SAN FRANCISCO, June 02, (THEWILL) – The pride of any nation lies in the strength of its economy as it is the fulcrum on which other segments derive their sustenance. However, Nigeria’s economy has, in the last few years, oscillated between poor and bad, degenerating further with the global crash in crude oil price and declining output.
Interestingly, President Muhammadu Buhari has maintained that fixing the economy is the priority of his government. But since the economy cannot be detached from other sectors, individuals, private and public sectors must be concerned about its performance. This is why the onus is on the entire society, including Churches, Mosques and Non-Governmental Organizations, NGO, to intervene now that the economy seems to be declining.
Over the years, Christian and Muslim missionaries in Nigeria have played critical roles in the economy, especially in the area of education and healthcare. This informed the large number of mission-established primary and secondary schools across the country, even though virtually all have been forcefully taken over by government.
Apart from schools, some built hospitals, where better services were rendered, compared to what obtained in their public owned facilities. It is also note worthy that most of our top leaders in government and private sectors today attended some of these missions’ schools.
Churches and Mosques in the country today are doing so well financially, even though the economy is sliding. Some of these ministries have become so rich, that they have established private schools, including world-class universities. Some have also invested in private estates and other businesses, which bear no direct impact on their congregations and the nation at large.
Following in toe are the numerous non-profit organizations, which get funds from international donor agencies, without correspondingly investing in critical sectors of the economy. This is more so as the funds were donated to them in the first place, to improve standards in their respective areas of focus.
As critical sectors cry for attention, there is the need for non-state actors to intervene in the economy. At a time when public institutions are decaying; when government and profit-crazy business tycoons seem to have failed the nation, this is the period they must rise to invest their mega fortunes on the economy.
There are critical areas in which they could direct their stupendous resources, among which are oil and gas, agriculture, power generation, solid minerals as well as setting up companies that will add value to the country.
THEWILL therefore urges these religious entities and NGOs to individually and collectively pull resources together to invest massively in these areas. We are optimistic that if they show same commitment to these other sectors, employment opportunities would be created for the benefit of the people, who today are suffering under harsh economic realities.
We believe that an improved economy would mean higher tithes, offering, pledges, vows, donations and gifts. On the contrary, sitting aloof at a time their contributions are needed to reflate the economy could lead to further job layoffs, hardship, unemployment and decline in the resources of their congregations.
In other climes, everything is not left for government to handle, hence the private sector intervention in those economies. We acknowledge that the Nigerian government has often imbibed public/private sector partnership, even though not at the level of religious bodies and NGOs.
THEWILL therefore urges government at all levels to extend this partnership to the Churches, Mosques and NGOs. Their intervention in crucial sectors, such as refineries, agriculture, solid minerals exploration, education and healthcare, among others, would be of great benefit to the entire nation.
This is the time for religious leaders, some of who choose to criticize government policies from the comfort of their pulpits, to join hands in salvaging the deteriorating economy. It is only by so doing that the agitations over time for government to compel them to pay tax can be partly assuaged.
If the option of taxing them to raise the much-needed Internally-Generated Revenues, IGR, should not be further discussed, we restate that the organizations direct their investment interests in this regard. This is the only way to bring sanity into the current corruption-laden business environment.
However, we warn against exploitative practices like some private business owners, whose products and services are beyond the reach of the common man.
Of great worry is that the school fees charged in private schools already established by these religious entities and NGOs are about thrice more expensive than what is being charged in public institutions. This is unlike the case in the past, when mission-owned schools were highly subsidized for the benefit of the people.
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