Chadian soldiers recapture Nigerian town from B'Haram

Chad Fights Boko Haram in Nigeria as Call Goes Out for Regional Force

Chadians Clear Islamist Insurgents from Nigerian Town of Mallam Fatori

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Soldiers of the Chadian army at the border between Nigeria and Cameroon on Jan. 21. Chad sent a convoy of troops and 400 military vehicles into neighboring Cameroon to battle Boko Haram on Jan. 17-18. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

By 

DREW HINSHAW in Yola, Nigeria, and

 

MATINA STEVIS in Nairobi

Updated Jan. 30, 2015 6:36 a.m. ET

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Chadian military forces liberated a Nigerian town from Boko Haram militants on Friday, hours after the African Union’s top official called on Nigeria’s neighbors to contribute to a 7,500-strong multinational force to combat the Islamist insurgency escalating beyond the country’s borders and prevent the destabilization of the West African region.

Troops from Nigeria’s neighbor launched their attack on Wednesday, a local military official said. A spokesman for the Nigerian army confirmed the Chadians had cleared Boko Haram from the Nigerian town of Mallam Fatori, and said the operation had been coordinated with Nigeria’s military, also operating in the area.

Chad’s military presence in Nigeria and the African Union’s call for a multinational military operation to push back the militant group underscore both Boko Haram’s reach and the region’s frustration with Nigeria’s failure to contain it.

The call to arms for Nigeria’s neighbors comes at a politically sensitive time for Africa’s largest democracy and top economy.

President Goodluck Jonathan is in a tight contest for re-election, with security being among the main issues in the Feb. 14 vote. Despite having one of the continent’s largest armies, Nigeria’s military has failed to stop Boko Haram from slaughtering thousands of civilians and advancing toward major cities in the country’s northeast.

“The continued attacks in northeastern Nigeria, and the increasing attacks in the Lake Chad Basin, along the border with Chad and Cameroon…have ”far-reaching security and humanitarian consequences,“ Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairwoman of the African Union, said in a statement released late Thursday. ”No efforts should be spared, as part of the AU counterterrorism agenda, to defeat this group.”

It is far from certain that Nigeria would welcome thousands of foreign troops on its soil for an extended period. President Jonathan’s government has largely opposed the idea, though in recent days the government has issued more conflicting opinions.She asked AU heads of state to approve her proposal for a multinational military force in their meeting Friday afternoon and said the technical details for the mission would be set out Feb. 5-7 at a meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital.

On Thursday, the president told a crowd in the northeastern city of Yola that Nigerian troops had liberated the town of Michika again. Warplanes screeched overhead as he spoke.

Nigerian troops have traded control over Michika for months, with Boko Haram slipping into the town, preaching to its residents, recruiting young men and boys, then slipping out as warplanes swoop in, residents said. The Islamic insurgency first overran the town in September: resident James Sunday remembers them going house to house, reassuring the townspeople that Boko Haram wouldn’t harm them, so long as they practiced Islam.

A month later, military jets bombed the area, followed by troops, the military said. Boko Haram left the town—but weeks later, returned, reasserting control. A presidential spokesman told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Friday that the government welcomed the AU’s move to deploy a multinational force to help fight Boko Haram, but days earlier the country’s national security adviser told a conference in London that the foreign force wouldn’t help and wasn’t necessary.

The army has said it is open to foreign military assistance, as long as the entire effort is subordinated into its own command and control structure, a stipulation Nigeria’s neighbors have found frustrating.

Nigeria’s opposition candidate—a retired general tied neck-and-neck with Mr. Jonathan—has made an issue of the incumbent’s reluctance to accept foreign help.

In a recent interview, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari said he would “certainly” welcome an AU force if elected. “If we are in trouble it is only right that we accept their help,” he said Wednesday.

The ramping up of military assistance—from its far poorer neighbors—could be seen as an admission of an inability to cope by the incumbent president. But African leaders appear to have lost patience with President Jonathan, and the Nigerian government to stop the wave of horrific attacks.

“Boko Haram’s horrendous abuses, unspeakable cruelty, total disregard for human lives, and wanton destruction of property are unmatched,” Ms. Dlamini-Zuma said in her statement.

