I was once at a forum where a Nigerian pastor spoke
eloquently about prosperity. He told us Abraham was a wealthy person and
that Jesus Christ himself could not have made a triumphant entry into
the City of Jerusalem in the manner in which he did if he were poor. The
pastor “decreed” prosperity into us, even though jobs have ever since
become increasingly difficult to come by.
My immediate reaction to this pastor’s prosperity
sermon was to ask if prosperity was something to preach about or bring
about. One could understand if the Dangotes and Adenugas of this world
were talking of prosperity for all, not least because they can boast of
the jobs they have created for others. For the pastor, preaching from
the pulpit, it would be the question of prosperity for whom or whose
prosperity?
Of course, a religious leader can bring prosperity
about by challenging the root causes of poverty in society. We all know
that corruption is one of such
root causes. A religious leader who takes
it upon
himself or herself to confront our corrupt governments and
institutions would be fulfilling a mission that conforms to the basic
tenets of Christianity and Islam.
Another way the religious leader could be the apostle
of prosperity would be in investing the resources of his or her mission
in improving the lots of ordinary people as well as the communities in
which they operate. A religious institution that, for instance, gives
scholarships to the poor and needy would be contributing to the future
prosperity of the beneficiary or beneficiaries in no small measure.
Even when the establishment of universities of
“relatively good quality” has been credited to some religious
organisations, it is important that such universities are neither
perceived to be commercially-oriented nor elitist. However, exorbitant
fees could mean such universities merely promote inequality in society,
not least because they further the influence and opportunities of the
rich to the detriment of the majority of our peoples. Two readers of my
article on “Religion and the flying pastors” raised this important
question of “university fees” which I have chosen this occasion to
clarify, embellish and amplify.
Our religious leaders must take the lead in the fight
against corruption and greed, not least because corruption and greed
are the impediments to the prosperity of our peoples. It is principally
because of corruption that our educational institutions are collapsing,
not able to fulfil the challenges that research and ideas bring to
development. The quality of a nation’s educational system has a bearing
on the quality of its leadership and followership.
Recently the Vice-Chancellors of our universities
met, bemoaning the flight of money into American and European
universities at the expense of local ones. It must, however, be
highlighted here that the university is universal. In spite of America’s
many universities, its nationals still come to Europe for graduate and
postgraduate studies and vice-versa. If our governments had invested in
the educational system, ours should be the nation where the Europeans,
Americans, Chinese among others troop to for degrees in African studies
and tropical medicine. Our universities would also have been benefitting
from monies from richer nations.
The quality of a university can hardly transcend the
quality of the environment in which it is established. Our environments
would have to be conducive to health and safety of life and property for
our universities to attract foreign students of other continents. The
preachers of prosperity should be challenging our governments about the
state of our education, roads, hospitals, etc, not least because the
quality of these facilities give visible evidence to the prosperity
enjoyed by any nation and its peoples. Of course, a prosperous nation
would hardly have its streets lined with beggars!
Ours, as it is today, is one conspicuous nation in
the community of under-developed ones, a nation where justifiably an
insensitive and inconsiderate display of privileged affluence would be
resented by the majority. The new culture of private jets, for instance,
should be the subject of fuming by genuine preachers of the gospel who
believe the Holy Bible has provided the guidelines on how Christians
should live their lives. It would be self-serving to justify the current
ostentation of “private-jet pastors” by lecturing others about how
Jesus Christ would have lived his life if he were with us today.
•Akinola, a political writer based in Oxford, UK, wrote in via anthonyakinola@yahoo.co.uk.
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