A Chunk for the Church

The era of Pentecostalism elevates spiritual advancement above academic development. This is made obvious by the numerous youths, who after graduating from the university would immediately receive the “divine calling” and head into ministerial work instead of joining the crowded labour market. Commendable as this may seem, it is unfortunate that most of them do not do so with piety, but rather become materialistic demi gods who engage in leadership tussles and chase after wealth.

However, with the education sector becoming robust for investment and as it is an essential of life and the best gift parents can give to their children; it is not surprising that the Church has spread its tentacles into this sector.

The vision for university creation is not a bad idea nor is it unbiblical, as a religious body can diversify into any aspect of the economy so long as it does not contravene the laws of the land and the institution’s doctrine.

It is a laudable effort that affords them the opportunity to play a crucial role in the development of the academic sector and improve the quality of its output which unfortunately has been questioned because of the outrageous fees charged by these institutions, the quality of graduates produced, the vision for creation of such schools and the sudden encroachment of the churches into the academic sector.

Looking back into the past,one can’t but realize the lasting impact missionary schools had on educational standards in Nigeria.They provided(and still provide) affordable, easily-accessible and quality education to all irrespective of religion or cultural affiliations/tribe. Orthodox churches did not only preach the good news of Jesus, they gave back to the society in many ways other than education. Their works still speak till date as our older kin/relations who attended missionary schools are obviously better in many ways than us the present generation and it is not in doubt that the present generation is faced with many distractions compared to older generations. The influence of the internet/social media and its misuse no doubt contributes to the generational gap/differences which have now become a problem. Unlike our forebears who fared better despite being less exposed, our generation has abused a tool which would have given us an edge.

It is understandable that the missionaries could not provide tertiary education due to limited funds but it is commendable that they invested the resources at their disposal on Primary and Secondary education; which are regarded as the bedrock of education.

I am not of the opinion that education should be free across all levels, but my reservation lies in the fact that if in the past,missionaries could provide the masses with quality education at little or no cost, why should our present day Holy Ghost-filled, tongue-speaking, love-preaching and liberty-spreading churches be at the fore of providing expensive yet inferior education in a country wallowing in poverty and ethno-religious crises?

Why should our religious bodies be party to the worsening situation of the academic sector?With government paying little attention to education, most Government-owned institutions have inadequate facilities to cater for applicants, A.S.U.U. strikes yearly, thus,people would rather scrounge and save to send their children to alternative schools. It comes as no surprise though, why should they care, when the same people responsible for the failure of this sector also own private institutions or can afford to send their children to Ivy League schools.

I will like most of our religious bodies to look deeply into these points and provide answers to them, preferably truthful answers and in all integrity.

v  Are these institutions truly visions from God or personal visions to spread the name of the Church and those of their leaders?

v  Is it not the offerings, tithes and seeds given by the masses that fund these institutions whose fees end up being out of their income?

v  Whose children are being raised in these institutions that are unaffordable to the average Nigerian?

v  Do these schools truly impart religious, moral and academic excellence to their students? Or are they set up just to follow the trend and compete with one another?

v  Do products of these institutions match up to those of Federal and State (Public) institutions?

It would have been better for our increasing number of Pentecostal churches to establish specialized institutions rather than contribute to the menace of institutions awarding various useless degrees. This would greatly improve the quality of graduates and research. 

Instead of establishing universities, I see no reason why our churches cannot invest the funds at their disposal on building hospitals, vocational centers, taking up tourist sites for proper management, or looking into genuine technological production. Equipped with qualified personnel, there would be no need to seek medical treatments abroad, and the vocational centers will encourage skill acquisition and improve integrity in craftsmen, foreigners and even citizens can visit our tourist sites during and off vacation and we can likewise enhance technological production and reduce on import rate especially on finished goods.

If the gospel is to be spread, there are several and better ways to do such, the  church should not imbibe the Nigerian system of “when the business is good, everyone rushes into it and gets it destroyed, when it is becoming bad, we swap to the next trending business”.

Jesus was a peace maker and did not discriminate against the rich and the poor, but it is saddening that today’s church seems to welcome the rich - irrespective of the source of the wealth - while stylishly despising the poor. The masses see the church as a place of refuge, but when the church fails her people, God will always be faithful to them.

This article is not intended to criticize the church, but to set Heron the right path as the church is derailing in all aspects and is no more standing for the truth. The church needs to unite and let-go of divisive doctrines. One can’t ignore the fact that the church encounters financial challenges in running these institutions which is an obvious contributing factor to the high tuition but churches can shelve their doctrinal differences and contribute positively to the economy. If such is done, five to ten churches can come together and have a specialized institution of law, medicine or management that will be appropriately funded and governed. If each church believes it must own a school, headed by its General Overseer, funding and developmental challenges will continuously crop up and congregants will either have to donate more, or students will be made to pay more.

The sudden emergence of mushroom tertiary institutions in this country spells doom to the education sector as most of the institutions will face financial problems, less patronage, and an increase in unqualified staff. It won’t come as a surprise if they end up being merged as it was the case in the financial sector. Even if it happens, it might lead to stronger and better grounded institutions but it is better such consensus are reached at will amongst themselves than by an enforced law so that no party losses on any-side. Education they say is light, let the church and other religious bodies spread the light around with the right motive and manner not leaving untouched its antecedent which is technological advancement for the sake of research and employment generation as non is independent of the other putting in mind that there is no secularism with God, making heaven is encompassed by everything we do and live-by and not just our service to God.