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| Rev. Samson Ayokunle, CAN President. |
The leadership of
the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) rejects out rightly the Companies
and Allied Matters Act, 2020 that was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari
recently. By implications, he has repealed the Companies and Allied Matters
Act, 1990 (1). The law, to say the least is unacceptable, ungodly,
reprehensible and an ill-wind that blows no one any good. It is a time bomb
waiting to explode.
We recall that
during the First Term of the President, there was a Public Hearing conducted by
the National Assembly on the Non- Governmental Organisations Bill tagged ‘Bill
for an Act To Provide For The Establishment Of The Non-Governmental
Organizations Regulatory Commission For The Supervision, Co-ordination And
Monitoring Of Non Governmental Organizations’ which was attended by CAN and
many NGOs. At the Public Hearing, the Bill that sought to bring the religious
organizations and NGOs under the control and influence of the government was
totally rejected because it would snuff life out of the church and rank the
church as a secular institution under secular control. We thought it was all
over until we heard of the CAMA that was assented to by the President, making
the rejected bill a law.
The satanic
section of the controversial and ungodly law is Section 839 (1) &(2) which
empowers the Commission to suspend trustees of an association (in this case,
the church) and appoint the interim managers to manage the affairs of the
association for some given reasons.
While we are not
against the government fighting corruption wherever it may be found, yet we
completely reject the idea of bringing the Church, which is technically grouped
among the NGOs, under control of the government. The Church cannot be
controlled by the government because of its spiritual responsibilities and
obligations. This is why we are calling on the Federal government to stop the
implementation of the obnoxious and ungodly law until the religious
institutions are exempted from it. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to
urgently return the law to the National Assembly for immediate amendment.
Nigeria should not be compared with any other nation when it comes to the
relationship between the religious institutions and the government. In Nigeria,
people’s religions are tied to their humanity and of course, their life.
How can the
government sack the trustee of a church which it contributed no dime to
establish? How can a secular and political minister be the final authority on
the affairs and management of another institution which is not political? For
example, how can a non-Christian head of Government Ministry be the one to
determine the running of the church? It is an invitation to trouble that the
government does not have power to manage. Let the government face the business
of providing infrastructure for the people. Let them focus on better health
provision, food, education, adequate security employment, etc. The
government should not be a busy body in a matter that does not belong to it.
The government does not have the technical expertise to run the church of God
because of its spiritual nature.
If the government
is bent on imposing a law on us which the entire Church in Nigeria is against,
then, they have declared war on Christianity and the agenda to destroy the
Church which we have spoken against before now is coming to the open more
clearly. If you cannot give us good amenities of life, we would not allow you
to take away our liberty to worship our Maker.
What good thing
again will you not take away from the people in the name of being in power? Are
we not running a democracy which is a government of the people by the people
and for the people? Is this not gradually becoming a dictatorship or what was
the essence of the Public Hearing you called us to when you had made up your
mind not to consider the position of Christians at all which we presented
during the Public Hearing?
We call on all
well meaning Nigerians to ask the Federal Government to suspend the law because
we do not need it in this nation.
Thank You for
making this position of CAN known through your credible and popular media.
God bless you
richly.
Signed
Pastor Adebayo
Oladeji, Special Assistant, (Media &Communications) to His Eminence, Rev Dr
Samson Ayokunle, the CAN President.
20 August,
2020.
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