As the senate awaits Tinubu’s list of ministerial nominees I just hope that among them is a minister of state for religious finance who has a programme that looks like this

Ayo Akinfe

[1] All Nigerian evangelical churches shall run their economic divisions as autonomous departments. They shall keep accounting records of all tithe and other collections just like any other financial house

[2] All these financial departments of churches shall pool their resources into one common pot to be known as Man of God Nigeria Limited. The federal government will take out a 25% stake in the venture

[3] Man of God Nigeria Limited will be a conglomerate with a presence in all the key sectors of the Nigerian economy. This will include power generation, animal husbandry, food processing, automobile manufacturing, steel production, shipbuilding, machine tool production, etc

[4] Across Europe, churches have been at the heart of their economic development, with the Catholic Church in particular being a major player over the centuries. Historically, the Catholic Church owned ships, was a major participant in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, owned plantations in the Americas and during the Industrial Revolution, owned factories, employing millions of people. Man of God Nigeria Limited will aim to have such economic clout

[5] Also, companies founded by the Quaker religious order that went on to become major multinationals include Cadburys, Barclays Bank, Clarks Shoes, Friends Provident, Rowntree Llyods Bank and Nike. Quaker companies had a philosophy similar to that which guides Islamic finance, whereby you use capitalism to better humanity and not to enrich yourself personally. Today, that spirit has largely been lost in Europe but our Man of God Nigeria Limited will be run along these lines

[6] Man of God Nigeria Limited will be floated on the Lagos, London, Tokyo and New York stock exchanges

[7] Nigeria's Man of God Nigeria Limited will be the bellweather of our economy, kind of like Tata Industries in India, Phillips in Holland, General Motors in the US, Samsung in South Korea and San Miguel in The Philippines. It will seek to employ at least 10m people nationwide

[8] Man of God Nigeria Limited will own six massive ranches across Nigeria with each being home to about 10m cattle. It will also have feed compounding plants on site, as well as meat processing factories and provide an array of ancillary services such as veterinary healthcare, packaging, adult education, primary healthcare and retailing at each of these locations

[9] A religious finance bill will be sent to the National Assembly compelling all churches to divert 70% of all tithe collections into Man of God Nigeria Limited

[10] This religious finance bill will also mandate all clergymen to hand their private jets to Man of God Nigeria Limited. These aircraft will be auctioned off and the proceeds used as capital investment