Our Nigerian University Commission needs to introduce a new course called MSc in Pastorpruenership that will train wealthy clergymen and women to become investors

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigeria must be sitting on at least $50bn worth of dead capital, as the majority of her 100m Christian faithful pay one tenth of their earnings in the form of tithes. That capital simply has to be invested in the economy if we want to end of dependency on crude oil and diversify

[2] In 1941, President Roosevelt held a meeting with the chairmen of the US automobile companies after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Within three months, they were all major armaments producers. President Bola Tinubu needs to do likewise with our clergymen

[3] If we had a course called MSc in Pastorpreneurship that trained our clergymen on how to turn tithes into religious finance, it would turn Nigeria’s fortunes around overnight. Just imagine if we invested $50bn in job creation annually in Nigeria

[4] For me, first of all, they must combine all their commercial operations into one industrial conglomerate called Man of God PLC and agree to invest at least $50bn a year in the Nigerian economy. I expect this conglomerate to grow to a point whereby it can compete with major global manufacturers like Mitsubishi (Japan), Fiat (Italy), Renault (France), etc. It should be Nigeria's signature company

[5] All these clergymen must also agree to pay a corporation tax of 40% on all their earnings like any other business

[6] They must sell off their fleets of private jets and either use the proceeds to buy passenger planes for Air Peace or get Man of God to use such aircraft to run a commercial airline. If it grows significantly it may even become our national carrier. Maybe we can call it Nigerians in Heaven

[7] Given that power is our main headache in Nigeria today, Man of God PLC must pledge to invest in power generation plants and electricity transmission and distribution companies

[8] Given the deep pockets of these pastorprueners, they must agree to consider investing in all those areas of our economy desperately needing private capital. These include railway lines, sea ports, our comatose steel mills, food processing, tourism, etc

[9] As a payback for their investment, these pastorprueners will get tax rebates for any charitable work they do in the community like building clinics. Likewise, if they chose to invest in healthcare by building hospitals and providing drugs and treatment, offering free delivery, the government will pay them annually for this from our health budget

[10] Similarly, the government will reimburse these pastorprueners for any scholarships they offer to poor students who attend their universities. As part of this deal, any bright youngster who gains admission must be admitted and under no circumstances must anyone be denied an education for being poor