Basseti:

For someone who is an expert in "real life" situations, U really have a problem with synthesizing appropriate analogies What has the piracy of foreign movies in the NIGERIAN market has anything to do with this Everything! I subscribe to the theory that the degradation of a community commences when broken windows, littered environments and such like are permitted while the residents are nonchalant. The piracy of foreign movies/songs in Naija was the first step, next was that of Naija songs and now Nollywood. They had built their distribution network, developed their technological know-how and increased their business savvy. The Yorubas have a saying that goes thus [color=#006600]"Ti o ba n gbo gbe gbe gbe, ti o ko si ba won won gbe, ki o ma ja si wi pe eyinkule re ni won ma gbe si" I may not be too versed in its interpretation but I think its apt for the occassion.[/color] U think all the big movie studios in the US depend on the revenue from the Nigerian market when making predictions and budgets for their flick? Basically, foreign movies are not made with the Nigerian market as a target but Nigerian home movies are made with Nigeria as a primary target, geddit? That's a bit myopic a view. Silverbird and Genesis cinemas obviously pay their royalties for movies shown and am sure the producers are happy for the amount that gushes in. A similar analogy is that banks like Citibank and StanChart that operate in Naija may look like small players but contribute significantly to the revenue generated from Africa.

I agree that the marketing should and will change in order to reach to the next level. One way that we wont achieve that is by screaming blue murder everytime Nollywood is brought up. Everybody and their mama knows that Nollywood is badly in need of some injection of direction. Thats a fact. However, lets be solution-oriented. Lets not in a haste , throw away the baby alongside with the dirty bathwater.

I agree with you but we need to adopt the changing paradigm. I regularly watch Nollywood on TV if not for anything else but laffs. I also buy original works and do have a collection of movies produced by Tunde Kelani, Tade Ogidan, and some titles like Apostle Kasali, Violated, Out of Bounds etc which I make sure I buy the original works. But the cinema option should be exploited as that is where the youths go now. At least there is a growing cinema culture.

When U put it that way, it looks very easy
What U forget to mention (or maybe ignorant of) is that the film budget , at least for Kunle's figurine, was a whopping 50 million naira. Kunle is one of the few guys now trying to take a different approach in the prevailing circumstances we have in Nollywood and more power to his elbow. However, when he applied for a loan for that movie, the banks turned him down, he had to attach the 50 million naira loan to a different project to get it funded. So basically, he didnt get the loan for the movie specifically. The importance of having some credit resources to the industry na another story by itself.

I never said it comes cheap to get quality but you could get a Desperado or Hurt Locker hitting it big even if it was a low-budget movie. I saw "The Tenant"late last year at Genesis Cinemas in Lagos and did enjoy the movie's storyline, direction and conciseness. That movie did not parade a popular star (not a single A- or B- list actor), involved few sets, had a small cast and obviously cost a fraction of Figurine. Yet it was worth watching - tells the story of Nigerians in Diaspora in relation to kpali/pale/papers and really does a good job of it. This was a movie that was produced two years before it was screened in Naija.

I also saw an interview done by Afolayan where he mentioned that 40% of the fees were recovered via endorsements. Silverbird Group, Miccom Golf course etc played a huge role though he had to factor in those benefits as costs and revenue. He obviously had done his homework well by deciding to follow the cinema route.

And to be honest, I have not seen the statistics on how many peeps went to see the film and if it was a commercial success, cos that will pave the way for others to toe Kunle's lead.

The statistics may not be out - Nigerians hate to give out data even about prices but the cinemas seem to be smiling to the banks. Only problem is Kunle Afolayan mentioned that the cinemas want to have a 60/40 or 50/50 deal in their favour against the 40/60 that he got when he screened his movie in UK. I guess they have realised their potentials.

Tunde Kelani released his latest work (Arugba) on a Monday and by Tuesday his work had been pirated. He is not the only one.


I am of the opinion that if the big business moguls - Dangote/Otedola/Mike Adenuga decide to venture into movie distribution, then piracy will suffer a monumental blow. They will surely move mountains to get the enabling legislations passed, enforcers adequately mobiliseda and Nollywood will take a soaring leap.

Basseti:

Thats what U guys should aspire to do instead of coming up here and whining. Innovation is just a breath away but u wont get it by just sitting on your backside and specializing in arm chair criticism.

How many dudes here actually go out and purchase an original CD or DVD, most NL'ers for all their whining would rather rip a movie from copy to copy or download a piece of music from limewire, even me sef dey do am However, we expect some "James Cameron-ish" sort of story line and effects in our home movies

I find it funny that we struggle to do our assignments academically but fail to do it in real life. Every one kept complaining about pirates but is it not funny that the pirates operate in the same market as those who fund the production of the movies? It started with piracy of foreign movies and no one batted an eyelid and now they have migrated to local movies and we will not hear the last of it.

Market changes should necessarily require a change in sales/marketting tactics. Now Kunle Afolayan's 'Figurine' and the recent Íje successés in the cinemas have pointed out the new approach to take. Even the cheapest ticket (NGN500) is more expensive than the cost of the original VCD (normally NGN300). Those who still complain of piracy should go do their homework well.

Maybe it is time we resuscitated the old cinemas and also built more modern ones. A situation where there are less than 20 modern cinemas available for public use in the whole country is embarrassing but a good point for an investor to take a position in.

ElRazur:

Gosh half of the stuff posted here are just as good as reading Harry Porter and the willow of stone or something. It is even more fantasy than reading the books of revelation.


Sauron, do you seriously believe some of the story you were told?    Or do anyone really think some of the stories here are just pure third rated stories?


I was in Naija during the Anini era, and I remember vividly that his shooting sentence was shown on tv, and newspaper ran it as headlines story the next day. As per Shina Rambo, we heard many stories of him and he appears to just fade off after a while.


One thing that have come up here is the lack of record/archive and how it implication can manifest later on. A few post here appears to present their stories as facts etc, when in fact, it is all third and probably fourth-rate information that was passed down. I suppose if there was a news paper archive somewhere and proper journalism is practised, we may know the real truth. (In some western countries, you can find newspapers printed from the 18 century in archive page-by-page in libraries etc)



Do I think Anini disappeared? Nope. Not really, he made an escape instead and the poorly trained police see it as logical to blame voodoo - Something that is enshrined in our culture. That is, do not take blame but find something else to blame.

Having said that, from my recollection, some of the weapons used back then by the criminals (Shina Rambo especially) appeared to be sort of advanced weaponry back then. They had access to Semi Automatic weapons and this strike fear in people who may have witnessed them being used during a robbery operation.


Let us ask ourselves, how come in this day and age that the new bunch of super robbers coming out do not disappear or vanish into thin air like the ones of the 80s and 90s? Coincidence?

As I mentioned earlier, the policemen back then had lesser weapons in terms of quantity and quality. Lots of what we call shakabula and not now that there are quite lots of SAWs available. Maybe the military were afraid of police connivance with coup plotters. I think it took democracy for us to see the quality and quantity of arms with policemen that we witness now. Why else were MOPOL called "kill and go"? Cos they had weapons and not semi-dane guns.

Ask around for those who schooled in Okota or lived there between 1988 and 1995 and they would tell you of AMHS, Mr Apata and his penchant for chasing armed robbers.

Mamajama:

Shina Rambo ko, this is all myth. the only notorious robber in Nigeria was Lawrence ANINI, and he was eradicated like a headless chicken

The fact that few newspapers have archived records of the 90's does not make a story false. There were too many stories and eyewitnesses to make the story false.

I attended Apata Memorial High School while the proprietor (Mr Simeon Apata) was still alive and he used to go after robbers even while policemen were running away. Back then policemen did not have a quarter as many guns as they now tot about. There was this term when our end of term closing was shifted forward by 1 day because there was a letter from Shina Rambo that he was coming to snatch cars. The said Thursday, Mr Apata kept on patrolling around with guns and we even closed earlier. It was rumoured that Shina Rambo struck around Okota area around xmas of 1990/1 and Apata kept on chasing him around even chasing him into the Jakande Estate along Ikotun road. Besides there are too many stories of him - robbing around Iyana Isolo, of policemen removing their uniforms when he's around, of him shooting into police stations etc.

He was said to love wearing white outfits (maybe he was sending a message) and his hatred for the men-in-black (rumoured to arise from a deal gone bad one time or of being implicated by a moneybag). He loved flashy cars and was rumoured to have quit when he made enough money or settled his score - whichever is true all is unconfirmed.

Just checked EasyWorship's site and the 2009 version costs $299 versus $0.00 for EasiSlides

okizle:

its very simple,
what u need like everybody says is 3 projectors. now the arrangment of the projectors is crucial.
if you like the pulpit to have a view of the projector, obviously one projector should be at the back with the the screen of course.
If the auditorium can be conveniently divided into 3 place where each section will have a clear view of the screen do it. which means you will need 4 projectors and screen altogether.

you dont need 4 PCs, one is enough with a VGA splitter, like 8 channel-VGA splitter(in case of further expansion)
obviously the VGA cables running from the Splitter to the projector will be very long(dont know the size of your auditorium) but you will get one dont worry.
your system and Splitter will be very close by. then u need a good software not the powerpoint stuff people use, I like EasyWorship. u can do bible verse, video, newsflash and stuff with it.

P.S for neatness try runnin your cables thru the rooof. or some nice conduit.

EasyWorship is cool but not free. A free one you can download (which works like EasyWorship) is EasiSlides. Also got provision from 3 bible versions but the newsflash might not be large enough.

Dis Guy:

^^ oh please typical naija man! whilst others have their shyte all up on the net he is scared of piracy--i joke o!!