The proposed military force would fight against the Islamist militants, help refugees fleeing their homes because of Boko Haram assaults, and search for the hundreds the group has abducted, including the more than 250 schoolgirls still missing since April last year, according to the statement issued by Ms. Dlamini-Zuma.

She said that the United Nations should finance this new force’s operations through a trust fund and that the setup of the force should follow the template of similar ones in Mali, the Central African Republic and Somalia—all countries that in recent years have teetered on the verge of collapse because of civil conflict.

Still, the force proposed to halt Boko Haram’s rapid emergence as a military threat in Nigeria will be a fraction of the one deployed in Somalia, staffed with more than 22,000 uniformed personnel. The AU’s forces in Mali and CAR are also larger, counting more than 10,000 soldiers each.

The regional army to combat Boko Haram would be staffed with soldiers from Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Benin and be given a year to deploy to begin with, Ms. Dlamini-Zuma said.

—Gbenga Akingbule in Abuja, Nigeria contributed to this article

Write to Drew Hinshaw at drew.hinshaw@wsj.com and Matina Stevis atmatina.stevis@wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/african-union-calls-for-regional-force-to-combat-boko-haram-1422611046

Fr. Mbaka resurrects democracy in Igboland.....SKC Ogbonnia:

SKC Ogbonnia: Fr. Mbaka resurrects democracy in Igboland

By Daily Post Staff on January 13, 2015@dailypostngr

Any political system without dynamic opposition necessary for the essential competition, accountability, and checks and balances is tantamount to dictatorship and abuse of power. But that has been the case with the presidential politics of the Southeast (SE) zone of Nigeria since the recent democratic transition. The rationale is that a wholesale support for the national ruling party offers best hope, and any counter opinion is a naked sin.

This idea had seemed like the ultimate game-changer. For the various national governments quickly reciprocated, offering rounds of elite portfolios to politicians from the Igbo Southeast. The presidents also backed their agenda with promises and policies that usually appear like the erudite solution to the Igbo’s ageless cries for marginalization. Yet the condition of federal amenities in the zone remains a bad dream told in a hurry.

To make matters worse, the vulnerable masses are usually told to stay the course, with most of the SE governors begging President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan not to campaign in the zone this time. To them, the Igbos should stand 100% behind the president, regardless of whether he delivered on past promises or not. They would argue that, even if not for performance, the people should lend their support based on the parochial mantra that Jonathan also bears Igbo names—“Ebele and Azikiwe”.

The obvious implication is that there is no day of reckoning in this part of the country for broken promises or the various projects funded but either poorly executed or totally abandoned by contractors in cahoots with their Igbo cohorts in the Jonathan regime. Worst of all, the mood of the governors had also hoodwinked the opposition parties to assume that SE votes were firmly in the president’s corner thus clearly negating the all-important competition and checks and balances fundamental for a true democratic culture.

Consequently, there is no strong voice alert to expose the failures of the federal government toward effective leadership in the SE zone. The quagmire becomes more glaring when considered that their two premier pressure groups, the Ohaneze NdiIgbo and World Igbo Congress, have become infiltrated by political buccaneers who sing the president’s praises at home and abroad. Perhaps individuals can raise pertinent issues, but a salient problem with the Igbos is that since the death of Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the zone has not identified a leader with mass following who could call a spade a spade.

Enter Rev. Fr. Camillus Ejike Mbaka, the dynamic Roman Catholic priest, whose words are enough to mesmerize his fiercest opponents, let alone the Christian faithful, including politicians, who throng day in and day out to his Adoration Ministry in Enugu for spiritual healing—and from far and wide.

One of such faithful is no other person than Dame Patience Jonathan, the ebullient First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who visited the priest on November 9, 2014 to seek heavenly blessings for the husband’s forthcoming 2015 presidential election. Given the dominant support the president enjoys in Igboland and within the Christian Association of Nigeria, Fr. Mbaka glowingly eulogized President Jonathan to the high heavens while invoking the Holy Spirit to stoke a fiery swipe at the opposition, brazenly associating the leading opposition party to the deadly Boko Haram insurgents terrorizing Nigeria. Lo and behold, the First Lady and the teeming congregation roared in agreement. The open aspersions on the opposition and consequent anointment of the sitting president easily served as a pious reminder that there would be no cause for competition for Igbo votes in the presidential polls. Even more, the supporters of the president across the country quickly hailed, lustily drumming the ocassion to further legitimize the reverend gentleman as an unsung saint. But that was then.

