₦airaland Forum

deebsman1:
Did i see Deji Tinubu?? hope its not what am thinkin??

Smoke2015:
Am I angry? I'm not sure.
For the first time in my adult life I cannot even put in words my present feeling especially as the news of Pastor Adeboye's latest acquisition of a luxury Private Jet hits me this morning with just N2,000 in my pocket.
Against the backdrop of the recent almost violent rejection by the 'body of Christ' of the call for taxes in our churches, we now hear of Pastors launching luxury liners and huge real estate collections you begin to ask yourself some very pertinent questions with answers you are afraid of exploring.

At the last count, Pastors Adeboye, Joshua and Oyedepo, Oritsejafor etc have all acquired the very latest in luxury jets amongst a vast array of holdings making them some of the very wealthiest human beings on earth. Me I am afraid of personally attacking Pastor Joshua for fear that he may not be as forgiving as the other two, but my searchlight and arrow will be directed at Adeboye and Oyedepo because if they get angry with me, I can beg and as fathers they will forgive and pray for me. That other one, no go gree.


I have attended both the Redeemed and Winners and the scale of their vision always stupefies me, humbling and humiliating me at the same time. The vastness of their holdings and immense wealth which they control if not checked can begin to compete with the federal Government in revenues generated. They rely on the fear and near literate disposition of their followers. Yes, near literate because the most educated of us, when it comes to spiritual things we are all illiterate and gullible or how else can you explain this continued perfidy where we assemble every Sunday and listen to the same story retold for over 2,000 years and still give out 10% of our hard earned income to a few to live like Roman Emperors and yet refuse to be taxed.

These pastors are the new overlords, slave masters with whips garnisheed with the sweet tongues of Babylon aimed at impoverishing us, putting us under spells of hypnosis and keeping us in a permanent state of imbecilic servitude. They bestride the firmament in holier than thou gowns collecting from a deprived and depraved flock, fleecing, throwing prosperity messages that seem to deliver the wealth to them alone and their cronies, while the rest of us, defiled cups in hands, adorned with rags and defiled by leprosy , kneel at their feet, hoping and waiting for the deliverance but alas we are told to wait till heaven while they live in opulence here on earth.

We will definitely wait till heaven and there if we find them will embark on the ultimate protest. Heaven will surely witness its first race riot. A riot occasioned by Nigerians and only Nigerians seeking for a pound of flesh from these masters who made our lives a living hell on earth. Yes, a living hell because we ran to them for succor, for relief from the viccititudes of this world but yet little did we know that we were just running from one slave master to the other albeit with a promise of a better life herein after while taking the last of our pennies, the last of our hopes and in some cases our wives and depriving us of the last vestiges of dignity and leaving us naked with the utopian hope of a better tomorrow.

Two of these churches have birthed luxury airliners with the tithes of a pitiable gullible crowd. This airliner I hear has two of the state of the art jetliners sequestered for only those who can afford it and reserved for the exclusive use of the GO in many of his travels. Who are the shareholders of this firm? Who are the Directors of the firm, registered in America thereby keeping it out of reach of the millions who have contributed their kobo to this initiative. Where is the corruption war? Why is it not beaming its search light towards this area of continuous and stylish thievery?

The airliner is not just the only one, the huge Real Estate holdings, the University where the brethren cannot afford to take their children to despite the fact that it's their tithes that built the school. The hotels, the various businesses. This is nothing but organized fleecing under the guise of religion. Now, I am angry and will unsheath my sword. This 'religious'organizations are nothing but multi national firms who have gotten their seed capital from their members who unlike normal shareholders have been deprived of the benefits of their investments. Where is the democracy in all these? Why are dividends not declared and shared amongst all tithe payers? Why is the GO position held almost in perpetuity?

These church owners are wicked. The Roman Catholic Church is a very rich organization who have impacted on the lives of not just Italians but the rest of the world. It is not controlled by a family or a patriarch but controlled by structures and institutions that have for centuries continued to ensure the perpetuity of its vision. The selection of the Pope who is the titular head is carried out along very set lines of succession, lines that have over the centuries withstood the vagaries of time, encrypting it into the concrete of structure. This has ensured the continuous democratization of dividends that accrue from their various activities. They pay their taxes, run a government in the Vatican and support governments and society wherever they find themselves. I am not a fan of the Catholic Church but in terms of transparency, institutionalized decision taking, clear and transparent succession planning and decision taking procedures they are miles ahead of this family owned businesses we call churches in this country.