Goodluck playmode, you're experience will take you places, I think you should also consider Ghana or even try Ghana first
please like VI Lekki will be asking for mad money
Just wondering on this one, replacing pads that are readily available, or moving to an area where the phat kids already have games at home, what if they dont come out? its a case of getting loads of customers through the doors in areas like mentioned earlier replacing pads regularly or getting some customers in sometimes and keeping your games in tip top shape? hmmm

I agree with you, am not sure the guy who posted the response about opening a game arcade really ran a business. Why open in V.I./Ikoyi when there is a market in Mushin, Isolo, Oshodi? This is the same reason why viewing centres do not work on the Island but thrive very well on the mainland. The purchasing power of the guys down there creates a viable market source.

I actually saw a game arcade along Ikotun/Idimu road today that comes a bit close to what the poster displayed. There were 4 game consoles all with 32 inch plasma screens and they had PS2 and PS3 consoles. The price was reasonable too but the guy needs to do a bit of publicity.

If you are around the area, check Licks and Chops eatery. The game arcade is on the first floor.

Coming from Pete Edochie - an actor of the old skool, am surprised and ashamed. Did he ever watch 'The Last King of Scotland or Blood Diamond''? Were the lead roles played by citizens of Uganda and Sirra-Leone or any African for that matter? Was the Oscar awarded to Forest Whitaker not justified for the interpretation of the role? Did Leonardo Di Capri not speak pidgin convincingly like an African?

The problem most probably lies with the script-writers and producers for not doing a good job. Olu Jacobs might slip once in a while but he is a cut far above the pedestrian players parading themselves as superstars.

oyb:

maybe, but that sounds like an unworkable business model in the long run - how many directors have patrons in corporate nigeria?

the private screenings also sounds odd - sort of elevating movie watching to something exclusive

I beg to disagree, the private screenings might not be for few individuals. If you look carefully at the DVD cases you will find that movies are not meant to be shown on oil rigs, on public TV etc. So if the staff club of a company like SPDC, ExxonMobil decides to arrange screening of the movie for their staff its a part of private screening. These are previously untapped sources.

When I was in UI, Tunde Kelani used to come around to screen ThunderBolt - I can attest to the fact that he had a full house for the two shows he did daily on three different days. Infact he had to come back for a second screening one month after.

Cinema viewings are okay but there are few cinemas in the country, there is nothing stopping these producers from going to screen their movies in our universities. That is a litmus test for the acceptability of the movies.If the movie tanks after just one day then its not gonna sell at all.Just imagine showing movies in the federal institutions alone - am sure a good movie shown at NGN500 will likely make tens of millions.

That is why I said producers need business savvy and education.

oyb:

actually, the core purpose of movies from the viewpoint of the producers is to make money.

its directors who are more concerned with artistic direction

one sometimes reads of real fights between directors and producers i the making of classic movies

unless one can produce well crafted movies and still turn a profit, quality will remain a pipe dream

I beg to disagree, Afolayan has made more funds from endorsements, cinema viewings without releasing a video copy than most marketers make in years. Pirates are angry with him but its a wise decision of his. Same thing too with Tunde Kelani. He goes around showing the movies and possibly gets corporate bodies to sponsor and then after a year or two releases it as home video. Arugba had been shown in venues for over 8 months before it was released.

I also watched Kunle Afolayan taking of having corporate viewings. If your company or you and your friends have deep pockets, he would arrange private screenings for you. That is the impact of education, good management skills showing. While Ije is still hyped, am not sure it has made as much funds as The Figurine in box office sales.

If The Figurine was not successful, why do you think everyone is rushing to screen their movies at the cinemas nowadays? I think a new paradigm shift is occurring and I hope its not stifled.

MRbrownJAY:

^^^^ can you pls give me some few titles from the guys you quoted so i can check their movies out?

Have you seen films like Violated or the comedy Apostle Kasali from the producer of Fuji House of Commotion, Amaka Igwe? While I do not watch a lot of Nollywood films I still believe there are quite a good selection though they are far in between.

MRbrownJAY:

^^^^ can you pls give me some few titles from the guys you quoted so i can check their movies out?

Quite a lot:
Tunde Kelani - Yellow Card, Thunderbolt (Magun), O Le Ku, Aago Eewo, Arugba, Saworoide
Tade Ogidan - Diamond Ring, Dangerous Twins (more like for parts 1 and 2 for me), Madam Dearest
Kunle Afolayan - Irapada and The Figurine
Jetta Amata - Am not sure but I think he produced the Anini flick.
There are others I do not readily recall the producers - Out of Bounds (starring RMD, Bimbo Akintola's debut I think), OwoBlow

People like Tunde Kelani and Tade Ogidan do not produce more than 1-2 films in a year and I do not think that Afolayan will join the band wagon not after spending over 80 million to shoot The Figurine and he claimed on TV that he had realised over 50 million from cinema shows in Naija and beyond. This was even before the easter viewings.

I do not subscribe to it. What if the lady gets pregnant before marriage and (Heaven forbids) but she experiences a miscarriage in the 6-8th month, will the guy and his family send her packing?

This picture of his is on the web and shows he's a fine man
[img]http://www.nigeria-arts.net/Music/Afrobeat/Lagbaja/[/img] but if it does not open, check this link http://www.nigeria-arts.net/Music/Afrobeat/Lagbaja/

To aid your search you might ask those who attend GCI (Government College Ibadan) Old Boys'meetings, I heard he regularly attends. But let's leave his privacy to his family, friends and himself.

What's all this noise over his face? he has chosen his own identity and it serves him well.

Good for his family too, the guy could still park to buy boli and groundnut and the whole world will not know on Twitter.

[center]What's the difference in the hip hop starz that wear dark glasses (some darker than Ray Parker Charles's) even indoors or studio shoots?[/center]

Besides if you want to see his face, there are at least two pictures of him unmasked on the web. I came across this from a note someone posted on FB. I just went back to it and got this as one reason why he decided anonymity was it.
About five years ago, Nigerian popular reggae musician, Ras Kimono was hit by a strange illness and had to be taken to a hospital for medical attention. While Kimono (as he is fondly called by his fans and friends) was in hospital, one unforgettable event happened that makes many reel in laugher each time the story is told.
Kimono’s illness, as expected, attracted scores of other musicians who came to sympathise at his bedside. According to the gist, the nurses on duty constantly allowed these musicians into the ward to see Kimono. One day, however, a strange man who called himself Bisade Ologunde came to the hospital to see his sick friend, Kimono.
“Sorry sir, you can’t see him”, said one of the nurses.
“But he is expecting me,” said Ologunde, even as the nurses gave him cold shoulder.
Right in his presence, another popular musician came and totally ignored him (Ologunde), asked after Kimono and in no time, was ushered into Kimono ward. Nothing Ologunde did or said could make the nurses budge. Defeated, he gave up and went back home. Two hours later, he came back, but this time, not as the rejected Bisade Ologunde. Lo and behold, he had on a "trademark" mask and costume and he turned out to be the artiste popularly known as Lagbaja, the masked one.
Quickly, even before he could finish asking to see Kimono, the nurses, now grinning from ear to ear, practically led Lagbaja to the ward, just as a crowd formed, not only inside the hospital to see this popular music icon, but also outside the hospital.
When Lagbaja narrated this experience to The Source a few years later, he couldn’t stop laughing, admitting in the process that his decision to wear masks which is his identity in the music industry, has in a very big way, helped to protect his private life.
“That experience proved to me that I made the right decision to go about in the mask. Whenever I walk among people without the mask – which in a way has become my identity no one knows who I am, and I simply love it that way. To me, Bisade is an entirely different person from Lagbaja.”, he said.
http://www.thesourceng.com/crazyidentitysept17.htm

scantee:

Mesiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii remain the world best

For your mind abi!!

Netherlands scores a second goal. Heading for the semi-finals

Hi, Hope I qualify, kindly send me the ebboks or the link to bubolaiya@yahoo.com

Common this is old news. The link was updated in October 2009. Let's stop raising dead issues.

CBN releases fresh debtors’ list

Updated Thursday, 15 October 2009 16:33
by Dare Daniels

A Pastor’s Business Empire
Written by Emmanuel Uffot
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Chris Oyakhilome, pastor of Christ Embassy Church, is not only winning souls but has built an expansive business empire from which he is making good money

It is a magnificent glass building. Its blue and gold colours stand it out in the crowd of old buildings on Oregun Road, Ikeja, Lagos. The building which is a few poles away from the old Suzuki Motorcycle assembly plant glitters like the corporate headquarters of a very progressive new generation bank. But it is not. Rather, it is the headquarters of Believers’ LoveWorld Incorporated, otherwise known as Christ Embassy.

Chris Oyakhilome, the Edo State-born pastor and head of Christ Embassy, runs the branches of the church and his other businesses from here. The church has provided for Oyakhilome a good platform for his other business interests which include banking, publishing, broadcasting, entertainment and the hospitality industries.