Fast forward to December 31, 2014, a day the priest had reserved for unveiling his traditional New Year blessings and prophesies. Fully informed by the true condition on the ground as it affects his adoring worshipers and the common people of the Southeast; and, more importantly, exigently inspired by the Holy Spirit; the Fr. Mbaka in his sermon, “From good luck to bad luck”, lampooned President Goodluck Jonathan, whom he initially endorsed, and equated him with failure on all accounts. The bottom line is that the Roman Catholic priest has swiftly switched his support from the president, a fellow Christian and Southerner, to his closest rival in General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), who is not only a Muslim but also from the far North.

As expected, the Prophesy sent shock waves throughout the breath and depth of the Nigerian polity. While the opposition embraced it with pomp and pageantry, the ruling party and its supporters have castigated the priest, now comparing him to the biblical Judas Iscariot.

But the two camps should have no cause for alarm. Prophesies are known to work in miraculous ways. Besides, objective criticism or competition should not discourage but challenge human efforts to greater purpose and possibilities. President Jonathan can overcome the trepidations of the prophesy by doing the needful, exhibiting true leadership, challenging himself to the greater possibilities, starting by Nigeria
Either way, Nigerians, particularly the Igbo masses are the true winners.

The objective fact is that Mbaka’s prophesy is far beyond the simplistic equate of voting for Goodluck Jonathan or Muhammadu Buhari as we know it. Rather, the Prophesy has profoundly resurrected democracy in Igboland for the greater good of the society. For the first time in a long time, the Igbo masses are witnessing in presidential politics a semblance of opposition and the competition vitally essential for democracy, and their votes will not be taken for granted this time. President Jonathan, who was previously dissuaded from campaigning in Igboland, is now truly asking for votes in the zone, rendering accounts of his stewardship, and offering new promises as well as the much needed portions of the presidential war chest. It is also a win-win for democracy that General Buhari, having previously written off the Igbo votes, now sees a huge opening and has begun to vigorously campaign in Igbo cities, offering alternative solutions and his own promises.

The immediate effect is that the Igbos have rediscovered their true DNA and are more emboldened than ever. The Ohaneze, which had maintained a naïve posture, has now discarded its original idea for blanket endorsement and instead opted to list conditions for the people’s votes. The pro-Igbo party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which had already endorsed President Jonathan, is also seriously reevaluating. Even Alexander Ekwueme, an eminent Igbo figure of the ruling party and a former Vice President of Nigeria, never known for careless vituperations, has erupted with his own salvo, admonishing Jonathan for actions instead of mere words.

The Igbo masses are not left behind on the heightened awareness. They have begun to ask pertinent questions, and openly and rightly so, on numerous abandoned or phantom projects, most of which are fully funded but nothing to show on the ground. They are also asking about mass unemployment and kidnapping in the zone, the state of federal universities and teaching hospitals, the quality and state of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, 2nd River Niger Bridge and its PPP/Toll implications, Onitsha Seaport, the sixth state for South East, revitalizing Coal-for-Power, Gas Pipeline across Igbo mainland, inclusion of more Igbo states in OMPADEC, the Southeast/Southwest Rail Line, the endless massacre of Igbo Christians by Boko Haram under Jonathan’s watch; and the state of other infrastructures, particularly the two most important thoroughfares in Igboland: the Enugu/Port Harcourt and Enugu/Onitsha Express roads, constructed under Obasanjo’s military regime, but have remained death traps for decades, even after billions have been allocated.

These dateless but largely ignored projects, ordinarily the anticipated democratic dividend central to the welfare of Igbo masses, are squarely resurrected as part of the national debate; Thanks to the Prophesy of Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka!

