The Catholic Archbishop of the
Metropolitan See of Lagos, Dr. Adewale Martins, has called on President
Goodluck Jonathan to pay more attention to impunity and corruption. He
said a situation where the corrupt were let off the hook would spell
doom for Nigeria.
The cleric told our correspondent in an
interview on Friday, that there was a need to allow the law take its
full course on corrupt individuals, irrespective of their status or
affiliations.
He said, “Our President has to realise
that the nation is bigger than any individual and any group of people.
Therefore, if anyone infringes on the right and the good of any nation,
such persons need to be treated according to law.
“In other words, if you have people who
are engaged in activities of corruption that tend to affect the
well-being of the nation, either economically, politically or
religiously, such persons need to be treated according to the law.
People do all kinds of things with the
nation’s resources; they do all kinds of things even with religious
sentiments and they go scot-free. It is not helping us.
“I think the President should pay
attention to this a lot more like never before. That is not to say that
we have not realised that to rule Nigeria is not easy but where there
are principles, those principles must be followed.”
Martins said the church needed to encourage its members to play their part in the nation building.
While he frowned at the call for taxing
of religious organisations, he said the church had a role to play in
providing social services.
The bishop said, “I’ve heard some people
argue about paying tax. The fact of the matter is that offerings that
are brought to the church are people’s gift to God. These people have
paid their taxes at their places of work and wish to donate it
(offering) for the furtherance of the gospel and social services. That
is what the offerings brought to church are meant for.
“The government has no right to tax
donations like church collections, church and harvest offerings. The
state has no right to tax these because they are put into the life of
the nation again through social services and other ways.
“The fund doesn’t belong to individuals;
it belong to the people, therefore it is not taxable. I understand that
if there are people who work in government institutions, they should pay
tax. And if a priest works in a government institution, he should pay
tax. But as a priest working in a parish, I believe government has no
right to tax him.”
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