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OTA Nigeria (Reuters) - When a guesthouse belonging to
one of Nigeria's leading Christian pastors collapsed last
month, killing 115 mostly South African pilgrims, attention
focussed on the multimillion-dollar "megachurches" that
form a huge, untaxed sector of Africa's top economy.
Hundreds of millions of dollars change hands each year
in these popular Pentecostal houses of worship, which are
modelled on their counterparts in the United States.
Some of the churches can hold more than 200,000
worshippers and, with their attendant business empires,
they constitute a significant section of the economy,
employing tens of thousands of people and raking in
tourist dollars, as well as exporting Christianity globally.
But exactly how much of Nigeria's $510 billion GDP they
make up is difficult to assess, since the churches are, like
the oil sector in Africa's top energy producer, largely opaque
entities.
"They don't submit accounts to anybody," says Bismarck
Rewane, economist and CEO of Lagos consultancy
Financial Derivatives. "At least six church leaders have
private jets, so they have money. How much? No one really
knows."
When Nigeria recalculated its GDP in March, its economy
became Africa's biggest, as previously poorly captured
sectors such as mobile phones, e-commerce and its prolific
"Nollywood" entertainment industry were specifically
included in estimates.
There was no such separate listing for the "megachurches",
whose main source of income is "tithe", the 10 percent or so
of their income that followers are asked to contribute.
As the churches have charity status, they have no
obligation to open their books, and certainly don't have to
fill in tax returns -- an exemption that is increasingly
controversial in Nigeria, where poverty remains pervasive
despite the oil riches.
The pastors argue their charity work should exempt them.
"We use the income of the church to build schools, we use
the income of the church to serve the needs of the poor,"
David Oyedepo, bishop of the popular Winners Chapel, told
Reuters in an interview. "These are non-profit organisations."
PASTORS ON FORBES LIST
Nonetheless, the surging popularity of the megachurches
among the Christians who make up half of Nigeria's 170
million population has propelled their preachers into the
ranks of the richest people in Africa.
In 2011, Forbes magazine estimated the fortunes of Nigeria's
five richest pastors. Oyedepo topped the list, with an
estimated net worth of $150 million.
He was followed by "Pastor Chris" Oyakhilome of Believers'
LoveWorld Incorporated, also known as the Christ Embassy
and popular with executives and politicians, on $30 million
to $50 million.
TB Joshua, pastor of the Synagogue Church of All Nations,
at the centre of the recent diplomatic storm over the deaths
in its guesthouse, was thought to have $10 million to $15
million.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) declined to
comment on how churches fit into their GDP figures, but a
source there said they were included as "non-profit", which
falls under "other services" in the latest figures. In 2013, the
category contributed 2.5 percent of GDP, the same as the
financial sector.
A former banker at Nigeria's United Bank for Africa, who
declined to be named, recalled being approached five years
ago by a church that was bringing in $5 million a week
from contributions at home or abroad.
"They wanted to make some pretty big investments: real
estate, shares," he said. "They wanted to issue a bond to
borrow, and then use the weekly flows to pay the coupon."
In the end, he said, the bank turned down the proposal on
ethical grounds.
Yet Nigerian churches do often invest large amounts of their
congregations' money in shares and property, at home and
abroad, he and another banking source said.
One pastor bought 3 billion naira ($18 million) worth of
shares in the defunct Finbank, which later merged with
FCMB, after it was rescued in a bail-out in 2009, a fund
manager who handled the deal told Reuters. The pastor
used a nominee trust account to keep his name off the
books.
In 2011, Oyakhilome was investigated by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and charged with
laundering $35 million of contributions to his church in
foreign bank accounts. He denied all wrongdoing and the
case was dismissed for lack of evidence.
Oyakhilome was not available for comment and Joshua's
media team declined a request for an interview with him.
MIDAS TOUCH
Oyedepo's headquarters, "Canaanland", is a 10,500-acre
(4250-hectare) campus in Ota, outside the commercial
capital Lagos. It comprises a university, two halls of
accommodation, restaurants and a church seating 50,000
people, with a total overflow capacity of five times that.
"You can see that everything this man touches turns to
gold," Nigerian Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina
said in a speech at a reception for Oyedepo's 60th birthday
at Canaanland last month.
"May the grace of God abide with you," he added, to a
rapturous "Amen!" from the guests in a marquee.