I hereby call for the democratization of the Redeemed Christian church and the Winners chapel. Their size, influence and continued growing wealth makes it dangerous to continually be controlled by one individual. You see the way Presidents and political candidates scamper there for support, the influence and power they carry must be broken otherwise we will be faced by a parallel government which will be very dangerous for us as a country and which could make the menace of Boko Haram child's play. Yes child's play because they are dealing with the mind, hypnotizing a vast section of the population controlling them and making them allude to their biding iresponsibly. See the role of the Redeemed in the selection of the current Vice President and the mass movement of their members towards his candidacy without even querying his position on issues. See how a sitting President made regular pilgrimages to go bow down unconstituonally to an unelected self appointed demagogue all in the name of 'spiritual father.'

The General Overseer-GO position must have tenor limits. The constitution of this group must be tinkered with. A four year maximum two term tenor must be infused in their constitution. Proper elections or at best clear GO appointing procedures and decision taking process must be made with every tithe paying church goer having the same opportunity to aspire to the position. A clear system of checks and balances with separation of powers must also be entrenched. Some people will be cursing me now as they read, but do I care. It is for their own good that I am making these suggestions and also for my own good as a Nigerian who will suffer when this monster collapses into chaos and tyranny if effective structures are not put in place to guide and sustain its unprecedented growth.

See what happened to the Celstial Church when its founder Pa Oshoffa died. We saw a wicked succession battle which led to court cases, violence and a balkanization of the church. The celestial church came out of that era weakened. Today it has lost its glory and is no more than a local champion. This was so because Oshoffa led with the power of his charisma, not putting structures in place and when he passed there was nobody with that kind of persona to fit into his huge shoes. Wait for Adeboye's passing and you will see a Colombian drug cartel like war of control.

Already parish Pastors are helping themselves to church funds, stealing wives of their members and generally exhibiting unchristian like behavior because of the weak structures of control and cohesion. The Redeemed church is today as popular as Coca Cola with parishes on every street corner but unlike coke with no clear tested machinery for governance and control. While the center is busy building global enterprises, the local parish pastor is defiling the church with his own thievery.


This is not an attack on the church and no satan sent me. I am a Christian, not very devout but a Christian none the less. What I have done is detach myself from all this Tom foolery and attempted to look dispassionately at the monster that is today's churches especially the redeemed and Winners in the wake of the tax controversy. Our churches need to open themselves for proper scrutiny otherwise they will continue in this profane exploitation of a gullible and in most cases helpless population seeking solace and succor from task masters who are even worse than the devil himself.

I have stopped payment of tithe until corporate governance and transparency is instituted in our churches, until open elections are conducted for sensitive church positions and until tithe payers are recognized as shareholders and dividends declared and payed annually. Till then, I will be paying my tiny tithe to an orphanage in Palmgrove, Onipanu Lagos where the madam is struggling daily to feed and educate kids with no hope in life. This to me is far better and enriching than funding a financial behemoth masquerading as a religious organization, dodging taxes and yet doing businnes at the levels that even the biggest of global players cringe with fear.

I await the attacks.

Thank you.

http://josephedgarng..com.ng/2015/09/pastors-private-jets-and-their-taxes.html

AllNaijaBlogger:
You have made a conclusion and are now bending logic to meet it.

And please, dont patronize me- "consultant" is a meaningless title especially when there is nothing qualifying it. You are a management/business consultant from what you are saying but then, you seem not to be quick on the feet with figures.

Bro, the only companies that can fly you on jets to their office are companies that deal with planes on a regular and therefore have some economies of scale. The last time I checked, a church is not a company that deals with planes. It deals with salvation.

