Nigeria's 'megachurches' making megabucks

This story on megachurches and tax in Nigeria took months to complete. It became really interesting after the church building collapse incident in September. Fortunately, Bishop Oyedepo was having an event to mark his birthday and that was like the last piece for the jigsaw puzzle. All fell into place perfectly. Personally, I have no views on this issue so cannot express my opinion. Should churches be taxed? Why should they be taxed? Many will argue back and forth on this but I choose to be objective about it. Hear both sides and just 'sit on the fence'. Maybe it is because I have the utmost respect for some of the pastors. I listen to Adeboye, I huge respect Papa Ayo and I have been impacted by Oyedepo's messages. I once travelled from school to Warri to hear him preach. S, no comment. But I can say one thing though. I pay tithe. It does not really matter to where. Church, charity; I take it very seriously. What one believes works for the individual and my strong feeling towards tithe paying has yielded unimaginable results. Positive ones.
"Mega churches" in Nigeria attract millions of followers from inside and outside the country. They have spawned almost an entire economy of their own through hotels, universities, publishing firms and merchandising, making hundreds of millions of untaxed dollars. 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. I would be hugely surprised if pastors were not wealthy. I mean they are working for the best person anyone can ever work with so the returns should make their bank accounts really fat.
But exactly how much of Nigeria's 510 billion US dollar-GDP they make up is difficult to assess.
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.

Bishop Oyedepo defends their stance when he says:
"Look at where we are, there is no single government input on this premises, we supply our water, we make our roads and all of that and then you come back again and say let's tax them, on what,".

Oyedepo also added that 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.

Click on these links to watch the story: Nigeria's 'megachurches' making megabucks

Nigeria's 'megachurches', a hidden pillar of Africa's top economy

Pics courtesy Reuters Akintunde Akinleye

NIGERIA'S WOMEN IN OIL BUSINESS

Years back, we could hardly find women holding top positions in oil companies but that is gradually changing as many women are beginning to handle management positions. This is a good development for our country because globally, the number of women in executive leadership positions within the oil industry is markedly low. Having a woman, means we have someone who can bring in her ideas and things can be done differently, passionately. When women are driven by their passion, they are committed to seeing it through despite the challenges even when all hell is breaking loose; the woman who has it all together can hold it all together. No offence to the men. I just feel women have that extra something, the "je ne sais quoi!".
Doing this women in oil business story was quite interesting. Well, for obvious reasons, I am female and all for championing the cause for women to explore their creativity and talents and use them in affecting their environment positively. Our first mission was to film at Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL) and interview the managing director. I was pleasantly surprised when I met her. She looked young! Add beauty and brains to the list. Great personality, wonderful composure. She was on time. She knew the business quite well, explaining the entire work process that takes place on the site. I was challenged. And I was not the only one, her male staff were also challenged that they had a female boss. Amy Jadesimi, the 39 year old medical school graduate from Oxford University and a trained MBA graduate from Stanford while speaking about her experience said people are often surprised when they meet her. She has been the MD for five years but still faces challenges. She says she has to always prepare herself for any scenario. For her, the important thing is for the company to achieve their goals. LADOL is working on expansion with an ongoing construction of an integration and fabrication yard, in partnership with Samsung that will be the only facility in West Africa that can fully integrate floating, production, storage and offloading. Uju Ifejika, chairman and chief executive officer of Brittania-U is another woman in management position in the oil sector. She says things are beginning to change because men are starting to realise that women equally have certain potentials. The African mentality that a woman's place is in the kitchen, is changing. I do hope that we can all embrace this change and give women an opportunity to represent in various fields not just in the oil industry.
Cheers!
Click on any of the links to watch the video: Girl Power at Top Nigerian Energy Firms
Reuters: Girl Power at Top Nigerian Energy Firms

Amy and a member of staff

Ongoing work on the site

LADOL's Jetty

ONLINE JOB SITE IN NIGERIA CONNECTS JOB SEEKERS WITH COMPANIES

It is refreshing to see young Nigerians tow a path that ultimately affects the lives of so many others in a positive way. With lots of depressing news that we wake up to everyday, it is indeed a breath of fresh air that three Nigerians decided they needed to make a difference in unemployment. We do not need any soothsayer to tell us the unemployment situation in Africa's most populous country is in need of an urgent solution. Remember few months ago, there was a stampede during a recruitment test that killed many people. That was a tragic incident that highlighted how dire the situation is. Millions of youths in Nigeria are jobless with the numbers climbing yearly as we churn out fresh graduates. Many are taking to acquiring skills for entrepreneurship purposes as they can no longer wait for white-collar jobs. It is commendable that few others are playing a role in their own unique way. Ayodeji Adewunmi, Olalekan Olude and Opeyemi Awoyemi created an online job search company called Jobberman in 2009 during a strike action while they were students at a university. The company has helped thousands of job seekers in Nigeria find jobs within the last five years. The online site connects job seekers with companies in the West African country. Interesting how things have changed from years back. Job seekers were forced back then to hit the streets, going from company to company, submitting their CVs. With the popularity of the internet and mobile phones, job seeking has been made easy. You can even find jobs that is tied to your passion. Spoke to several who have benefitted and they had only praises for Jobberman. Jobberman is currently working on expanding to other regions in the continent. Many more lives will be impacted with this venture.

Link to watch the video:  Online Job Site Connects Job Seekers With Companies