A normal Sunday service at the headquarters chapel of Christ Embassy draws not less than 30,000 worshippers. Most of them come from distant parishes of the church and the attraction is Oyakhilome himself who they all want to see live on the pulpit.
Oyakhilome belongs to the growing clan of pastors who preach prosperity but he is better known for his miracles which are very controversial. Even then, they have remained the source of his popularity and the huge fortunes that he has made.
The church operates like a conglomerate with no fewer than 10 subsidiaries that work with the common goal of oiling the purse of the ministry and its patron.
The major money spinning arms of the ministry includes LoveWorld Cyber Ministry, LoveWorld Television, Love World Christian Network, LoveWorld Multimedia Ministry and LoveWorld Publishing Ministry.
One business enterprise run by the church is the LoveWorld Records Limited located in Ikeja. It was incorporated in 2008 as a private limited liability company to carry on the business of music, entertainment and gospel merchandise. The record studio has produced many talented music artistes who are members of the church. Church members say it is the first record label dedicated solely for the publishing, production, marketing and distribution of gospel music and promotion of gospel artistes. The Christ Embassy recording studio operates a distribution network that facilitates the selling and marketing of records within and outside Nigeria. Barely two years after its establishment as one of the many business ventures of the church, it is said to have broken into international markets like the United Kingdom, Canada, United States of America, South Africa and Ghana. Some of its products include music videos and DVDs.
The studio, which is managed by Ehi Moses, an accountant-turned musician and producer with 15 years experience in music and entertainment industry, holds the franchise of record labels of Believers Loveworld Incorporated. Its monthly turnover is put at more than N10 million.
Pastor Oyakhilome is not a good friend of the media but likes the money that the industry spins to him. Before he joined the Nigeria media business, it was hitherto dominated by politicians, businessmen and media practitioners. But today, Oyakhilome, through Global Plus Communications Limited, GPC, controls a media empire worth billions of Naira. They are also located in Nigeria and South Africa.
His group’s investments in the media include Minaj Broadcasting International, MBI; Superscreen television; National Standard, a monthly magazine; National Daily, a weekly newspaper; and a cable television network known as Loveworld Media.
The satellite television is based in South Africa and it is a free-to-air-no subscription channel. It was set up primarily for the purpose of the church evangelism. Over the years, it had been working in partnership with other media houses to air Oyakhilome on local and international television channels, but in recent years, the focus has broadened to accommodate Christian movies and programmes. A member of the church told Newswatch that the total package for the decoder and dish is N25,000.
Superscreen television station, owned by Oyakhilome, occupies the seventh floor of Lagemo House at Onipanu area of Lagos. The television which began operation in 2007, boasts of state of the art broadcast equipment. In less than four years of existence, Superscreen is now a major force to reckon with in television broadcasting. One of its staff who spoke on the level of success of the station said it certainly does not belong to the group of television station battling for survival.
Majority of staff of the television station are members of Christ Embassy. The television station serves as the media arm of the church, especially because it routinely telecasts church programmes of Christ Embassy.
Unlike Superscreen, Minaj Television International, MBI, is not a success story. In fact, its ownership is now a subject of litigation. Oyakhilome had in 2006, through Global Plus Consulting, GPC, entered into a five-year management contract with Minaj systems owned by Mike Ajegbo, a former senator. The deal was for GPC to revive Minaj, which had become insolvent following its inability to pay its annual subscription fee to the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, and pay arrears of salaries it owed staff. The investment, estimated to be more than N400 million, produced the required impact. The new management team went to work paying the licence fee and outstanding staff salaries. Less than one year after, the result became evident, MBI became number one in sport and entertainment. The following year, the station won four awards at the 2007 Nigeria Media Merit Award, NMMA.
But the once rosy relationship between Minaj systems and GPC promoted by Oyakhilome went awry due to irreconcilable differences in contract agreements. The station has not been able to open because both parties are still in court.
In pursuit of the church’s craze for publicity and in spite of huge investments in the broadcast media, Christ Embassy again set up its sole private television station called Loveworld News Media. The studio is located within the church headquarters and is said to operate a 12-hour daily service airing church programmes, Oyakhilome’s preachings and news about the church activities worldwide.
National Standard hit the news-stands in July 2004 as a monthly glossy magazine. Its first office was at Plot 2, Ajumobi Street, off ACME Road, Agidingbi, before relocating to 25 Ogunlowo Street, off Adeniyi Jones, where it is at the moment. Today, the publication has gone weekly. Its sister publication, National Daily, which is a weekly tabloid, is located on Emina Crescent, off Toyin Street, Ikeja. Paradigm Communications Limited oversees the publication of the papers for Oyakilome’s business empire. The church’s investments in these media enterprises alone is put at more than N5 billion.
Most of those who do business with Oyakhilome’s media empire are church members, and they are very successful businessmen and women or are in vital decision-making positions. They influence decisions that help to attract business to the media houses owned by the church. It is also an unwritten rule that satellite parishes must advertise their programmes in the church network of media houses. The media houses enjoy advertisement boom during major church activities like Night of Bliss, national youths conference, annual convention and during Pastor Chris’ birthday every December 7.
Again, when Pa Joseph Oyakhilome, the pastor’s father, died last year, the newspapers could not provide enough space to carry obituary announcements and sympathy messages from satellite churches, corporate organisations promoted by church members as well as the church international partners. It was a boom for his media conglomerate and by extension the purse of the church.
Global Plus printing press is another investment of the pastor. The hi-tech ultra modern press is located along Ikosi Road, Oregun, Ikeja. It currently prints Westerner, a weekly magazine owned by a governor in the South-West, at a cost of N1.5 million. An inside source confided in Newswatch that the magazine paid three million Naira for printing the special publication on Ooni of Ife at 80 last February.
Business Eye, a business related magazine owned by Ibim Semenitari, now commissioner for Information, Rivers State, was printing at Global Plus at its debut in 2007 before it stopped using Oyakhilome’s press early last year because of a rift between the paper and the church. The magazine had written a story titled: ‘In the Name of God PLC’ in December 2008 and Christ Embassy felt the story was critical of the church. So, when the magazine took the next edition materials to the press for printing, Global Plus refused to accept them. The owners also went a step further to seize the materials as a punishment for the magazine’s audacity to publish negative stories about them.
The printing press also prints the church’s magazine National Standard, and its other publications like Rhapsody of Realities.
Monthly financial yields of the printing press which is worth more than two billion Naira is about N10 million. Investigations also revealed that a bigger printing press with state of the art equipment is being installed in Ikeja presently. After installation, it would serve as the headquarters of the publishing outfit. There is also a plan to set up printing outfits in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Benin.
Christ Embassy also owns CFI Pictures, a company that produces Christian movies. Located within the headquarters premises is a digital media store that markets electronic books and a gift card shop. The two are also money spinning channels for the church.
The church also has investments in the event and entertainment sector. In 2008, it bought over a warehouse belonging to a shoe making factory along Oregun Road which was converted to an event centre called K and G Event Centre. The event and recreational centre which is located at 8a, Oregun Road, has relaxation spots and other entertainment conveniences for customers. Although it also served the interest of non-members, church members are obliged to hold their events like marriage receptions and birthday bashes there. They pay the regular fees charges.
The church also has an eatery called Dicksons. The fast food joint is rapidly expanding its outlets. It is being developed to compete favourably with Mr Biggs and similar outfits in the country.
Oyakhilome has also spread his business tentacles to the financial sector. The church owns two microfinance banks one of which is Moneycom Microfinance Bank. The interesting aspect of the business investment of the church is that members must imbibe the culture of ‘charity begins at home’ by patronising the product and services provided by business interest of the church.
The business investment of the church is scripted in a way that it cannot be easily linked to the church. Most of the businesses have no signposts and there is usually no open evidence that they are owned by the church because they are run by Board of Trustees. Some members of the trustees are not members of the church.
Oyakhilome’s many companies operate as network. The printing press is responsible for the printing of all works of the church including Rhapsody, books and the magazines. The major advertisers of the media network are members of the church, satellite parishes and other business interests of the church empire. The Records and Digital studio produces all the CDs, DVDs, VCDs and audio cassettes of pastor Oyakhilome’s preaching which are sold both in Nigeria and abroad.
Like a celebrity, Pastor Chris’ name and face sell huge quantities of merchandise. These include books, video tapes of his crusades and miracles, audio cassettes, VCDs and DVDs of his teachings. The cassettes are also marketed online through the digital media which controls the church websites. One of the church’s websites makes money through advertisement of audio and visual materials that promote the Christian faith.
The pastor and his wife, Anita, who heads Christ Embassy international office, have a collection of more than 30 books that are a must read by members who are also encouraged to buy for friends and relations that are not members of the church. The most successful of these is Rhapsody of Realities. The daily devotional guide published monthly is co-authored by Pastor Chris and his wife. The journal which is considered a companion to the bible is currently published in 84 languages. Inside sources put its print run at not below five million. In Nigeria, Rhapsody is currently sold for N150 as against the former price of N300 when it was first published five years ago. It cost $5 per copy abroad and $43.20 for one year subscription. Price tags for his books vary with the minimum going for N1,500 while that of the audio and video CDs range from N300 to N1,000.
On a typical Sunday in the church, it is common to see members scrambling for CDs, VCDs, audio CDs, audio cassettes and books of the pastor.
Most of the church programmes are financed by Oyakhilome’s partners all over the world who donate money to enhance the work of the ministry. Apart from the foreign partners, there is a selected group of members that belong to an organisation in the church called the ‘Havens.’ These are people with deep pockets and work as the financial backbone for the church. A member of the church said the Havens ensure that Oyakhilome is not in short of funds to run church activities. Havens assist in the sponsorship of key projects of the church.
Their financial commitment to the church runs into billions of Naira annually. While the Havens muster their resources to sponsor the church projects and activities, another group called ‘Partnership’ helps members of the church that are indigent.
In partnership, a wealthy member adopts at least five indigent members and takes care of their financial needs.
Like established organisations the church employs some of its unemployed graduate members as full time staff. They work basically at the church headquarters and other units like the Healing School Ministry, bookshops and gift shops.
Oyakhilome has in a bid to consolidate the financial gains of the ministry, aggressively spread its branches to the entire African continent, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.
In the past five years, the church has intensified its acquisition of properties around Oregun, Billings Way and Alausa in furtherance of its expansion drive. For property owners, it is good tidings.
The church has also joined the ranks of those that have acquired large expanse of land along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as camp arena for their crowd-pulling events like convention. The LoveWorld Camp ground is on Kilometre 47 of the express road, close to Redeemed Church camp ground.
To complement the camp ground is a massive structure along Billings Way which is to serve as the International Conference Centre of the Church. The arena which could pass for a mini stadium for first time visitors to Billings Way would cost Oyakhilome several billions of Naira on completion. It is architectural masterpiece.
Despite being listed among the three richest pastors in Nigeria, Oyakhilome has no private jet like David Oyedepo and Enoch Adeboye. A member confided in Newswatch that he usually travels with British Airways when going outside African shores and South African Airways when going to South Africa which is another major base of the church.
Members of the church do a lot to promote the business interests of Oyakhilome and the church. They make huge financial and material contributions which have formed the base of the wealth of Oyakhilome and his church today. In the process, some have had their fingers burnt.
An instance many would not easily forget in a hurry is the case of Lawrence Agada, a senior cashier with Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, and an assistant pastor of the Ifako branch of the church, who donated stolen cash and gifts totalling N39 million to the church in the name of sowing a seed. The fraud was discovered in March 2002. According to police investigations, Agada’s donations were in instalments. He bought 250KVA and 27KVA generators valued at N4.4 million and N1.5 million, respectively and donated them to the church headquarters and the Ifako satellite parish of the church. Before then, he had given out six million Naira for the renovation of the local satellite church and one million Naira for the purchase of plastic chairs for the church headquarters. He also contributed N1.5 million for the 2002 edition of the church mega crusade Night of Bliss, and one million Naira for another crusade tagged Prosperity Convention.
