I think I should start with a disclaimer that this post is not aimed at attacking people of faith but rather a call to action.

Leaving an environment for a while and returning to it later, an observant eye is eager to pick out changes that might have occurred while away. These changes could simply be for the better or worse.
I returned to Port Harcourt a month ago after being away for close to a year and not surprisingly there were a few changes, mostly infrastructural projects. And while kudos have to be given to the present and past administration for this development, the observant eye once again notices that this development does not reflect on the lives of the inhabitants of this "city". The socio economic life of Port Harcourt in my opinion is at an all time low. Simply put " money no de". I will not want to go into details what the cause could be.

This city used to come behind only lagos and abuja in trends and investment but the only start up that seems obvious in recent years( besides betting shops) is churches, they are springing up everywhere. Prophet, evangelist, mummy, prophetess, apostles posing on huge sign boards with their spouses on every Street you turn. Their programmes run from Sunday to Sunday.

While I reserve comments on the motive of these mushroom churches, I have always been an admirer of the christian institution and what it did for Africans. I was invited and attended a holy ghost commuinion service ( on a tuesday evening) at one of the new generation churches and was surprised at the turn up.

The main hall was filled up (4000 estimate) as well as the seats outside and it goes without saying that a large percentage were young people. That was when it hit me that the Church in southern Nigeria could be doing a lot more to put pressure on the government, I don't see any other body that unites us this much. At the end of service as we all stepped out and struggled to get into rickety taxis ( ph has so many), I thought about the pastors forfeiting next month's commuinion service offering and rather staging a match to ministry of transportation to complain about the lack of one single govt bus in Port Harcourt. How about some serious pressure to find a solution to the soot that is becoming part of our lives. Can the christian body rather than selling hope and dreams pressure the government into looking for progressive ways to handle refuse disposal in ph? ( they could just ask Ambode). As a coastal city can we have our seaport and airports working properly again?

I know the primary duty of the church is salvation, but it does not say well of the institution when it keeps selling hopes and dreams of prosperity every week without taking charge as a stakeholder in our society. It needs to do more than be a refuge and weekly entertainment centre.

They can do that but then the government will come for them too. How about churches start paying taxes for a start. It's a case of, "he who lives in a glass house shouldn't throw stones".
Ever heard of seperation of church and state?