Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Pastor Onoja Emmanuel Akor, who works with a telecoms servicing company and a graduate of marketing from the Federal Polytechnic Idah in Benue State, North Central Nigeria, also has a Post Graudate in Management from the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.
In this interview with InvestAdvocate, opens his mind on Pastors in Nigeria using private jets, those claiming to be on fulltime ministry and not engaging in any other means of livelihood, the need for them to pay taxes and how to use the money they get to invest and create jobs for the people: Excerpts.
Your reaction on Pastors owning private jets
There is nothing wrong with Pastors having Private Jets, if they can afford one; it’s because of our mind sets that we raise so much dust on Pastors having private jets. They use these jets to propagate the gospel, moving from one point to another. I think it’s our mind sets that they should not have all those things because their followers are suffering; so I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.
Jesus used a borrowed donkey in his days, why are they not emulating his simple lifestyle?
If you want to compare the days of Jesus Christ and what we have today, the donkey is a form of transportation from one point to another. So, when Christ used the donkey, the significant was not too elaborate and I don’t see it as a comparison with what is happening now.
Is the private jet not a form of transportation like the donkey?
Now you are qualifying it a ‘’private jet’’ meaning the man of God has a jet that is private for movement from one point to another, you know they fly all around the world to propagate the gospel of God and in order to seek comfort, if they can afford it, no problem. For instance, Reverend Clifford Dollar’s wife in the United States has a private jet.
Why are most Pastors claiming to engage in fulltime ministry and not doing any other job?
Well there is nothing that is fulltime ministry, a Pastor should work and not engage in fulltime ministry. A Pastor should have a business he runs, there is nothing like fulltime pastoral work, it’s wrong, a Pastor should work and God has rightly told us that he will bless the works of our hands. There is so much erroneous believes in Nigeria that a Pastor should operate fulltime at what he does.
Let’s assume that churches in Nigeria are banned, how they would survive, so it’s wrong for a Pastor to say he is a fulltime Pastor. You stay in your house from Monday to Wednesday and have the midweek service, from Thursday to Saturday doing nothing and on Sundays you go and preach in the church. The person will become lazy; Pastors should have something to do.
Do Pastors have business sense and engage in investments both in the stock market and other sectors?
They do if not for the confidence that is missing in our stock market; men of God with the financial strength invest in the stock exchange; except for the collapse of the sector, which I think has given them a shocker.
Why are Pastors living flamboyant lifestyles in Nigeria and not creating jobs for people?
If you make a proper investigation, you will find out that these Pastors you see have some businesses they do, and they employ people. I won’t like to mention names; but i know there are some Pastors with investments that have employed people. We have a Pastor that has a very big farm; though not in Nigeria. The big farm employs people and once you have such an investment, you will automatically employ people. We have Pastors in Nigeria that has invested in the university system; they have created jobs by employing lecturers, cleaners and so on.
If Pastors live flamboyant lifestyles by acquiring private jets don’t you think it might influence our youths negatively by trying to emulate what they see?
What does it take to be flamboyant? If a man of God says he wants to have three cars, it depends on his humility; having in mind that he should do things that will not influence his followers. I know what happens, if followers see their Pastor living a certain lifestyle, they would want to emulate that. Pastors are to be humble and live in a way that is worthy of emulation. Take for instance Pastor Emmanuel Adeboye, despite all his riches; he is still a humble man.
What could be the source of income of those Pastors that own private jets?
If you are called by God, there is always a provision, God will always provide, if you read the Bible very well, congregations give tithes and offerings, the Lord has already told us to pay our tithes and give our offerings. These days, what the men of God do is to make sure they have the congregation, the higher the congregation, the higher the money. But I don’t think this should be so; because God will always provide.
Should Pastors pay Tax?
As religious bodies, we live in a society and if that society demands that tax should be paid, let it be so. Christ in his days said give to Caesar what is Caesars and God what is God. It is good for Pastors to pay taxes. There is nothing wrong in Pastors paying taxes. If Pastors are not afraid of the assets they have, there is nothing wrong for a Pastor to pay tax. They feel they have so much and should keep it out of public knowledge; they are Pastors and it’s wrong for them not to pay taxes. They should be open and if they are sincere, there is nothing wrong for anybody coming to check their records.
As a Pastor, can you own a private jet?
If I can afford it I will.
How has Christians contributed to the economic and social well-being of Nigeria in 2013?
During the year, we have been targeted by the so-called Boko Haram, if you go to the Northern part of Nigeria, Christians suffered so much from their activities, but we still held our peace. I believe we have prayed for the unity of this country and that’s why we are still standing. If we say we want to retaliate to what is happening in the North, I don’t think Nigeria will be one; but we still go on our knees to pray for this country, there is peace in our borders and homes. Economically we have seen Christians investing and doing their work on how to move the country forward. One, we are still building our faith towards the stock exchange and also in agriculture.
Future outlook of Nigerian in the next five years
If we will be able to curb the corruption that is bedevilling our nation, I think in the next five years, we should be amongst the league of top developed nations in the world. In the next five years, if we fight corruption, without lip service Nigeria will grow, corruption has been a source of worry in Nigeria, we are so corrupt and we need to fight it and stop paying lip service that we are fighting corruption.
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