A private jet is a liability to everyone except those who sell or rent them. Simple and short. A church should have no business with such vanity

amazingspiderma:
Yes Bisi is transgender I agree, but he/she with due respect has a point.
We are quick to climb on her because of gender issues and because she spoke against the Man of God. I don't subscribe to speaking against men of God but certain times we need to listen to what people have to say even outside the church. Even David who used the phrase touch not my anointed as someone quoted was a good listener and was willing to examine himself when he was accused of fornication by the Prophet Nathan.
The bible says in first Corinthians 5 v 2 when reports of fornications was made in the church Paul said And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned.
The Church of the 21st century does not morn any more, it has left no room for correction even when the truth is in front of us. We love to listen to what we love hate criticisms.
But the bible has asked us to critically look into our conscience. I Corinthians 13 v 5.
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
That includes when people outside the church question our faith. We must be able to discern fact from fantasy.
My personal opinion is that Pastor Adeboye is still mortal and anointing does make him a Spirit. We must learn to practice
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Ephesians 5 v 21.
The Catholic church has left a legacy on Education in the early days where they built schools and hospitals. Growing up in Kaduna I knew about the Queen Amina college, Ladies of Fatima, St Annes though I attended none of those. But these school were open to the general public. Currently one of the most iconic hospitals in Kaduna south is the St. Gerald's hospital. This hospital has been of help to people regardless of religion and status. Those who live in Kaduna south would testify to this. What legacy are the current churches leaving behind on society.
What I am pointing at is not Environmental Business Assessment but Community impact, an impact on Society, an impact on Locality not just membership privileges or projects that cannot benefit the common man.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? Matthew 5 v 46.
The church is an organization with a heart for the less privileges that is one of the pinnacles of the gospel, it is not a based on mutual interest?
If God has come into the world to transact business with us we would not even be fit to be His partners. He came not to profit from us but to share his amazing grace and love. So that people who are hopeless can be hopeful. That is the gospel.
When a person like Bisi says these things she/he was asking for the heart of the church. What he/she is saying is why the church with so much wealth is still not able to make any impact on society.
If God has entrusted so much wealth to the church, then how it is used must be exemplary, even in today's digital age.
We should not only preach the gospel but we should demonstrate love through youth empowerment , hospitality and benevolence because love is the gospel. All religion preach about righteousness, justice, judgment ,hell and heaven but as Christians we also preach unconditional, unchanging love personified in Jesus, the begotten Son of God, this is who we are. And this love is our message to the world.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.2 Corinthians 5 v 21.
This is the gospel.
It is high time we question our own kingdom impact assessment.
Thank you Bisi for making me do this, God bless you.

AllNaijaBlogger:
I do not need to know how much the Man of God travels or where he travels to. It is irrelevant because he will need to maintain the private jet whether he does it or not.

Also, to maintain or run the lease of a plane is a headache. If the pastor is not in charge of it, he has people running it. The people running it are working and they too need salaries.


A private jet needs refueling as well. So, your theory about connecting flights is crap. You see, yes, one can fly more directly into different places with a private jet. But then the effort and cost of refuelling, remunerating the flight crew/pilots and doing quick maintenance becomes exhorbitant.


And again, I know people who fly a lot around Africa- they do not need private jets.


I hope that you will find the truth

Intrepid01:
ooh well, I think you have done a good job here, if all you have said is true.

God help us all

AllNaijaBlogger:
Sir, you are a professional spin-doctor.

But you can't cover up a mountain of corruption and arrogance.


However you want to remix it, the private jet was bought with money that could have been used wisely. A private jet is a luxury and it fulfills no travelling purpose efficiently. A private jet is for those who want to waste money. It is not a solution to anything, it is purposeless except for those who want to waste money. Diplomats, international PRs and even the pope travel a lot more than your pastors without owning a private jet.

Furthermore, maintaining a private jet is costly. You claim that the cost of maintaining the plane is covered by leasing it out. Really? You can't make profit from a plane you use and lease out at the same time. How do you then do maintenace repairs in between?



There are so many things I want to say but as a christian, I will hold my tongue.

Obiagelli:
were they supposed to cancel the 2015 budget to implement this?

tonychristopher:
Go to marines and tell them that. But stand at marina while doing thayv

Intrepid01:
Madam I choose not to have an opinion on this.

But I'll advice you to be more open and objective in your defense.