•  PDP threatens showdown as Amaechi blocks use of Port Harcourt stadium for Jonathan’s campaign

*Dr. SKC Ogbonnia is the Executive Director, Patriots United for Transparency and Accountability in Nigeria (PUTAN); Phone: 281-802-3449

http://dailypost.ng/2015/01/13/skc-ogbonnia-fr-mbaka-resurrects-democracy-igboland/

UK envoy lambasts TB Joshua over AirAsia crash prophesy

Tuesday, December 30, 2014
UK envoy lambasts TB Joshua over AirAsia crash prophesy by Temitayo Famutimi

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The founder of the Synagogue Church of all Nations, Prophet Temitope Joshua, has claimed that he saw a vision of the disappearance of a Singapore-bound AirAsia plane days before the incident. The AirAsia Flight QZ8501, which had 16 children and 146 other passengers and crew members on board, was said to have disappeared from the radar in Surabaya, Indonesia on Sunday. Following the disappearance of the passenger plane, SCOAN released a video on its YouTube page, in which TB Joshua accused Indonesia of failing to heed its earlier warning. "I have a message for the nation, Indonesia. This country, Indonesia – I don't know what is happening. They should pray for Indonesia. That is, the nation Indonesia. When it comes to this disaster issue, I don't want to mention it. It looks so nasty to me to mention – a situation where it will cost a lot of lives, suddenly. "This is a crash. Why should this continue to happen there? I think there is a nature – a geographical atmosphere. There is something there that they should look into," TB Joshua stated in the video sermon which the church claimed had been shot days before the plane's disappearance. The church added that on its YouTube page that in spite of the Indonesia's failure to look into the "geographical atmosphere," TB Joshua and his followers had begun praying "that God would strengthen the family members and friends of all those involved in this tragic incident." But the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin, urged the general public to dismiss TB Joshua's claims. "But he couldn't prophecy his own church collapsing, killing over 100?" Benjamin, a British foreign service officer of 28 years, who has simultaneous diplomatic accreditationto Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso, said via his Twitter page. Apart from the UK diplomat who carpeted TB Johsua over his claims, an online outrage trailed his prophesy. A Black Briton, based in Croydon, United Kingdom, Melody Badza-Chinouriri, lambasted for claiming to have foretold the air disaster. Badza-Chinourir said, "I will never run to a man who does not even own up to the disaster he failed to avert at his backyard. He even blatantly refused to attend the coroner inquest despite repeated invitations. No accountability whatsoever. "I hope Nigeria will wake up and arrest him this time round. He is putting that country on the spot for wrong reasons. Let him prophesy all the killings happening in Nigeria. Many people have died in Nigeria than Indonesia. You have a prophet; why are you perishing then in Nigeria?" A respondent on Lawyer Omegad queried the credibility of the said video, adding that TB Joshua's controversial prophecies were useless as they had over the years failed to redeem lives. "How come we are only seeing this so-called prophesy today? It's obvious the video was posted many hours after the plane has already gone missing. I doubt this because God revels to redeem," Omegad said. Another online activist, Emeka Martins, said, "Indeed most Nigerians are gullible. Why should they believe in prophesies of end-time fake pastors. TB Joshua should explain to the court what led to the death of those people in his synagogue. Why did he not prophesy his own calamity?" While other online commentators taunted the clergyman strings of prophecies, some Nigerians challenged him to foretell the day in which the abducted Chibok girls would be freed by the fundamentalist Islamist sect, Boko Haram. "We don't want to know which disaster is next, we want a prayer that will bring the Chibok girls back home," a respondent, Samuel David, wrote on SCOAN's YouTube page. However, TB Joshua's followers rallied round him, fending off criticisms of what they described as his divine calling. A Malawian, Elsie PembeKumwenda, insisted on Facebook that the cleric is God sent, saying, "Prophet TB Joshua is doing what no one can do today. Whatever he prophesises comes to pass, yet we don't believe him. We usually regret our actions when it (tragedy) happens. May God give our prophet more of his grace


http://odili.net/news/source/2014/dec/30/821.html

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

Insight - Nigeria's 'megachurches': a hidden pillar of Africa's top economy

 

By Tim CocksOctober 12, 2014 2:19 AM

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Bishop David Oyedepo (C), founder of the Living Faith Church, also known as the Winners' Chapel, …

By Tim Cocks

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OTA Nigeria (Reuters) - When a guesthouse belonging to one of Nigeria's leading Christian pastors collapsed last month, killing 115 mostly South African pilgrims, attention focussed on the multimillion-dollar "megachurches" that form a huge, untaxed sector of Africa's top economy.

