Ifedayo Olarinde a.k.a Daddy Freeze
Ifedayo Olarinde, an On-Air-Personality in one of the popular radio
stations in Lagos State, Cool FM is leading a movement to ‘enlighten’
the over 98 million Christians in Nigeria about what he regards as the
hoax behind the payment of tithes to churches.Tithing, which is supposed to be 10% of one's earnings is followed
by mostly Christians with the belief that it guarantees ‘heavenly
blessings’ and failure to pay it will amount to robbing God which could
attract a curse.
Daddy Freeze through his “Free the Sheeple” and “Free Nation” movements
has sparked critical thinking among Christians by constantly
juxtaposing his personal views with the Holy Bible as well as
socio-economic conditions of success of Europeans and Asian countries
where religion isn't a key factor.
Tithing which was well-pronounced in the Old Testament of the Holy
Bible has created an economic imbalance in the Church with some
Christian clerics religiously milking members of their congregation
while they bask in opulence according to Daddy Freeze, a half cast whose
father hails from Nigeria and mother from Romania.
"If your spiritual father flies a private jet or drives a G63
and you enter a bus/okada, you are not a spiritual son but a spiritual
bastard.
"In the book of Acts chapter 4 from verse 32, it is clearly
explained how the believers (apostles and the converts alike) shared the
offering.
No one lacked, because when houses and fields were sold, the money was distributed to everyone EQUALLY, as they had need!" Daddy Freeze said in one of his campaign messages.
The payment of tithes and offerings in diverse forms has been
linked with the proliferation of churches in Nigeria. Every street in
Nigeria has about one or two churches with varying sizes. As of today,
Nigeria has over 23,000 registered churches and several unregistered
ones. The Redeemed Christian Church of God alone reportedly has about
34,000 branches all over the country. The Churches numerically
overshadow the scanty presence of factories even in the financial hub of
Nigeria, Lagos; as Nigerians hope "manna" might fall from heaven again
in the form of unmerited favour and grace like its being widely preached
in Churches.
"The truth is that tithing as presently practiced by many
churches, especially the so called Pentecostal or Evangelical churches,
is unscriptural. Take away tithing and the attraction and motivation to
be the founder and president of an ‘international ministry’ would
disappear" a pastor and former presidential media aide, Reno Omokri wrote in his article backing Daddy Freeze.
Also a popular Lagos and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana has
severally decried the activities of the churches for promoting the
unequal distribution of wealth in Nigeria.
At a public forum, Falana said;
“Let us take advantage of the internet to start raising serious
issues about our future, the black man is in trouble. We have more
pastors in Nigeria than any other countries in the world. In fact, the
latest Forbes Magazine showed that out of the 20 richest pastors in the
world, about 9 or 10 came from Nigeria. Yet our people are getting
poorer. The poor (here) have attended mission schools built by the
catholic and Anglican schools, hospitals.
But what are our churches (present churches) giving us? They say they are promising to build churches in every street."
"It is only in Nigeria where you can take money from the
church, money contributed by poor members of the congregation to go and
set up a university that members can't attend, can’t send their children
to. It’s against the rule of God and the laws of our constitution" he also reiterated on another occasion.
In fairness to the churches, some have been engaging in
developmental social responsibilities across the country. The head of
the Redeemed Christian Church of God - Pastor E.A Adeboye and his wife
built a rehabilitation centre in Epe, Lagos State for youths overtaken
by drug addiction. Another church in Lagos equipped 20,000 kids as they
returned to school and the same church trains and equips unemployed
youths in at least 11 different vocations. The training runs three times
every year and must have trained about 5,000 entrepreneurs since its
inception. Others have donated patrol vehicles to the police, fixed some
major roads, established hospitals, given scholarships to brilliant
students, offset huge medical bills of the poor funding of orphanage
homes amongst other enviable feats.
It has been a roller coaster for Daddy Freeze as he has come under
intense attacks on social media with his Instagram account which has
over 122,000 followers hacked multiple times by agents of Nigerian
pastors according to Daddy Freeze who has refused to be cowed by intense
public pressure.
One of the supporters of Daddy Freeze's movement
Suddenly, he has become a thorn in the flesh of some pastors who
have directly or indirectly made him a topic of discussion on the
pulpit. Some television stations namely TV Continental, Linda Ikeji TV
(online TV) and HipTV among others have also debated on the tithing
issue.
The daring opposition to tithing which is being credited to Daddy
Freeze was originally started by a pastor at Healing Wings, a
Pentecostal Christian fellowship in Lagos and public affairs analyst,
Femi Aribisala in an article titled “Every pastor who collects tithes is a thief” dated
7th of May, 2013. He later resurfaced again in the media on the 4th of
October, 2015 with another insightful article on the topic titled “Beware of Tithe-collectors” and recently “Don’t Persecute Daddy Freeze: Tithing Today Is A Scam” published on November 12, 2017.
Daddy Freeze’s messages on tithing started getting adequate
audience on social media after one of the wealthy pastors in Nigeria and
founder of the Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman was
accused of being in a romantic relationship with one Canada-based
Nigerian lady, Stephanie Otobo on whom he reportedly lavished money
including another actress, Daniella Okeke. The issue is still a subject
of litigation till date.
Nigeria is a country with about 110 million people living below the
poverty line of a dollar per day but ironically, it is the home of four
of the richest pastors in the world who have drawn a large chunk of
money from their followers in the name of tithes and offerings. Threats
of curses and strong emphasis on giving have technically coerced
church-goers to dip their hands into their ostensibly empty pockets.