Other dignitaries present included twice-president
Olusegun Obasanjo and former military ruler Yakubu
Gowon. A choir sang gospel songs as the guests cut an
elaborate six-tiered cake and popped fizzy grape juice out of
champagne bottles in golden wrapping -- alcohol is
banned in Canaanland.
The next day, he delivered four Sunday services in a row to
tens of thousands of cheering followers, his white-suited
figure projected onto large flat-screen televisions all around.
"From today, no evil spirit, no demon will survive the
Almighty!" he shouted, and the crowd roared "Amen!".
A spokesman said the church has 5,000 branches across
Nigeria, and 1,000 more in 63 other countries across five
continents. But Oyedepo's empire also includes two fee-
paying universities that he built from scratch, a
publishing house for Christian self-help books, and an elite
high school.
Other pastors have similarly diversified ways of getting the
Gospel of Christian salvation out.
Oyakhilome owns magazines, newspapers and 24-hour TV
station, and Joshua draws miracle-seekers from all over the
world with claims that the holy water he has blessed cures
otherwise incurable ailments such as HIV/AIDS.
Before Joshua built his 10,000-seat headquarters at Ikotun-
Egbe in outer Lagos, the area was part swamp, part
abandoned industrial estate.
Now, it is a boom town with shops, hotels, eateries and
bars catering largely to the travellers who come not only
from West Africa but also from all corners of the globe to
hear his sermons. Joshua also runs a TV station.
"BLESSED BY THE LORD"
Guests entering Oyedepo's birthday marquee in
Canaanland would have seen a picture of the poor
household in southwest Nigeria where he grew up,
testament to a rags-to-riches story that many Nigerians
would love to emulate.
Like U.S. televangelists, Winners Chapel preaches the
"prosperity gospel" that faith in Jesus Christ lifts people out
of poverty, and that message partly explains the explosion
of the Pentecostal movement in sub-Saharan Africa, where
misfortune and poverty are often seen as having
supernatural causes.
"We see giving as the only way to be blessed. Blessing other
people is a way of keeping the blessings flowing," said
Oyedepo, whose blessings include a Gulfstream V jet and
several BMWs.
Giving to support the church and its work is something the
faithful are encouraged to do, a Christian tradition that
was a pillar of the Roman Catholic church in medieval
Europe, just as it has been a major money-spinner for U.S.
televangelists.
Aneke Chika, a business analyst in an oil services
company, told Reuters on the steps of Oyedepo's church that
she set aside 20,000 naira of her 200,000 naira ($1,218)
salary every month.
Asked about Forbes' estimate of his fortune, Oyedepo told
Reuters: "For me, to have fortune means someone who has
what he needs at any point in time. I don't see myself as
having $150 million stacked up somewhere. Whatever way
they found their figures, I am only able to say I am blessed
by the Lord."
He said he could not estimate the church's total revenues or
expenditure on items such as salaries because the various
departments, including education, were too diverse.
The enterprises on the Canaanland campus, from the shops
selling cold sodas and bread, to a woman boiling instant
noodles and eggs for breakfast in a lodge, to pop-up book
stalls hawking Oyedepo's prolific literary output, are
owned by the church's estate, which employs their staff on
its payroll, workers at all the outlets told Reuters.
Winners Chapel's Corporate Affairs department said the
church employed more than 18,000 people in Nigeria alone.
Oyedepo says the wealth the church gathers is invested in
expanding it, and that if he did not use a private jet, he
would be unable to oversee its many foreign operations and
still return to Ota every week in time for Sunday's worship.
Britain's Charity Commission says it is reviewing potential
conflicts of interest in his finances, and last month the
Home Office (interior ministry) barred him from Britain,
though it declined to say why.
Oyedepo said he knew nothing of the commission's review,
nor had the Home Office explained to him why he was
barred.
A national conference to debate Nigeria's constitution this
year proposed that the megachurches should be taxed.
But with an election coming up in February, it is debatable
whether President Goodluck Jonathan, who is close to
several megapastors, would risk upsetting these influential
men and their hefty congregations with a fat tax bill.
"There is no single government input on this premises,"
Oyedepo told Reuters in the interview. "We supply our water,
we make our roads, then you ... say: 'Let's tax them'. For
what?"
(1 US dollar = 164.2 naira)
CREDIT:REUTERS
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