Hundreds of millions of dollars change hands each year in these popular Pentecostal houses of worship, which are modelled on their counterparts in the United States.

Some of the churches can hold more than 200,000 worshippers and, with their attendant business empires, they constitute a significant section of the economy, employing tens of thousands of people and raking in tourist dollars, as well as exporting Christianity globally.

But exactly how much of Nigeria's $510 billion GDP they make up is difficult to assess, since the churches are, like the oil sector in Africa's top energy producer, largely opaque entities.

"They don't submit accounts to anybody," says Bismarck Rewane, economist and CEO of Lagos consultancy Financial Derivatives. "At least six church leaders have private jets, so they have money. How much? No one really knows."

When Nigeria recalculated its GDP in March, its economy became Africa's biggest, as previously poorly captured sectors such as mobile phones, e-commerce and its prolific "Nollywood" entertainment industry were specifically included in estimates.

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Worshippers, dressed in traditional attires, attend a church service at the Living Faith Church, als …

There was no such separate listing for the "megachurches", whose main source of income is "tithe", the 10 percent or so of their income that followers are asked to contribute.

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.

"We use the income of the church to build schools, we use the income of the church to serve the needs of the poor," David Oyedepo, bishop of the popular Winners Chapel, told Reuters in an interview. "These are non-profit organisations."

PASTORS ON FORBES LIST

Nonetheless, 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.

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Bishop David Oyedepo, founder of the Living Faith Church, also known as the Winners' Chapel, ges …

In 2011, Forbes magazine estimated the fortunes of Nigeria's five richest pastors. Oyedepo topped the list, with an estimated net worth of $150 million.

He was followed by "Pastor Chris" Oyakhilome of Believers' LoveWorld Incorporated, also known as the Christ Embassy and popular with executives and politicians, on $30 million to $50 million.

TB Joshua, pastor of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, at the centre of the recent diplomatic storm over the deaths in its guesthouse, was thought to have $10 million to $15 million.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) declined to comment on how churches fit into their GDP figures, but a source there said they were included as "non-profit", which falls under "other services" in the latest figures. In 2013, the category contributed 2.5 percent of GDP, the same as the financial sector.

A former banker at Nigeria's United Bank for Africa, who declined to be named, recalled being approached five years ago by a church that was bringing in $5 million a week from contributions at home or abroad.

"They wanted to make some pretty big investments: real estate, shares," he said. "They wanted to issue a bond to borrow, and then use the weekly flows to pay the coupon."

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Choir members play saxophones during a church service at the auditorium of the Living Faith Church,  …

In the end, he said, the bank turned down the proposal on ethical grounds.

Yet Nigerian churches do often invest large amounts of their congregations' money in shares and property, at home and abroad, he and another banking source said.

One pastor bought 3 billion naira ($18 million) worth of shares in the defunct Finbank, which later merged with FCMB, after it was rescued in a bail-out in 2009, a fund manager who handled the deal told Reuters. The pastor used a nominee trust account to keep his name off the books.

In 2011, Oyakhilome was investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and charged with laundering $35 million of contributions to his church in foreign bank accounts. He denied all wrongdoing and the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.

Oyakhilome was not available for comment and Joshua's media team declined a request for an interview with him.

MIDAS TOUCH

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A woman sells envelopes for tithe offerings before a church service at the Living Faith Church, also …

Oyedepo's headquarters, "Canaanland", is a 10,500-acre (4250-hectare) campus in Ota, outside the commercial capital Lagos. It comprises a university, two halls of accommodation, restaurants and a church seating 50,000 people, with a total overflow capacity of five times that.

"You can see that everything this man touches turns to gold," Nigerian Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina said in a speech at a reception for Oyedepo's 60th birthday at Canaanland last month.

"May the grace of God abide with you," he added, to a rapturous "Amen!" from the guests in a marquee.

Other dignitaries present included twice-president Olusegun Obasanjo and former military ruler Yakubu Gowon. A choir sang gospel songs as the guests cut an elaborate six-tiered cake and popped fizzy grape juice out of champagne bottles in golden wrapping -- alcohol is banned in Canaanland.

