By Sola Olaosebikan
Church leaders and founders have attempted to stave off criticisms by engaging in a variety of humanitarian causes. Many of them are involved in the campaign against HIV/AIDS. The Redeemed Christian Church of God, for example, is in partnership with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA. A number of its parishes also have welfare units that cater for less privileged members.
In 1997, Living Faith World Outreach provided food, clothing and other relief materials to indigenes of Koma Hills in Adamawa State, where natives had long been disconnected from civilisation. A year before then, the church gave relief materials to victims of the Liberian Civil War.
The church has also launched a scholarship scheme for children of indigent members. Speaking at the 2009 Mothers’ Day celebration, Oyedepo announced that the scholarship scheme would cater fully for all the academic needs of the beneficiaries to the university level. “All school age children not in school, due to the inability of parents, will be fully taken care of by the church,” Oyedepo said.
The church is also involved in road repairs. A few days to Shiloh, its annual festival, the church undertook the rehabilitation of bad portions of Ota/Idiroko Expressway.
Daystar Christian Centre, headed by Pastor Sam Adeyemi, runs a rehabilitation outfit that works on drug addicts and the destitute. Nike, his wife, also runs a rehabilitation centre for prostitutes and women in distress. Adeyemi’s church also regularly assists the Lagos State Boys’ Remand Home in Oregun. Its neighbour, Oregun High School, got a classroom block from the church.
Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All Nations has a section that is devoted to humanitarian initiatives. Called Another Ministry, it caters to needs of widows, dwarves, the elderly, physically-challenged, orphans and destitute. The church reportedly provides orphans and children of the less privileged with education support from primary to tertiary levels.
There is also a rehabilitation programme for armed robbers and prostitutes. When he turned 45 last June, Joshua reportedly made a huge financial donation to the less privileged. He has also provided scholarships for physically-challenged students and sponsored many physically-challenged athletes. The controversial preacher plans to build a university for the less privileged. He is also involved in sports through My People Football Club, an academy which supplied two players to the Nigerian U-17 team at this year’s FIFA U-17 World Championship. One of them is Sani Emmanuel, who was a star of the tournament.
A similar thing is being done by Okonkwo of TREM. On his last birthday, Okonkwo expressed concerns over the army of unengaged youth roaming the streets. For this, he launched the annual Mike Okonkwo Football Competition. Open to branches of the church nationwide, the competition has been harnessing the talents of youth and diverting their energies from negative influence.
Ladi Thompson, coordinator of the Macedonian Initiative, MI, is concerned about conflict zones. “This is very interesting. You know the many cases we’ve covered with the MI of course, you remember the teacher that was murdered in Gombe; we are yet to get any real justice. Apart from that, we have more than a thousand cases which we are looking into. Many orphans are out there tomorrow, enjoying the scholarships we put in place. The world knows what we stand for and the ground we have covered in selfless service to mankind through God’s grace,” Thompson said of the initiative.
Mrs. Nonye Igwilo, founder of the RUMI Outreach Ministries, directs her energy towards women. Igwilo is into the rehabilitation of prostitutes. “My aim is to help them believe in themselves, because somehow, you find that most of them, due to poverty, or loss of parents early in life, with nowhere to lay their heads, end up selling their bodies to earn a living. I strongly believe that there are some who are the seeds of Abraham and would leave the profession at the appointed time,” she said.
Igwilo hopes to have a rehabilitation centre to accommodate all those prostitutes willing to seek alternative means of livelihood. “I have a passion for prostitutes because I would have been there,” she disclosed.
Okotie of the Household of God is concerned about the elderly. In his yearly charity programme, KARIS, his church gives N500,000 to a chosen senior citizen. His church also offers support for the less privileged.
Other churches are involved in similar initiatives, which do not get publicised for religious reasons. Many, however, contend that such initiatives take just a tiny fraction of what churches take from members.
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