Seven Nigerian pastors have made it to the list of top 20 richest
pastors in the world and their estimated net worth in the latest release
by Forbes.
General Overseer of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo tops
the lists of Nigeria pastors in the fifth position in the world ranking,
while Pastor Enoch Adeboye occupies the sixth position.
See the list below including their net worth:
1. Bishop David Oyedepo (Living Faith Church) - $150 million.
2. Pastor E.A Adeboye (Redeemed Christian Church of God)- $130 million
3. Bishop Ayodele Oritsejafor (Word of Life Bible Church) - $120 million
4. Chris Oyakhilome (Christ Embassy International, Believers Loveworld) - $50 million
5. Prophet T.B. Joshua (Synagogue Church of All Nations) - $15 million.
6. Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo (Kingsway International Christian Center) - $10 million.
7. Chris Okotie (Household of God Church) - $10 million.
The question now is; how well has religion helped in making Nigeria
a better place following the entrenchment on good values in members?
For the fourth consecutive year, Nigeria has failed to rise in
Transparency International Corruption Perception ranking. TI, which
released its 2016 report on the 26th of January, 2017, ranked Nigeria
136 out of 176 countries. However, while the organization scored Nigeria
26 per cent in its last report, it scored the country 28 in its latest
report. Majority of Nigerians are either Christians or Muslims with both
factions preaching holiness to their members. Even the minute
traditional religion doesn’t encourage stealing or bribery.
According to the World Poverty Clock (A non-governmental
organization in Vienna, Austria) Nigeria’s struggle with overpopulation
will be a problem now, rather than in 2050. Nigeria will by February
2018 overtake India as the country with the most people, 82 million
living in extreme poverty. 82 million Nigerians living in extreme
poverty will amount to 42.4 percent of the country’s population.
Nigeria’s population in extreme poverty is rising by 5.7 people per
minute and that in DRC by 3.6 people per minute. The rest of Africa is
reducing poverty by 4.7 people per minute.
How has tithing opened the floodgates of heaven to unleash
blessings on the millions of Nigerians following the doctrines? Is
religion indeed the opium of the masses as defined by political thinker
and philosopher, Karl Max? These are critical questions being shied away
from by pastors benefiting from their interpretation of the bible.
The Christian belief system in Nigeria is set for a revolution as
the Roman Catholic Church experienced in 1517 with a recalcitrant
egghead, Daddy Freeze coming in form of Martin Luther to challenge some
archaic doctrines that have further impoverished the people.
Part of the talking points raised by Daddy Freeze is that countries
with the most stable economies in the world namely Finland, Switzerland
and Denmark don't even have a low record of 100 Churches all together.
Asian giant, China which is the 2nd largest economy in the world behind
the United States of America practices Buddhism. China has over the
years drawn an economic plan to liberate millions of people from
poverty. Humanoid robots are currently being designed in China today
based on the premise that economic prosperity might discourage people
from taking up blue collar jobs; hence, the need for robots. Again,
according to Daddy Freeze, the beautiful city of Dubai, United Arab
Emirates which is one of the most sought after travel destinations in
Nigeria was built by unbelievers who only had a vision for the former
desert region.
Has the book of Malachi 3 verse 10 in the Holy Bible which has been
described as the favourite passage of some pastors been able to
liberate Nigerians from the shackles of scarcity of basic needs? The
most successful blogger in Africa, Linda Ikeji who is being touted as a
stinking millionaire has revealed she doesn't tithe. The 5th richest man
in the world and co-founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has been
described as an atheist who only admitted vaguely in recent times that
he believes in religion.
"In the last 3 months Facebook made a profit of $4.8billion. Who did Mark pay tithes to?
“It Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg paid tithes, their pastors would listed on Forbes”
"Tithes don't guarantee wealth or blessings, don't be fooled, the only person blessed by your tithe is your PASTOR." Daddy Freeze posted on his Instagram page.
The debate for and against the payment of tithes has continued with
the General Overseer of RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, Apostle
Johnson Suleman, Pastor Yomi Kasali and a host of other established
clerics urging Christians to continue in the act of tithing for their
own benefit. Pastor Reno Omokri, Pastor Femi Aribisala and a host of
others have thrown their full weight of support behind Daddy Freeze with
strongly worded articles which most clerics have refused to challenge
with rejoinders. Nollywood actress and singer, Shan George has also
taken side with Daddy Freeze's camp to launch subtle attacks at Nigerian
pastors.
Daddy Freeze is currently having a field day disseminating his
teachings through Instagram and challenging individuals with contrary
opinions to an open debate. With the present popularity of Daddy Freeze,
it’s only a matter of time before majority of believers back out of the
payment of tithes. Many are holding up to the belief that salvation is
all about "personal conviction". Therefore, those that believe in
tithing should continue and those who don't shouldn't discourage others
from paying since they are not being compelled to.
There is a projection that payment of tithes across Africa could
reduce if fades away in Nigeria. This is based on the premise that
Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa. A real force to be
reckoned with in the black continent. It was on the basis of this that
Patrick Lumumba, a former Director of Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission
in October, 2016 said:
“Africa is behind because Nigeria has not realized her
potential. It’s time the leaders rise up because one in every five
Africans is a Nigerian.”
A major inference that could be drawn from the different
interpretations of the Holy Bible by diverse authorities is that the
great book is highly subjective.
This could be likened to philosophical parable – ‘Elephant and the
Blind Men’ from the ancient Indian subcontinent which entailed when some
six blind men were asked to come feel the body of an elephant with
their hands and tell their observations.
No comments:
Post a Comment