He ‘blessed’ Carol Sholesi, then pastor of Ifako branch of the church with N400, 000 to enable her attend the 24th congress of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women held in Melbourne, Australia.
Agada also bought musical instruments and chairs for the Agege, Ogba and Oke-Ira churches. He also confessed to using part of the stolen funds to pay church rents. The Benue-born former Sheraton’s staff profligacy was allegedly prompted by a letter Pastor Chris sent to him on January 12, 2002 prophesying that God would do mighty things in his life. “He will cause you to excel and lift you up so high that the world cannot but take notice of you in Jesus name, Amen.”
He said he took the money believing that he would reap bountiful rewards from the ‘seed sowing’ which would enable him replace all the money. This was not to be. Rather than receive reward for his benevolence, he lost his job and became a guest of the police. An indigene of his Idoma community who pleaded for anonymity told Newswatch that he was declared a persona non grata in his community for that act.”
In 2003, Gbenga Kehinde, another member of the church who was an assistant manager with Eko International Bank, further dragged the name of the church in the mud when he defrauded the bank of N40 million out of which he donated N10 million to Christ Embassy.
If Agada and Kehinde were audacious to dip their hands into the treasury of their organisations to donate for the upkeep of the church in anticipation of God’s reward, Michael George and Priscillia Maphiwa used their own hard earnings and possessions.
George, an engineer with Mobil Producing Unlimited in Akwa Ibom, was comfortable before he joined Christ Embassy. He later became a major financier of the head parish in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. His benevolence attracted his church brethrens who turned his house to a Mecca of sort feeding fat on him thereby tasking his resources. His financial commitment widened when he was made a pastor, the Eket branch which he also financed.
Expectedly, his church programmes began to clash with his work. His pastoral calling obliged him to leave the office before close of work three times a week to attend to church activities. In some cases, church programmes outside his state kept him off his duty post for days.
George, who within eight years of joining the oil multinational, got two promotions and won two awards for diligence, began to exhibit laxity in his duties. His church activities took prominence in his calendar over his work which ironically was the source of income that enabled him contribute bountifully to the church.
So when the oil giant decided to trim its workforce after the merger with Exxon, George was affected. Unfortunately for him, since he did not build a house for the period he worked and with little or no savings left having graciously invested much of his savings in the services of the church, he had to plough all his severance entitlement into building his house. His financial status deteriorated in such a way that he could no longer afford meeting some basic needs at home and his extended family which he was the bread winner. Left without money, a gainful employment and two cars which he had donated to the church as seed, family members felt bad that the church could not come to his help. George left Nigeria for America in 2008, courtesy of his wife, an Akwa Ibom indigene, who is an American citizen. He has since settled down in America eking a living.
Maphiwa, a staunch member of the church in South Africa, also recounted how she and her husband became bankrupt because of their association with the church. She said before joining Christ Embassy in November 2005, she had a car, a house, R35,000 savings and investments in other financial institutions totalling R20,000, but by February 2007, she had gone bankrupt because of the huge sums of money she had spent on the church, saying: “Before joining Christ Embassy in November 2005, I had a car, a house that was financed by the bank and I could afford my monthly instalments. I had R35, 000 in the bank as savings and some investments with Standard Bank, Liberty and Sanlam to the total sum of R20,000. In December 2005, there was what they called ‘ThanksGiving Service’ which we were required to bring a gift to the Lord in forms of money and other valuables like cars, cell phones and computers to thank God for what he had done for us. We were given a list of eight categories of areas in which to thank God for. These were thanking God for a new job, for the birth of a child, if one got married, if one had a promotion, financial increase, healing in the family, for belonging and functioning in a church department and for being saved from death due to vehicle accident. We were instructed to give a minimum amount of R100 per category. On that day, I gave R800 excluding my tithes which at that time was R2,400. In January 2006, Pastor Kenneth Oyakhilome (younger brother to Chris and head pastor of the South Africa branch) preached and instructed us to give ‘First Fruit’ offering. This meant that one was required to give the entire salary for the month of January. This I did as we were taught that the Lord would bless us and we would receive a 100 fold return if we obeyed. There was also a threat that came with it, that if we did not obey, blessings would not follow us instead curses would.
“In Christ Embassy, there are lots of activities’ which require money like Mothers Day, Fathers’ Day and pastor’s birthday. Members are also instructed to buy books, CDs, DVDs so that we have something to preach to our ‘cell’ members. After the huge sums of money I gave to Christ Embassy church, by February 2007 I had to sell my house as I had defaulted four times in a row and the bank threatened to repossess it.” Maphiwa’s account was contained in an affidavit she deposed to the police after her husband, also a pastor of Christ Embassy in South Africa, was arrested for buying a stolen vehicle from another member of the church.
As one minister of God that relishes in miracles, Oyakhilome and his church have also swam several times in murky waters of controversy and scandals.
His first major controversy was in 2002 when he visited Temitope Joshua, founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations. Co-pastors of pentecostal churches chastised him for visiting Joshua whom they alleged was an anti-Christ. They alleged he went to the Ikotun Egbe-based church to collect spiritual powers from Joshua who is known as Emmanuel. Ironically, his major critic was Chris Okotie of Household of God Church that is a neighbour of Christ Embassy at Oregun. Oyakhilome’s many miracle works under his pet television programme, Atmosphere of Miracles came under criticisms. Some Nigerians went to town with stories that most of his widely advertised miracles were stage-managed. The Nigerian media and those in South Africa were awash with stories of how people feigned illness and later proclaimed that they had been cured. This allegations of fake miracles led to the banning of unverifiable faith healings on televisions in Nigeria by the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, in 2004. Oyakhilome said he was the target of the ban because during that period, he was the biggest patron of Nigerian television stations. His Atmosphere of Miracles which had since given way to Pastor Chris teachings ran seven days a week on 20 television stations. His annual spiritual convention, Night of Bliss, was also given elaborate coverage by various television stations in the country.
Some of his pastors have also, through their conduct dragged the name of the church in the mud in recent years. For instance, on April 25, 2008, Joseph Ehigiator, a pastor of a satellite branch of the church in Benin, was arrested and charged with murder of his wife, Efe. Ehigiator had allegedly conspired with Oweil, his girlfriend, to kill his wife. The lid was blown open when the deceased father, Innocent Omoroguikpon, visited the Secretariat of the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Benin in July 2008, to protest the underhand dealings between the church and the police to cover the crime.
On December 22, 2009, one Seyi Ahmed, a 30-year-old film producer, attempted to blow up Superscreen television, which is one of the media houses owned by the pastor’s church. Ahmed, who is currently undergoing trial, said his abortive act was to draw the attention of Chris to the unfair treatment he received from the church. He claimed that he had been working for the church for some time and that the last job he did for them he was not paid despite several appeals. He said his intention was to get the attention of Pastor Chris so that he would get his money. Ahmed lost both eyes and a limb to his infamous expedition when the bomb exploded on him before he could reach the seventh floor where the television is located.
Instructively, the new phase of Christianity which has propelled some Pentecostal ministers of God like Oyakhilome to turn their ministries into business empires has received the bashing of some prominent men of God.
Sunday Makinde, prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, once described ‘Pentecostal pastors as gold diggers.’ Peter Akinola, primate of Anglican Church, is another minister of God who is opposed to the way and manner some pastors of churches have turned churches into business outfits. He said they have deviated from the teachings of Christ in pursuit of business.
Augustine Okhuelegbe, parish priest of Saint Catherine Catholic Church, Agbado, Lagos, is equally disturbed with the way the pentecostal pastors have deviated from the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus Christ. “The lifestyle of Jesus Christ runs contrary to the lifestyle of our preachers today. Although we are in a materialistic generation, ministers of God have not been able to separate our calling from life of the materialistic world. You discover that people will now build empires and schools which are named after them in the name of the church,” he said. Commenting on tithes, first fruits and other offerings, he said though these are mentioned in the Bible he regretted that most churches have exploited them as avenues to make money for the church.
According to the Catholic priest, tithe was not meant to be compulsory as some churches have made it to be. He said the problem was that most people are gullible as they accept anything their preachers tell them or prophesy without giving a second thought. “You are not working or engaged in any legitimate business and a pastor tells you by the end of the month you are going to buy a car. How can that happen,” he queried.
Getrude Ezono, a graduate of Psychology and member of Dominion Chapel, said what some pentecostal pastors do amount to hypnotism. She likened some of the prosperity prophesies to what the 419 people do by telling their victims what they want to hear and wish to have or become and in the process hoodwink them to part with their money.
Beatrice Makinde, general overseer of Messiah Mighty Power Church, is worried that Christendom is being portrayed in bad light because of the conduct of some ministers of God. She said there was nothing wrong with prosperity preaching and paying of tithe, but stressed that the primary objective should be to make the members know God. “Prosperity preaching is not totally bad neither is tithe, but the primary objective is to make the members know Christ first; let them know about repentance. They must know God first before prosperity,” she said. She admonished men of God to live by example since the Bible stated that ‘judgement will start from the church.’
Femi Adeniye, a member of Celestial Church, said the mode of practice in the new generation churches have portrayed them as not true followers of Christ. “These new age churches have shown that they are not really true followers of Christ who had insisted that House of God should not be turned to a centre of business transaction.”
Even Pastor Tunde Bakare, senior pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, who is also a pentecostal pastor, admitted that there have been some deviations. Often he has preached against his colleagues that have now placed prosperity and materialism ahead of soul saving. One of such was his sermon titled: ‘The world is watching the church’ which he delivered November last year.
But Oyedepo, an unrepentant prosperity preacher, who ranks among the richest pastors in Nigeria with chains of businesses, justified the business approach of many pentecostal pastors to evangelism in his book Exploits in Ministry. In the book, he described church ministry as essentially business. He says: “Without doubt, one of the reasons why most ministers ordained of God fall short of expectation or collapse completely is due to their unbusiness-like approach to ministry. Ministry is essentially business. Jesus Christ said: Wist ye that I must be about my father’s business (Luke 2:49). It is God’s business. We have been accused of turning ministry into business, but that is not true, we met it as a business. Jesus, the author and founder of ministry, told us it is a business”.
The Ota-based pastor knows where he is coming from. Of all the Pentecostal ministries, Oyedepo’s Winners Chapel remains the most ambitious in terms of turning ministry into a thriving business.
Some members of Christ Embassy justified all that the church does. They said neither Pastor Chris nor members of the church were bothered by the many criticisms against their practice since all they do have roots in the bible.
Mary Oyaheire, a deaconess in the church, admitted that members of the church pay tithe, sow seed and give first fruits. She said members were happy to perform these offerings without any coercion because of the bountiful rewards they have reaped from doing that. She said the bible admonished Christians not to put their money where cockroaches would destroy.
On the allegation that Pastor Oyakhilome deviated from pursuing the spread of the gospel and winning of souls into building business empires, she said there was no place anyway in the bible where it was stated that a minister of God should be poor. “So what you mean is that the pastor should be poor, where in the bible is it stated that a man of God should be poor. Look at Abraham. He was our biblical father he was a rich man. So what are we talking about? Our God is not a God of poverty,” she said.
She even challenged the reporter to come and become a member of the church and see whether in two months he would not be swimming in wealth. She said it was not true that some members have been ruined financially because of their huge financial commitments to the church whereas the pastor’s wealth and the church kept expanding. She said they were all successful people in their various endeavours and that this was due to the goodness of God upon their lives since becoming members of the church.
Another member, Udeme Sylvester, said first fruits and sowing of seed which members take seriously are done according to how the spirit directs. He maintained that they are not given out of compulsion. He disagreed with those who think a minister of God should not be wealthy. He said poverty was not God’s wish for any man but the work of Satan.
However, on Sunday, March 7, Christ Embassy held a concert to raise funds for the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. It hopes to raise funds through the selling of tickets. The tickets range from N1000 to N100,000. The church said the focus was on the children of Haiti. Dajun Ikeokwu, a pastor of the church, said the relief materials to be sent would include food, drugs and clothes.
The thinking is that the church wants to use the humanitarian gesture to score a point that it also cares contrary to the view that the church makes so much money without helping humanity.

Reported by Demola Abimboye, Danusa Ocholi, Dike Onwuamaeze and Ishaya Ibrahim
http://www.newswatchngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1915&Itemid=1

A Pastor’s Business Empire
Written by Emmanuel Uffot
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Chris Oyakhilome, pastor of Christ Embassy Church, is not only winning souls but has built an expansive business empire from which he is making good money

It is a magnificent glass building. Its blue and gold colours stand it out in the crowd of old buildings on Oregun Road, Ikeja, Lagos. The building which is a few poles away from the old Suzuki Motorcycle assembly plant glitters like the corporate headquarters of a very progressive new generation bank. But it is not. Rather, it is the headquarters of Believers’ LoveWorld Incorporated, otherwise known as Christ Embassy.

Chris Oyakhilome, the Edo State-born pastor and head of Christ Embassy, runs the branches of the church and his other businesses from here. The church has provided for Oyakhilome a good platform for his other business interests which include banking, publishing, broadcasting, entertainment and the hospitality industries.

A normal Sunday service at the headquarters chapel of Christ Embassy draws not less than 30,000 worshippers. Most of them come from distant parishes of the church and the attraction is Oyakhilome himself who they all want to see live on the pulpit.
Oyakhilome belongs to the growing clan of pastors who preach prosperity but he is better known for his miracles which are very controversial. Even then, they have remained the source of his popularity and the huge fortunes that he has made.
The church operates like a conglomerate with no fewer than 10 subsidiaries that work with the common goal of oiling the purse of the ministry and its patron.
The major money spinning arms of the ministry includes LoveWorld Cyber Ministry, LoveWorld Television, Love World Christian Network, LoveWorld Multimedia Ministry and LoveWorld Publishing Ministry.
One business enterprise run by the church is the LoveWorld Records Limited located in Ikeja. It was incorporated in 2008 as a private limited liability company to carry on the business of music, entertainment and gospel merchandise. The record studio has produced many talented music artistes who are members of the church. Church members say it is the first record label dedicated solely for the publishing, production, marketing and distribution of gospel music and promotion of gospel artistes. The Christ Embassy recording studio operates a distribution network that facilitates the selling and marketing of records within and outside Nigeria. Barely two years after its establishment as one of the many business ventures of the church, it is said to have broken into international markets like the United Kingdom, Canada, United States of America, South Africa and Ghana. Some of its products include music videos and DVDs.
The studio, which is managed by Ehi Moses, an accountant-turned musician and producer with 15 years experience in music and entertainment industry, holds the franchise of record labels of Believers Loveworld Incorporated. Its monthly turnover is put at more than N10 million.
Pastor Oyakhilome is not a good friend of the media but likes the money that the industry spins to him. Before he joined the Nigeria media business, it was hitherto dominated by politicians, businessmen and media practitioners. But today, Oyakhilome, through Global Plus Communications Limited, GPC, controls a media empire worth billions of Naira. They are also located in Nigeria and South Africa.
His group’s investments in the media include Minaj Broadcasting International, MBI; Superscreen television; National Standard, a monthly magazine; National Daily, a weekly newspaper; and a cable television network known as Loveworld Media.
The satellite television is based in South Africa and it is a free-to-air-no subscription channel. It was set up primarily for the purpose of the church evangelism. Over the years, it had been working in partnership with other media houses to air Oyakhilome on local and international television channels, but in recent years, the focus has broadened to accommodate Christian movies and programmes. A member of the church told Newswatch that the total package for the decoder and dish is N25,000.
Superscreen television station, owned by Oyakhilome, occupies the seventh floor of Lagemo House at Onipanu area of Lagos. The television which began operation in 2007, boasts of state of the art broadcast equipment. In less than four years of existence, Superscreen is now a major force to reckon with in television broadcasting. One of its staff who spoke on the level of success of the station said it certainly does not belong to the group of television station battling for survival.
Majority of staff of the television station are members of Christ Embassy. The television station serves as the media arm of the church, especially because it routinely telecasts church programmes of Christ Embassy.
Unlike Superscreen, Minaj Television International, MBI, is not a success story. In fact, its ownership is now a subject of litigation. Oyakhilome had in 2006, through Global Plus Consulting, GPC, entered into a five-year management contract with Minaj systems owned by Mike Ajegbo, a former senator. The deal was for GPC to revive Minaj, which had become insolvent following its inability to pay its annual subscription fee to the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, and pay arrears of salaries it owed staff. The investment, estimated to be more than N400 million, produced the required impact. The new management team went to work paying the licence fee and outstanding staff salaries. Less than one year after, the result became evident, MBI became number one in sport and entertainment. The following year, the station won four awards at the 2007 Nigeria Media Merit Award, NMMA.
But the once rosy relationship between Minaj systems and GPC promoted by Oyakhilome went awry due to irreconcilable differences in contract agreements. The station has not been able to open because both parties are still in court.
In pursuit of the church’s craze for publicity and in spite of huge investments in the broadcast media, Christ Embassy again set up its sole private television station called Loveworld News Media. The studio is located within the church headquarters and is said to operate a 12-hour daily service airing church programmes, Oyakhilome’s preachings and news about the church activities worldwide.
National Standard hit the news-stands in July 2004 as a monthly glossy magazine. Its first office was at Plot 2, Ajumobi Street, off ACME Road, Agidingbi, before relocating to 25 Ogunlowo Street, off Adeniyi Jones, where it is at the moment. Today, the publication has gone weekly. Its sister publication, National Daily, which is a weekly tabloid, is located on Emina Crescent, off Toyin Street, Ikeja. Paradigm Communications Limited oversees the publication of the papers for Oyakilome’s business empire. The church’s investments in these media enterprises alone is put at more than N5 billion.
Most of those who do business with Oyakhilome’s media empire are church members, and they are very successful businessmen and women or are in vital decision-making positions. They influence decisions that help to attract business to the media houses owned by the church. It is also an unwritten rule that satellite parishes must advertise their programmes in the church network of media houses. The media houses enjoy advertisement boom during major church activities like Night of Bliss, national youths conference, annual convention and during Pastor Chris’ birthday every December 7.
Again, when Pa Joseph Oyakhilome, the pastor’s father, died last year, the newspapers could not provide enough space to carry obituary announcements and sympathy messages from satellite churches, corporate organisations promoted by church members as well as the church international partners. It was a boom for his media conglomerate and by extension the purse of the church.
Global Plus printing press is another investment of the pastor. The hi-tech ultra modern press is located along Ikosi Road, Oregun, Ikeja. It currently prints Westerner, a weekly magazine owned by a governor in the South-West, at a cost of N1.5 million. An inside source confided in Newswatch that the magazine paid three million Naira for printing the special publication on Ooni of Ife at 80 last February.
Business Eye, a business related magazine owned by Ibim Semenitari, now commissioner for Information, Rivers State, was printing at Global Plus at its debut in 2007 before it stopped using Oyakhilome’s press early last year because of a rift between the paper and the church. The magazine had written a story titled: ‘In the Name of God PLC’ in December 2008 and Christ Embassy felt the story was critical of the church. So, when the magazine took the next edition materials to the press for printing, Global Plus refused to accept them. The owners also went a step further to seize the materials as a punishment for the magazine’s audacity to publish negative stories about them.
The printing press also prints the church’s magazine National Standard, and its other publications like Rhapsody of Realities.
Monthly financial yields of the printing press which is worth more than two billion Naira is about N10 million. Investigations also revealed that a bigger printing press with state of the art equipment is being installed in Ikeja presently. After installation, it would serve as the headquarters of the publishing outfit. There is also a plan to set up printing outfits in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Benin.
Christ Embassy also owns CFI Pictures, a company that produces Christian movies. Located within the headquarters premises is a digital media store that markets electronic books and a gift card shop. The two are also money spinning channels for the church.
The church also has investments in the event and entertainment sector. In 2008, it bought over a warehouse belonging to a shoe making factory along Oregun Road which was converted to an event centre called K and G Event Centre. The event and recreational centre which is located at 8a, Oregun Road, has relaxation spots and other entertainment conveniences for customers. Although it also served the interest of non-members, church members are obliged to hold their events like marriage receptions and birthday bashes there. They pay the regular fees charges.
The church also has an eatery called Dicksons. The fast food joint is rapidly expanding its outlets. It is being developed to compete favourably with Mr Biggs and similar outfits in the country.
Oyakhilome has also spread his business tentacles to the financial sector. The church owns two microfinance banks one of which is Moneycom Microfinance Bank. The interesting aspect of the business investment of the church is that members must imbibe the culture of ‘charity begins at home’ by patronising the product and services provided by business interest of the church.
