Should Nigeria Government License Preachers?

Government issues licenses to manufacturers to ensure compliance with guidelines and enhance monitoring, among others. With thousands of religious establishments across the country and the threat of roguish ‘men of God’, should government rein in on preachers by licensing? CHRIS IREKAMBA puts this question to some clerics.

‘Parent Religious Organisations Should Monitor Members’

(PASTOR AYO ORITSEJAFOR, President, Christian Association Of Nigeria (CAN)

RELIGION is a very sensitive issue. It deals with the conscience of people. It should not be subjected to the interference of government. What must happen, if you ask me, is that preachers, generally, belong to organisations, and such organisations must sum up the courage to monitor the activity and content of the messages of every preacher with a view to disciplining them when they derail.

The umbrella organisations are in a better position to monitor the contents of the messages of their members and also discipline such whenever they go astray. Government does not have the wherewithal to monitor the activities of preachers across the length and breadth of the country. It is only organisations that oversee the activities of their members that will be able to curtail excesses. There are some preachers, who do not belong to any group. In such cases, relevant organisations should be bold to come out and say so. However, any preacher who runs foul of the law should be dealt with in accordance with the law.

‘Govt Should Get Busy On More Important Issues’

(BISHOP FRANCIS WALE OKE, Presiding Bishop of Sword of the Spirit Ministries and National Vice President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Southwest)

IT is ill advised; a move that will never produce desired result. The government has no business with religion because Nigeria is a secular state. It is the religious bodies that should set up their own internal mechanisms to curtail wrong indoctrination of their members based on the clear teachings of their holy books. The government has more important matters on which, they should concentrate rather than meddle in a matter that is supposed to be personal to every citizen.

‘Corporate Affairs Commission Has Role To Play’

(BISHOP SUNNY FAITH UGBAH, Church of God Mission International Inc., Lagos East Bishopric)

I WANT to begin by saying an emphatic no. No, because Nigeria is a secular state. We must always separate religion from the state because when we say government, we are also talking about individuals, and these individuals may have their own religious leaning. When you ask them to legislate on churches, you are creating a very big confusion.

Instead, what I would advocate is that different associations, like the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) should be empowered to look into the issue of indoctrination of youths. Of course, CAN has its affiliate bodies. They should be able to handle that. Let every Christian church register with CAN. I think that is a better way of legislating. That way, CAN will be able to say, ‘this is what they believe and this is what they don’t believe’.

Secondly, every denomination registers with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and they have their constitution, which they follow in registering churches. I’m sure that before they were registered, they looked into such issues. If a church is not living up to expectation, it should be called to order by the CAC. But to set up a new body to start registering churches, I don’t think it will do any good.

On whether it would reduce youth indoctrination, if these institutions that are already on ground are empowered, it will help to bring sanity into the different religions or denominations. I don’t advocate people just going out there to preach anything in the name of Christianity or religion. It’s not a place where you do anything you like. There should be some measure of rules because a lawless society is a godless society. God operates by laws. He governs Himself by laws. Nobody should operate without laws or regulations. That should not be encouraged.

But at same time, I think the government is not in the best position to license preachers. That is my take on the issue. The indoctrination of youths depends on the way people see it. If you are preaching the word of God in the way it should be preached and somebody is preaching his own convictions, of course, such has an agenda. The Bible says the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked, especially now that we have economic challenges. People could just go into preaching for selfish gains. But that does not mean that we should throw away the baby with the dirty water. We should be able to know the difference between the people who are there to minister life to the masses and those who are there to exploit them or advance political ambition.

‘Concept Is Thoughtful But Impracticable’

(ALHAJI SHERIFF YUSUF, National President of Nasrul-Lahi-Fatih Society of Nigeria (NASFAT)

THE idea of calling on the Federal Government to license preachers is a thoughtful proposition but I don’t see its practicality. It’s not going to be effective; it’s not going to be productive. I wouldn’t advise the Federal Government to engage in such endeavour because it’s not going to yield anything. Religion is a thing of the heart; it’s a matter of conscience.

The Constitution is not based on any religion, so you cannot regulate a matter of religion by law. Religious practices should be allowed to run on their own; on the beliefs of adherents of those religions. Legislation cannot work. If we run our democracy on the basis of Common Law, then let Common Law continue to rule us. There is no form of criminality that is not already dealt in the Common Law. I think that should suffice. What we need is the enforcement of all rules, all laws and all norms that we have already. Religion is supposed to even strengthen all that, because religion deals principally with morality. If we have a morally based society, then compliance with laws will be easier. But what we see is that some people stand on the platform of religion and begin to dupe people, mislead people and indoctrinate them in untoward acts.

What government can do and should do is ensure that people are well educated. The reason you educate people is for them to be able distinguish truth from falsehood, between what is plausible, what is reasonable, what is justifiable and what is not, and then be able to make their choices. What puts you above all other creations is the power of intelligence because God endowed you with intelligence and mandated you to use it to serve Him, to do His will. Our religion is saying use that intelligence rightly. It would be easy if they are very well educated to be able to make a decision between when a preacher is preaching what is true, according to the scriptures, or what is clearly for his own benefit or his selfish group. Then, they will be able to make up their minds on who to follow, what to believe and what not to believe.

The government should not get involved in religion because our system is not based on any religion. If we want to adopt any religion, let us go and debate it, and let be clear that we are adopting this religion or that religion for governance. Then, we can use that to run social affairs. If we cannot, because Nigeria is multi-religious, and I don’t see any such resolution coming, then government should steer clear of religion.

However, if any preacher or cleric or anybody stands on the platform of religion and engages in criminality, such should not be spared. The law should take its full course. Absolutely. We don’t really need another law to be able to apprehend preachers or people that are using religion to mislead others or to dupe people. The existing laws are very adequate to deal with that aspect.

‘Move Is Beyond  Scope Of Government’

(BROTHER GODWIN IFEACHO, Executive Board Chairman, God’s Kingdom Society)

THE call for licensing of preachers in the country is no doubt informed by the spate of violence and the multiplicity of religious groups in the country with some of them espousing soul-destroying doctrines and practices.

That notwithstanding, we shall not subscribe to licensing of preachers or churches in the country because that is beyond the purview of the government. The government should limit itself to ensuring the peace, order and well being of the society.

It is common knowledge that the constitution provides for freedom of association and of religion. It would be well nigh impossible for government officials to judge which doctrines are in harmony with the Scriptures and which are not.  Such judgments would per force be subjective, as they would be based on the biases or preferences of the officials concerned. What could be termed, ‘wrong indoctrination’ by one government could be deemed permissible by another. Some politicians could even exploit such laws to promote their own agenda.

Experiences over the years, especially in the former communist countries, have shown that too much regulation in matters of faith is counter-productive, as people cherish their freedom in matters of faith. Indeed, God Almighty made man a free moral agent and gave him the freedom to choose whether to obey Him or not. Human beings are not created to be caged or forced to do things against their will. However, their preferences should not be injurious to the laws of God or the rest of society. (Genesis 2:16,17; Joshua 24:14,15; Deuteronomy 11:26; 30:15, 19; etc.)

That being so, Church leaders are duty-bound to use every means possible to propagate the word of God, so that people would know the essence of the Christian faith and do what they preach, and not give room for charlatans to thrive. The people should, on their part, avoid making themselves easy prey for preachers, who are themselves blind, as far as the truth is concerned, by ensuring that they are versed in the Scriptures. Belief in false doctrines leads to disorder, confusion, distress, poverty and destruction in the end.