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There is a raging debate going on about the legality and the appropriateness of the newly enacted Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) law as it relates to religious institutions in Nigeria. A number of Pentecostal pastors and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have openly challenged the government on the inappropriateness of the law and deemed it as a deliberate means of scuffling religions institutions in the country.
The new law, in summary; “empowers the Commission to suspend trustees of an association and appoint interim managers, preferably the registrar of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and a supervising minister, to manage the affairs of the association where it reasonably believes that a breached has occurred.” Churches in Nigeria are registered as a nonprofit making/nongovernmental organization and as the case may be, this new enactment would be applicable to them. The registration of churches is carried out under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act. Even though the church is believed to be a nonprofit organization, it however exists under the law.
Looking at the matter holistically, on one side, the government is doing what is right in the areas of making laws that regulates institutions and organizations that are registered under it, as times and events deem it fit. On the other hand as well, the church too has the right to raise an eyebrow on the activities of the government in making laws that is deemed not appropriate for the operations of the church, especially in a nation where religious sentiments and affiliations is so strong and every attempt is seen or believed to be a systemic way of latching or reducing the powers of the religious institutions, whether Islam or Christianity.
Nigeria is indeed a religious volatile state. Any attempt from any quarter to tamper with the religious status quo is usually not greeted well by either the Muslims or the Christians community, representing the two major religion in the country today. For example, there is still the feeling of an attempt to Islamize the entire country. Any attempt by the government of the day on religious matters that does not seat well with either of the religions, can greatly heat up the polity, just as we are witnessing with this CAMA law that was just passed into law by president Muhammadu Buhari.
Is the Church Accountable to God or to the Government?
This question is really a sensitive one and I want to attempt to answer it without any iota of bias whatsoever. The truth is that the church of God is first and foremost accountable to God, and then to the government. There is no point in being emotional about this because that is just the way it is. The church of God, anywhere in the world, is God’s institution on the earth. Through the church, God Himself rules and reigns in the affairs of men, and His will is entrenched and enforced on the earth. Jesus Christ, teaching His disciples how to pray in Mathew 6:9b-10 (NKJV) said:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
The church of God exists to enforce the will of God on the face of the earth. Much more than the physical buildings, the church is a spiritual body, God’s end-time army, God’s ambassadors on the earth. This is why from time immemorial, and with every attempt to exterminate the church from the face of the earth; every move has been greeted with one failure or the other. The reason is because you cannot kill a spiritual body. Jesus said “I will build my church and the gate of hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). And because of this as well, no man, no institution, no government (irrespective how powerful), can successfully fight against the church and win.
A fight against the church is a fight against God. The spiritual nucleus of the church is God Himself and therefore, you cannot fight against it as an individual or an institution and prevails. Haven’t you wondered why the church have survived many centuries of persecutions and attacks and still standing despite all? That is a testament to how powerful the church is. Jesus said to Saul (who later became the apostle Paul) that “he was kicking against the goads” (Acts 9:5) while he was persecuting the early church.
So, the church is fully accountable to God because God owns the church and He is the one that has the power and the wherewithal to judge His own church. 1 Peter 4:17 already established this: “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” based on the foregoing, the church is completely accountable to God one hundred percent because He alone would judge it and the judgment of the world holds little or no water before God when it comes to the matter of the church.
On the other leg of the discourse is whether the church is accountable to the government. The answer is yes, with some explanations. In the eyes of the law, the church exists. Churches in Nigeria are registerable as “Incorporated Trustees” under Part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matter Act (CAMA), Cap C20, Laws of the Federation 2010 and considered a nonprofit organization under Nigerian laws. This move alone mandates some degree of accountability to the government by the churches so registered. Now, one may be attempted to think: “how can the church be owned by God and then still be accountable to the government.” Let me explain that to you.
God is not against constituted authority. Romans 13:1-5 (NIV) says:
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.”
I deliberately underlined the parts underlined for emphasis sake and here is the emphasis: If the above passages are not viewed with any iota of bias, it means churches could exercise some degree of accountability towards the government, especially if the same government determines whether you would operate or not. It would have been a different ball game if the churches existed ab initio without any degree of government interference or involvement. So, should churches be controlled by government regulations or not?
Yes, to the degree that the laws of the land allows the government to, and on the other hand, no; if the intentions or motives which the government attempts to do that is to stifle religions freedom as entrenched in the laws of the land, or the actions of the government is perceived as a deliberate witch-hunt of either of the religions. Now, let us examine the sections of the new CAMA law that has generated this ongoing debate.
The Companies and Allied Matters Act, (CAMA 2020) Section 839 (1) empowers the Commission to: suspend trustees of an association and appoint interim managers to manage the affairs of the association where it reasonably believes that: a) There is or has been misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the association; b) it is necessary or desirable for the purpose of: (i.) Protecting the property of the association, (ii.) Securing a proper application for the property of the association towards achieving the objects of the association, the purpose of the association of that property or of the property coming to the association, (iii.) Public interest; or c) the affairs of the association are being run fraudulently. Subsection 2 provides as follows: “The trustees shall be suspended by an order of Court upon the petition of the Commission or Members consisting of one-fifth of the association, and the petitioners shall present all reasonable evidence or such evidence as requested by the Court in respect of the petition.”
The degree to which these laws would affect the Nigerian church would be to the degree of the church’s transparency and activities. The church particularly stands against government’s new law of determining who would manage the affairs of the church in the case of any breach of the above stated laws. But the truth is: Shouldn’t the church of God conduct her affairs in the way and manner that upholds the law of the land? Should churches engage in activities that are inimical to public interest at large? If Jesus could ask Peter to pay their taxes, why is it so hard for the modern-day church to go by the rules of the government that registered it?
Also, should the government had consulted religious bodies across board before this law was enacted and passed into law? Absolutely correct! Sensitive matters like this should have involved religious’ leaders input in order to help the government see the grey areas before it was passed. This once again brings to the fore the argument about the systemic approach of silencing the Nigerian church by every means. Adequate consultations should have been done by the government and the input of relevant religious organizations should have been sorted. On that note, the government got it all wrong.
But in all, I would love to end this piece with a portion of the Scripture that was quoted earlier. It says: “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason.” This statement is a wake-up call for the church of God to do what is right at all times for if you do well, happy are you.
Thank you!
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