The business investment of the church is scripted in a way that it cannot be easily linked to the church. Most of the businesses have no signposts and there is usually no open evidence that they are owned by the church because they are run by Board of Trustees. Some members of the trustees are not members of the church.
Oyakhilome’s many companies operate as network. The printing press is responsible for the printing of all works of the church including Rhapsody, books and the magazines. The major advertisers of the media network are members of the church, satellite parishes and other business interests of the church empire. The Records and Digital studio produces all the CDs, DVDs, VCDs and audio cassettes of pastor Oyakhilome’s preaching which are sold both in Nigeria and abroad.
Like a celebrity, Pastor Chris’ name and face sell huge quantities of merchandise. These include books, video tapes of his crusades and miracles, audio cassettes, VCDs and DVDs of his teachings. The cassettes are also marketed online through the digital media which controls the church websites. One of the church’s websites makes money through advertisement of audio and visual materials that promote the Christian faith.
The pastor and his wife, Anita, who heads Christ Embassy international office, have a collection of more than 30 books that are a must read by members who are also encouraged to buy for friends and relations that are not members of the church. The most successful of these is Rhapsody of Realities. The daily devotional guide published monthly is co-authored by Pastor Chris and his wife. The journal which is considered a companion to the bible is currently published in 84 languages. Inside sources put its print run at not below five million. In Nigeria, Rhapsody is currently sold for N150 as against the former price of N300 when it was first published five years ago. It cost $5 per copy abroad and $43.20 for one year subscription. Price tags for his books vary with the minimum going for N1,500 while that of the audio and video CDs range from N300 to N1,000.
On a typical Sunday in the church, it is common to see members scrambling for CDs, VCDs, audio CDs, audio cassettes and books of the pastor.
Most of the church programmes are financed by Oyakhilome’s partners all over the world who donate money to enhance the work of the ministry. Apart from the foreign partners, there is a selected group of members that belong to an organisation in the church called the ‘Havens.’ These are people with deep pockets and work as the financial backbone for the church. A member of the church said the Havens ensure that Oyakhilome is not in short of funds to run church activities. Havens assist in the sponsorship of key projects of the church.
Their financial commitment to the church runs into billions of Naira annually. While the Havens muster their resources to sponsor the church projects and activities, another group called ‘Partnership’ helps members of the church that are indigent.
In partnership, a wealthy member adopts at least five indigent members and takes care of their financial needs.
Like established organisations the church employs some of its unemployed graduate members as full time staff. They work basically at the church headquarters and other units like the Healing School Ministry, bookshops and gift shops.
Oyakhilome has in a bid to consolidate the financial gains of the ministry, aggressively spread its branches to the entire African continent, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.
In the past five years, the church has intensified its acquisition of properties around Oregun, Billings Way and Alausa in furtherance of its expansion drive. For property owners, it is good tidings.
The church has also joined the ranks of those that have acquired large expanse of land along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as camp arena for their crowd-pulling events like convention. The LoveWorld Camp ground is on Kilometre 47 of the express road, close to Redeemed Church camp ground.
To complement the camp ground is a massive structure along Billings Way which is to serve as the International Conference Centre of the Church. The arena which could pass for a mini stadium for first time visitors to Billings Way would cost Oyakhilome several billions of Naira on completion. It is architectural masterpiece.
Despite being listed among the three richest pastors in Nigeria, Oyakhilome has no private jet like David Oyedepo and Enoch Adeboye. A member confided in Newswatch that he usually travels with British Airways when going outside African shores and South African Airways when going to South Africa which is another major base of the church.
Members of the church do a lot to promote the business interests of Oyakhilome and the church. They make huge financial and material contributions which have formed the base of the wealth of Oyakhilome and his church today. In the process, some have had their fingers burnt.
An instance many would not easily forget in a hurry is the case of Lawrence Agada, a senior cashier with Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, and an assistant pastor of the Ifako branch of the church, who donated stolen cash and gifts totalling N39 million to the church in the name of sowing a seed. The fraud was discovered in March 2002. According to police investigations, Agada’s donations were in instalments. He bought 250KVA and 27KVA generators valued at N4.4 million and N1.5 million, respectively and donated them to the church headquarters and the Ifako satellite parish of the church. Before then, he had given out six million Naira for the renovation of the local satellite church and one million Naira for the purchase of plastic chairs for the church headquarters. He also contributed N1.5 million for the 2002 edition of the church mega crusade Night of Bliss, and one million Naira for another crusade tagged Prosperity Convention.
He ‘blessed’ Carol Sholesi, then pastor of Ifako branch of the church with N400, 000 to enable her attend the 24th congress of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women held in Melbourne, Australia.
Agada also bought musical instruments and chairs for the Agege, Ogba and Oke-Ira churches. He also confessed to using part of the stolen funds to pay church rents. The Benue-born former Sheraton’s staff profligacy was allegedly prompted by a letter Pastor Chris sent to him on January 12, 2002 prophesying that God would do mighty things in his life. “He will cause you to excel and lift you up so high that the world cannot but take notice of you in Jesus name, Amen.”
He said he took the money believing that he would reap bountiful rewards from the ‘seed sowing’ which would enable him replace all the money. This was not to be. Rather than receive reward for his benevolence, he lost his job and became a guest of the police. An indigene of his Idoma community who pleaded for anonymity told Newswatch that he was declared a persona non grata in his community for that act.”
In 2003, Gbenga Kehinde, another member of the church who was an assistant manager with Eko International Bank, further dragged the name of the church in the mud when he defrauded the bank of N40 million out of which he donated N10 million to Christ Embassy.
If Agada and Kehinde were audacious to dip their hands into the treasury of their organisations to donate for the upkeep of the church in anticipation of God’s reward, Michael George and Priscillia Maphiwa used their own hard earnings and possessions.
George, an engineer with Mobil Producing Unlimited in Akwa Ibom, was comfortable before he joined Christ Embassy. He later became a major financier of the head parish in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. His benevolence attracted his church brethrens who turned his house to a Mecca of sort feeding fat on him thereby tasking his resources. His financial commitment widened when he was made a pastor, the Eket branch which he also financed.
Expectedly, his church programmes began to clash with his work. His pastoral calling obliged him to leave the office before close of work three times a week to attend to church activities. In some cases, church programmes outside his state kept him off his duty post for days.
George, who within eight years of joining the oil multinational, got two promotions and won two awards for diligence, began to exhibit laxity in his duties. His church activities took prominence in his calendar over his work which ironically was the source of income that enabled him contribute bountifully to the church.
So when the oil giant decided to trim its workforce after the merger with Exxon, George was affected. Unfortunately for him, since he did not build a house for the period he worked and with little or no savings left having graciously invested much of his savings in the services of the church, he had to plough all his severance entitlement into building his house. His financial status deteriorated in such a way that he could no longer afford meeting some basic needs at home and his extended family which he was the bread winner. Left without money, a gainful employment and two cars which he had donated to the church as seed, family members felt bad that the church could not come to his help. George left Nigeria for America in 2008, courtesy of his wife, an Akwa Ibom indigene, who is an American citizen. He has since settled down in America eking a living.
Maphiwa, a staunch member of the church in South Africa, also recounted how she and her husband became bankrupt because of their association with the church. She said before joining Christ Embassy in November 2005, she had a car, a house, R35,000 savings and investments in other financial institutions totalling R20,000, but by February 2007, she had gone bankrupt because of the huge sums of money she had spent on the church, saying: “Before joining Christ Embassy in November 2005, I had a car, a house that was financed by the bank and I could afford my monthly instalments. I had R35, 000 in the bank as savings and some investments with Standard Bank, Liberty and Sanlam to the total sum of R20,000. In December 2005, there was what they called ‘ThanksGiving Service’ which we were required to bring a gift to the Lord in forms of money and other valuables like cars, cell phones and computers to thank God for what he had done for us. We were given a list of eight categories of areas in which to thank God for. These were thanking God for a new job, for the birth of a child, if one got married, if one had a promotion, financial increase, healing in the family, for belonging and functioning in a church department and for being saved from death due to vehicle accident. We were instructed to give a minimum amount of R100 per category. On that day, I gave R800 excluding my tithes which at that time was R2,400. In January 2006, Pastor Kenneth Oyakhilome (younger brother to Chris and head pastor of the South Africa branch) preached and instructed us to give ‘First Fruit’ offering. This meant that one was required to give the entire salary for the month of January. This I did as we were taught that the Lord would bless us and we would receive a 100 fold return if we obeyed. There was also a threat that came with it, that if we did not obey, blessings would not follow us instead curses would.