The next day, he delivered four Sunday services in a row to tens of thousands of cheering followers, his white-suited figure projected onto large flat-screen televisions all around.

"From today, no evil spirit, no demon will survive the Almighty!" he shouted, and the crowd roared "Amen!".

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Books, many written by Bishop David Oyedepo (C), founder of the Living Faith Church, also known as t …

A spokesman said the church has 5,000 branches across Nigeria, and 1,000 more in 63 other countries across five continents. But Oyedepo's empire also includes two fee-paying universities that he built from scratch, a publishing house for Christian self-help books, and an elite high school.

Other pastors have similarly diversified ways of getting the Gospel of Christian salvation out.

Oyakhilome owns magazines, newspapers and 24-hour TV station, and Joshua draws miracle-seekers from all over the world with claims that the holy water he has blessed cures otherwise incurable ailments such as HIV/AIDS.

Before Joshua built his 10,000-seat headquarters at Ikotun-Egbe in outer Lagos, the area was part swamp, part abandoned industrial estate.

Now, it is a boom town with shops, hotels, eateries and bars catering largely to the travellers who come not only from West Africa but also from all corners of the globe to hear his sermons. Joshua also runs a TV station.

"BLESSED BY THE LORD"

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A mini sculpture in the shape of the Bible is displayed next to an award (L) for Bishop David Oyedep …

Guests entering Oyedepo's birthday marquee in Canaanland would have seen a picture of the poor household in southwest Nigeria where he grew up, testament to a rags-to-riches story that many Nigerians would love to emulate.

Like U.S. televangelists, Winners Chapel preaches the "prosperity gospel" that faith in Jesus Christ lifts people out of poverty, and that message partly explains the explosion of the Pentecostal movement in sub-Saharan Africa, where misfortune and poverty are often seen as having supernatural causes.

"We see giving as the only way to be blessed. Blessing other people is a way of keeping the blessings flowing," said Oyedepo, whose blessings include a Gulfstream V jet and several BMWs.

Giving to support the church and its work is something the faithful are encouraged to do, a Christian tradition that was a pillar of the Roman Catholic church in medieval Europe, just as it has been a major money-spinner for U.S. televangelists.

Aneke Chika, a business analyst in an oil services company, told Reuters on the steps of Oyedepo's church that she set aside 20,000 naira of her 200,000 naira ($1,218) salary every month.

Asked about Forbes' estimate of his fortune, Oyedepo told Reuters: "For me, to have fortune means someone who has what he needs at any point in time. I don't see myself as having $150 million stacked up somewhere. Whatever way they found their figures, I am only able to say I am blessed by the Lord."

He said he could not estimate the church's total revenues or expenditure on items such as salaries because the various departments, including education, were too diverse.

The enterprises on the Canaanland campus, from the shops selling cold sodas and bread, to a woman boiling instant noodles and eggs for breakfast in a lodge, to pop-up book stalls hawking Oyedepo's prolific literary output, are owned by the church's estate, which employs their staff on its payroll, workers at all the outlets told Reuters.

Winners Chapel's Corporate Affairs department said the church employed more than 18,000 people in Nigeria alone.

Oyedepo says 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.

Britain's Charity Commission says it is reviewing potential conflicts of interest in his finances, and last month the Home Office (interior ministry) barred him from Britain, though it declined to say why.

Oyedepo said he knew nothing of the commission's review, nor had the Home Office explained to him why he was barred.

A national conference to debate Nigeria's constitution this year proposed that the megachurches should be taxed.

But with an election coming up in February, it is debatable whether President Goodluck Jonathan, who is close to several megapastors, would risk upsetting these influential men and their hefty congregations with a fat tax bill.

"There is no single government input on this premises," Oyedepo told Reuters in the interview. "We supply our water, we make our roads, then you ... say: 'Let's tax them'. For what?"

(1 US dollar = 164.2 naira)

(Additional reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha in Lagos and Ahmed Aboulenein in London; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Kevin Liffey)

http://news.yahoo.com/insight-nigerias-megachurches-hidden-pillar-africas-top-economy-061027025.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory