Religion Section | 2 May 2014 08:52 CET

Should Churches And Mosques In Nigeria Pay Tax?

Let's hear your opinion fellows. Today, various churches have sprung like water and suddenly, you see people trooping into the church in hundreds. One question that comes to mind is, how come the church that just opened recently is now a big church?

You will agree with me that before you get to the end of a particular street, you will walk past about three to five churches, all claiming to serve one God.

The flamboyant lifestyles of pastors of new generation churches have also not helped matters. The early church found its anchor by the salvation of the soul. The flashy pastors of nowadays mostly preach material successes. Prosperity is the word and the name of the game is crass materialism.

Hmmm, we were surprise when Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), stirred up a real hornet's nest when he recently canvassed that churches and mosques should be compelled to pay tax in the country.

Falana, who represented Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, at a workshop in Lagos said: “Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), someone who just acquired his own jet a couple of weeks ago, took a swipe at Pastor Tunde Bakare for condemning their crave for jets and opulent life. He (Oritsejafor) said everything a pastor could get for evangelism should be acquired, not minding the economic situation of the people. If this is the case then, the tax authorities must extend their dragnets to all religious centres where substantial income is generated on a regular basis in the name of God."

At this point, why should we say there is no money in the country? You can imagine fleet of cars parked outside various churches especially on Sunday service. If a church acquires any property, check the name written on it if it is the church name that will be there. If yes, check the original documents and check the signatories on the documents.

Look at our bad roads, no good street lights, ugly police stations, poor drainage systems and other issues. Fine, they are all the duties of the government. But who are these government and how many people can they satisfy? What active investment have we seen that the churches have done for the society that is even a regular project? Instead, what churches do is to open new branches here and there all in the name of preaching salvation.

I am not judging anybody, but let's be logical in our reasoning and come out with a logical opinion which is worth analyzing. Today, you see a graduate because he does not have a job; next he goes to a bible school and next tells you that he is now a Pastor.

Is Christianity a calling or a profession? That, you need to search and answer yourself if you think there is need for change.

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