“In Christ Embassy, there are lots of activities’ which require money like Mothers Day, Fathers’ Day and pastor’s birthday. Members are also instructed to buy books, CDs, DVDs so that we have something to preach to our ‘cell’ members. After the huge sums of money I gave to Christ Embassy church, by February 2007 I had to sell my house as I had defaulted four times in a row and the bank threatened to repossess it.” Maphiwa’s account was contained in an affidavit she deposed to the police after her husband, also a pastor of Christ Embassy in South Africa, was arrested for buying a stolen vehicle from another member of the church.
As one minister of God that relishes in miracles, Oyakhilome and his church have also swam several times in murky waters of controversy and scandals.
His first major controversy was in 2002 when he visited Temitope Joshua, founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations. Co-pastors of pentecostal churches chastised him for visiting Joshua whom they alleged was an anti-Christ. They alleged he went to the Ikotun Egbe-based church to collect spiritual powers from Joshua who is known as Emmanuel. Ironically, his major critic was Chris Okotie of Household of God Church that is a neighbour of Christ Embassy at Oregun. Oyakhilome’s many miracle works under his pet television programme, Atmosphere of Miracles came under criticisms. Some Nigerians went to town with stories that most of his widely advertised miracles were stage-managed. The Nigerian media and those in South Africa were awash with stories of how people feigned illness and later proclaimed that they had been cured. This allegations of fake miracles led to the banning of unverifiable faith healings on televisions in Nigeria by the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, in 2004. Oyakhilome said he was the target of the ban because during that period, he was the biggest patron of Nigerian television stations. His Atmosphere of Miracles which had since given way to Pastor Chris teachings ran seven days a week on 20 television stations. His annual spiritual convention, Night of Bliss, was also given elaborate coverage by various television stations in the country.
Some of his pastors have also, through their conduct dragged the name of the church in the mud in recent years. For instance, on April 25, 2008, Joseph Ehigiator, a pastor of a satellite branch of the church in Benin, was arrested and charged with murder of his wife, Efe. Ehigiator had allegedly conspired with Oweil, his girlfriend, to kill his wife. The lid was blown open when the deceased father, Innocent Omoroguikpon, visited the Secretariat of the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Benin in July 2008, to protest the underhand dealings between the church and the police to cover the crime.
On December 22, 2009, one Seyi Ahmed, a 30-year-old film producer, attempted to blow up Superscreen television, which is one of the media houses owned by the pastor’s church. Ahmed, who is currently undergoing trial, said his abortive act was to draw the attention of Chris to the unfair treatment he received from the church. He claimed that he had been working for the church for some time and that the last job he did for them he was not paid despite several appeals. He said his intention was to get the attention of Pastor Chris so that he would get his money. Ahmed lost both eyes and a limb to his infamous expedition when the bomb exploded on him before he could reach the seventh floor where the television is located.
Instructively, the new phase of Christianity which has propelled some Pentecostal ministers of God like Oyakhilome to turn their ministries into business empires has received the bashing of some prominent men of God.
Sunday Makinde, prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, once described ‘Pentecostal pastors as gold diggers.’ Peter Akinola, primate of Anglican Church, is another minister of God who is opposed to the way and manner some pastors of churches have turned churches into business outfits. He said they have deviated from the teachings of Christ in pursuit of business.
Augustine Okhuelegbe, parish priest of Saint Catherine Catholic Church, Agbado, Lagos, is equally disturbed with the way the pentecostal pastors have deviated from the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus Christ. “The lifestyle of Jesus Christ runs contrary to the lifestyle of our preachers today. Although we are in a materialistic generation, ministers of God have not been able to separate our calling from life of the materialistic world. You discover that people will now build empires and schools which are named after them in the name of the church,” he said. Commenting on tithes, first fruits and other offerings, he said though these are mentioned in the Bible he regretted that most churches have exploited them as avenues to make money for the church.
According to the Catholic priest, tithe was not meant to be compulsory as some churches have made it to be. He said the problem was that most people are gullible as they accept anything their preachers tell them or prophesy without giving a second thought. “You are not working or engaged in any legitimate business and a pastor tells you by the end of the month you are going to buy a car. How can that happen,” he queried.
Getrude Ezono, a graduate of Psychology and member of Dominion Chapel, said what some pentecostal pastors do amount to hypnotism. She likened some of the prosperity prophesies to what the 419 people do by telling their victims what they want to hear and wish to have or become and in the process hoodwink them to part with their money.
Beatrice Makinde, general overseer of Messiah Mighty Power Church, is worried that Christendom is being portrayed in bad light because of the conduct of some ministers of God. She said there was nothing wrong with prosperity preaching and paying of tithe, but stressed that the primary objective should be to make the members know God. “Prosperity preaching is not totally bad neither is tithe, but the primary objective is to make the members know Christ first; let them know about repentance. They must know God first before prosperity,” she said. She admonished men of God to live by example since the Bible stated that ‘judgement will start from the church.’
Femi Adeniye, a member of Celestial Church, said the mode of practice in the new generation churches have portrayed them as not true followers of Christ. “These new age churches have shown that they are not really true followers of Christ who had insisted that House of God should not be turned to a centre of business transaction.”
Even Pastor Tunde Bakare, senior pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, who is also a pentecostal pastor, admitted that there have been some deviations. Often he has preached against his colleagues that have now placed prosperity and materialism ahead of soul saving. One of such was his sermon titled: ‘The world is watching the church’ which he delivered November last year.
But Oyedepo, an unrepentant prosperity preacher, who ranks among the richest pastors in Nigeria with chains of businesses, justified the business approach of many pentecostal pastors to evangelism in his book Exploits in Ministry. In the book, he described church ministry as essentially business. He says: “Without doubt, one of the reasons why most ministers ordained of God fall short of expectation or collapse completely is due to their unbusiness-like approach to ministry. Ministry is essentially business. Jesus Christ said: Wist ye that I must be about my father’s business (Luke 2:49). It is God’s business. We have been accused of turning ministry into business, but that is not true, we met it as a business. Jesus, the author and founder of ministry, told us it is a business”.
The Ota-based pastor knows where he is coming from. Of all the Pentecostal ministries, Oyedepo’s Winners Chapel remains the most ambitious in terms of turning ministry into a thriving business.
Some members of Christ Embassy justified all that the church does. They said neither Pastor Chris nor members of the church were bothered by the many criticisms against their practice since all they do have roots in the bible.
Mary Oyaheire, a deaconess in the church, admitted that members of the church pay tithe, sow seed and give first fruits. She said members were happy to perform these offerings without any coercion because of the bountiful rewards they have reaped from doing that. She said the bible admonished Christians not to put their money where cockroaches would destroy.
On the allegation that Pastor Oyakhilome deviated from pursuing the spread of the gospel and winning of souls into building business empires, she said there was no place anyway in the bible where it was stated that a minister of God should be poor. “So what you mean is that the pastor should be poor, where in the bible is it stated that a man of God should be poor. Look at Abraham. He was our biblical father he was a rich man. So what are we talking about? Our God is not a God of poverty,” she said.
She even challenged the reporter to come and become a member of the church and see whether in two months he would not be swimming in wealth. She said it was not true that some members have been ruined financially because of their huge financial commitments to the church whereas the pastor’s wealth and the church kept expanding. She said they were all successful people in their various endeavours and that this was due to the goodness of God upon their lives since becoming members of the church.
Another member, Udeme Sylvester, said first fruits and sowing of seed which members take seriously are done according to how the spirit directs. He maintained that they are not given out of compulsion. He disagreed with those who think a minister of God should not be wealthy. He said poverty was not God’s wish for any man but the work of Satan.
However, on Sunday, March 7, Christ Embassy held a concert to raise funds for the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. It hopes to raise funds through the selling of tickets. The tickets range from N1000 to N100,000. The church said the focus was on the children of Haiti. Dajun Ikeokwu, a pastor of the church, said the relief materials to be sent would include food, drugs and clothes.
The thinking is that the church wants to use the humanitarian gesture to score a point that it also cares contrary to the view that the church makes so much money without helping humanity.

