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.
