on trust.'So far, we have not discovered any unfaithfulness. But, if we find any, we will call the attention of whoever is in charge. But that will not stop us from taking things to the underprivileged.'However, the National President of NasrulLahi-L Fatih Society of Nigeria (NASFAT), Alhaji Sheriff Yussuf President, said that, 'If we discover any unfaithfulness, our reaction will be to correct it. If we have evidence that things donated to orphanages are being diverted, I think there could be some level of reporting, so that corrective action can be taken on those that are perpetrating the diversion.'That is what we will need to do because the immediate temptation is to avoid such orphanage altogether, but that will not be right because it's the children that are supposed to be the ultimate beneficiary. And, if you don't patronise them, the children suffer. We don't want that to happen.'So, it is better we address the perpetrators, the individual, the manager, who are diverting those things. If we see evidence of that' we haven't seen any' we will take those that are perpetrating the diversion to account. Probably change them, so that the children will continue to benefit.'On his part, the Head of Apapa Family of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Idowu Iluyomade, says: 'We will withdraw our support from such orphanage. But we've never had such an experience, because we go to orphanages that are governed by rules of government.'There seems to be lacking, at the moment, a near foolproof mechanism that would thoroughly investigate use of donations and burst the myth of 'undiscovered unfaithfulness'. Appreciably, there is some awareness among donors on the importance of probity, but the monstrous level of corruption in the society might suggest that more needs to be done towards ensuring that every gift reaches its target.In the words of Bayode: 'Any church (and by extension, any care institution) that does not want to be audited is fraudulent. Any minister that is against this is stealing. This is because our religious sector is corrupt and only regulation will save the day for us.'At once, the words of Fela, the late Afrobeat musician, seem to come in handy: 'My brother wetin you say
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