Reported by Demola Abimboye, Danusa Ocholi, Dike Onwuamaeze and Ishaya Ibrahim
http://www.newswatchngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1915&Itemid=1

There are strong indications that the Central Bank of Nigeria has directed non-executive directors that have spent 12 years on the boards of their banks to quit by December 2010.

The decision, which, according to sources close to the Bankers‘ Committee, is in line with the code of corporate governance of 2006, is causing ripples among the directors, who think their stakes in the banks are at risk.

A top official of the CBN, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent on Friday, confirmed that directors, who fell in this category, might have to go by December, adding that the CBN was only enforcing the code of corporate governance issued in 2006 by the apex bank under Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.

He said apart from the part of the code, which required that banks should have succession plans for chief executive officers; non-executive directors were also not expected to spend more than 12 years to allow young people with fresh ideas to take over the affairs of the banks.

According to him, ”The code says maximum tenure for non-executive directors of banks is three terms of four years each. It also says that banks must change auditors after a maximum of 10 years. The CBN is only reminding the banks to comply.

”This is the reason why no new circular was issued on the CBN website to that effect. The code had been there but many items on it were just not being implemented.”

He also said that Guaranty Trust Bank Plc had told four of its non-executive directors to go in line with the code and had alerted the CBN even before the apex bank reminded other banks comply.

”GTBank complied voluntarily without prompting, so why should others not do the same thing,” he said.

However, another top official of the Bank added that affected directors were not being chased away from the industry, saying, ”they could go to other banks if they so wish.”

All the banks contacted on Friday declined to comment on the issue.

When contacted, the Head, Corporate Affairs, CBN, Mr. Muhammed Abdullahi, simply said, ”The true position is that the provision is contained in the code of corporate governance issued by the CBN in 2006.”
(Source: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201003203231231)

Hi All,
Does anyone have a hint of how I can access my pension contribution to my PFA before the age of 50? I am in one of the category of those who either resigned or was laid-off in the ast two years and I have over NGN1 miion in the PFA.

Do appreciate worthy replies.

Thanks a lot.

For anyone asking what the young outgoing CEO's can do after their retirement, they can learn from Fola Adeola who retired over five years ago at slightly over the age of 40.

We claim best practices and still avoid them. Do the Waltons run Walmart directly even if they own close to 50% or more of the shares? Does Warren Buffet run the many companies that Bershire Hathway own majority or significant shares in them? Was Bill Gates not forced to split the Chairman/CEO roles at Microsoft?

How come we see sectional/tribal issues in everything done in Nigeria?

This may still be a BILL and not a LAW but I want to draw attention to some issue.

1. The BILL says SITTING TENANT, I think this does not cover a FRESH tenant or APPLICANT TENANT.
2. It does not say the landlord cannot increase his rents but the SITTING TENANT is under no COMPULSION to pay for more than THREE MONTHS at a time.
3. The BILL does not handle issues like security payments, environmental cleaning/services etc which might not have been covered in the original contract.

On the balance, its an equitable bill and I would like it to be passed. Then my landlord will stop demanding for annual rents when he pays monthly in the London where he stays.

Am also watching cos I hope to learn before I complete my structure in Ofada. This is a double edged sword but its unfair to be demanding annual payments either way you see it.

UBA and Skye banks have promised to comply. I once mentioned that I expect UBA to comply given the amount of shares held by Kingdom Holdings so the news report in STV News this morning was not surprising.

Kingdom Holdings is a majority owner in UBA and Ecobank (http://www.arabianbusiness.com/financial-markets/companies/152/profile) and am sure the Saudi prince, HRH Prince Alwaleed, will not allow anything to tamper with his investments.

Skye Bank's Akinfehinwa says there is a succession plan already in place. We'll wait and see.

The issue remains what Jim Ovia would do. I think people like Pascal Dozie saw the handwriting a long time ago. Yet some of these longserving CEOs were laughing when Otunba Subomi was forced to retire years ago.

Just when bank chief executives – many of whom were more than rattled by the ‘Tsunami’ that swept through the banking sector last year – were finally settling down to face the challenges of the New Year, confident that the worst of the banking sector crises was now behind them, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, dropped another bombshell.

This time, it was the imposition of a 10-year limit on the tenure of bank chief executives, in furtherance of the good corporate governance agenda of the apex bank, which has clearly become even more imperative following the recent worrisome disclosures of jaw-dropping shenanigans at the highest levels of the banking industry.

Relying on powers conferred on it by the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, the CBN Board limited the tenure of bank CEOs to a maximum of two terms of five years each. It also barred top officials of two regulatory bodies – CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation – from taking up bank appointments until five years after they must have left such posts. The affected officials are the CBN governor and deputy governors, and the managing director and executive directors of the NDIC.

The apex bank’s directive overrides all existing contracts and the memo-randum and articles of association of the respective banks.

Clearly, it is the responsibility of central banks to act in a manner that seeks to serve the best interest of the banking industry, especially a country like Nigeria where the rules can be rather elastic, especially for those in positions of power and wealth.

On the face of it, the CBN appears to want to put an end to a perceived “sit tight syndrome” that has extended from the political space to corporate Nigeria.

In the CBN’s reckoning, perhaps, the longer a bank chief stays in office, without a thought as to what happens if he were to suddenly drop dead, the more likely he is to constitute a danger to the enterprise.

Without doubt, the rot uncovered in some of the rescued banks in the last few months point to a situation where bank CEOs, some of whom were the main promoters of the banks, regarded the institutions as their personal turf, akin to a street corner patent medicine store where the owner’s word is law.

In dipping their hands into the till at will, these CEOs ignored the fact that their companies had transformed into public institutions with hundreds of thousands of shareholders, which automatically imposed on them the generally accepted codes of corporate governance and best practices, with the overall intent of protecting stakeholders’ interest, depositors’ funds and securing the future of the enterprise.

Unfortunately, the bank boards, with powers to supervise executive manage-ment, were content to join the gravy train, accepting loans and holiday packages and other perks, while Mr. GMD ran a virtual one-man show.

And in a society where Mammon worship is pervasive, some of these CEOs had assumed a larger-than-life image –– cruising around in convoys of bullet-proof SUVs and private jets; hobnobbing with presidents and state governors and occupying more than their fair share of media space. A handful even secured permanent front row seats at the largest religious gatherings on account of million-dollar tithes and offerings.

Some would argue that it is only human to want to hold such exalted positions in perpetuity, which explains why our own General Olusegun Obasanjo wanted a third term in office; but it must be emphasised that a few discerning bankers like Subomi Balogun, Paschal Dozie and Fola Adeola who were founders of their respective institutions groomed successors and bowed out with their reputations largely intact to allow fresh blood to run the businesses.

However, Sanusi’s “retirement” of Jim Ovia of Zenith Bank, Tony Elumelu of UBA and Akinsola Akinfemiwa of Skye Bank, which is likely to take effect on July 3, barring any lawsuits to challenge the decision, raises certain questions.

It raises the question of the CBN’s rights to regulate entrepreneurship, which is the soul of business. Does it not mean that ownership rights can no longer be taken for granted in a so-called market economy? What difference does it make if, in pegging the terms of CEOs, equally powerful executive directors can remain in office for life? Is it not the prerogative of shareholders to determine how long a CEO should stay in office? Is Sanusi, as some have insinuated, not merely forcing out the last of the “super CEOs” that escaped the Tsunami? Is it right for the CBN directive to come into effect retroactively? What happens to the careers of relatively young CEOs now due for retirement in a year or two? Will they dust their CVs and get jobs as CEOs in other banks? Can the new rules stand the test of a litigation? I am sure that some answers will be provided to these questions and more in the days ahead.

Regardless, the CBN’s actions is reflective of the tighter regulatory regime that banks will continue to face for a long time to come for the key role they played in precipitating the global meltdown. The perception that bankers cannot be trusted to self-regulate, heightened in the aftermath of the cataclysmic global market crash, has thrown up a raft of regulations in many of the world’s financial capitals concerning pay, bonuses and portfolio structure.

Indeed, US President Barack Obama has just proposed new rules to limit the size of financial institutions and the trading activities of banks as a way of curbing risk-taking.

Soon, we may expect new rules on the kind of cars bankers can drive, or the suits they can wear, as regulators continue to seek to cut bankers down to size.
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100122338178

I am waiting to see who takes over from Ovia and Elumelu. They built a cult-like image around themselves. Unfortunately for them, they do not have their kids in the system like Otunba Subomi Balogun. UBA might not have much of a crises, if Kingdom Holdings (a subsidiary owned by a Saudi prince) still has the shares being voted by Elumelu, then they will quickly get a replacement. Recall how Keem Belo Osagie quickly transferred the shares to Elumelu in 2003/4, its the handwork of the Saudi prince.

We'll watch and see.

I think banks should adopt a practice of shielding their ATMs from direct view of nearby residential houses. I was at GTB Okota Branch and when I looked around, I noticed that the nearby house had windows of flats overlooking the ATM machine. Nothing stops a dubious fellow from using telephoto lens to get card details.

In addition, I think people should start using accounts not linked to ATM to keep huge sums. Like I insist my GT Max account should NEVER be linked to my ATM. Find out about COT-Free accounts and insist that they be not linked to your ATM. You can then keep a max. of 30k in your current/savings account.