I respect all men of God, most especially the person in question.

But as a realist and objective person, it is high time we started discussing the 'reality of the day'.

If the Leaders of catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Anglican and others who built schools, hospitals and houses for the masses in the 30s to 80s had channeled the fund at their disposal to their personal use. Am sure many people would not have had access to education today.

I just hope that one day we'll all open our eyes and brain to see that our "Religious Leaders and Politicians are partners in crime" They are all exploiting we masses. Good day

tomakint:
I hope a law can be convoked soon which can strip a convicted serving Senator of his immunity clause so that rogues who want to hide behind the Senatorial status would be discouraged!

torkaka:
. . . . . . .you roach, the flip flopping in 9 months was due to the incompetent Jonathan and his appointment of another incompetent m.oron as CBN governor . . . . . . . . . . .Mr. Educated, you can't just sack a CBN governor at your whimps (surely the Sanusi episode ought to have taught you that . .. . . . . . . . . .goon, we are questioning them, that's why the administration of the clueless one is set to be probed!!!

torkaka:
. . . . . . . .imp, you prefer the reserve to drop with forex unavailable?

torkaka:
Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves rose $30.69 billion by July 22, up 5.6 percent from $29.03 billion a month earlier, latest data from the central bank.

However, the forex reserves of Africa's top crude exporter were down20.9 percent from $$38.8 billion a year ago.

The growth in reserves for the month was attributed to efforts of the present government to plug leakage and demand management by the central bank.

The central bank restricted access to foreign exchange by last month and introduced tight control of the foreign exchange market to curb speculation and conserves forex reserves.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/24/nigeria-reserves-idUKL5N10411G20150724

justirich:
1 – ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU
A former governor of Lagos State and National
Leader of the All Progressives Congress, he
purchased a second jet around May 2014.
Reportedly a brand-new Bombadier Global Express
XRS valued at $50 million (N10 billion), it is believed
the jet was extensively used during the 2015
presidential campaigns which later saw to the victory
of Muhammadu Buhari.

patpeypey:
1. This is directed to companies (paragraph 2)
2. Individuals are still restricted to 300 usd per day or 50k per year minimum. (Paragraph 4)

wise7:
Source :http://saharareporters.com/2015/07/06/speaker-dogara-flies-delta-private-jet-commission-church-altar

Masculity:
Kudos to Buhari and Osibanjo very good achievement. This is just the beginning.

stinggy:
Since I read their #510K story on Saraki too, all the respect I have had for them vanished

SemuhleB:
Okay so here goes. I have a few Nigerian male friends and a couple of days ago this is what one of them said to me " Here in South Africa you women are too free". Every little beating then you call the police. In Nigeria if a police came the first thing they would ask you is what is your relationship between the lady, and if it's your Gf/wife the police would leave you to continue. Beatings is how you keep women in check.

After hearing this I was appalled but then I began to understand why a lot of Nigerian men beat their girlfriends and wife's here. So is it really a cultural thing, that it is okay for men to beat women? Do the police really not do anything about this?

SemuhleB:
I have been wondering about this because I see certain topics like South African girls are crazy about us or Kenya girls love nigerian guys, Ghana girls and Nigerian guys. The common denominator is that all these women love the men. I guess it's all these same women who asks the men out, wine and dines them and if marriage happens these are the same women who propose and marry the man . I just don't get it.

Also just because you find some South African girl dating a Nigerian does not translate to all South African girl for example because those that date out are in the minority.

I have heard a couple of Nigerian guys saying they love curvy women (ass, boobs etc) so does it now mean that all curvy women love Nigerian guys?

This is not meant to be a bashing thread but I would like to know where all this started. Foreign women too are welcomed for their opinions because at the end of the day, I can only speak for SA ladies

Tecnonews24:
PDP Will be watching you closely, because ur second name is disloyalty, you did it to your beloved father, u did it to PDP, YOU have also done it to the APC even though Iike what happen to the APC is it still betrayer. nobody knows who is next on your betrayer list.

fulanimafia:
I listened to the signed proclamation. Tinubu's wings had to be clipped, I wonder how he thought he could run a Fulani administration. PMB knows what he is doing.