This article engaged in critical analyses of the capitalistic nature of the practices of African Neo-Pentecostal leaders with a focus on a few but most popular Nigerian and South African Neo-Pentecostal leaders. Using Julius Nyerere’s African moral philosophy called Ujamaa, the article viewed and critiqued the narratives with an emphasis on how antithetical such practices are to the communitarian nature of African society which provides for people-centred servant leadership. Progressively, the article discovered that such capitalistic practices promote manipulative, exploitative and inhuman culture and therefore engenders gross socio-moral and socio-economic abuse of the rights and privileges of millions of Church adherents. It further deduced that amongst others, lack of love towards the adherents and surrounding communities is at the heart of such bankrupt practices and therefore recommended the three principles and three factors of Ujamaa’s philosophy as essential values needed for the transformation of the Neo-Pentecostal religious organisations or nations. It is the conclusive remark of this article that every leader needs to adopt Ujamaa’s philosophy as a basic leadership requirement for communitarian and people-centred service to humanity.
Aligning with
Pastoral duties are likely beyond the daily routine of liturgical and sacramental responsibilities provided by the clergies to the congregants. Christian leadership ought to provide total well-being services to congregants and surrounding communities alike. A good example can be seen in the prayers and wishes of Elder John for Gaius in 3 John 1:2. Elder John’s prayers suggested that the total well-being of followers can be part of a leader’s oversight function. In other words, to assert that the Church leadership exists for the total well-being of the adherents in spirit, soul and body may not be incorrect. Thus, the social upliftment of any community is not an exclusive function of the political leaders, but also the Christian leaders. Correspondingly, to achieve people-centred social and spiritual services by Neo-Pentecostal leaders, a great deal of socio-moral obligations and expressions capable of providing spiritual, socio-moral and socio-economic benefits to the adherents are required. Therefore, on the account of the detailed scholarly discussion presented in support of the principles, factors and relevance of Ujamaa in the section titled ‘The Ujamaa principles, factors, their interplay with theology and the essence for Africa,’ this article argues that Ujamaa can be adopted as a socio-moral template for people-centred social and spiritual servant leadership practices. Likewise, Ujamaa can be utilised to critique the practices of African Neo-Pentecostal leaders. This is the core of this article to evaluate the African Neo-Pentecostal leaders’ capitalistic activities through the lens of Ujamaa. To achieve this, the article will systematically build its argument in sections: The ‘Introduction’ opens the discussion with abstract and introduction, respectively. The section titled ‘The problem’ will narrate the eruption of Neo-Pentecostal capitalism with its abounding problems. The section ‘Examples of Neo-Pentecostal capitalistic activities’ will articulate various examples of such capitalistic practices. Correspondingly, Ujamaa principles and factors, their interplay with theology and their essence for Africa will be delineated in the section titled ‘The Ujamaa principles, factors, their interplay with theology and the essence for Africa’. Additionally, the section ‘Contrast and analyses of Neo-Pentecostal capitalism in the eye of Ujamaa’ will place African Neo-Pentecostal capitalism under the lens of Ujamaa principles and factors to view the contrast. In the end, the article will make conclusive remarks based on the analyses.
As a concluding remark in this introduction, the authors would like to put it on record that many studies on this topic would normally work with the perspective of Ubuntu in terms of looking at African concepts. Likewise, there is a strong possibility that other related studies would have used Jesus’ model of servant leadership to address trending socio-moral issues amongst the African Christian leaders. However, the task of this article is to take a different African Philosophical model called Ujamaa to critique African Neo-Pentecostalism. The task is further not to work with the normal principles of Jesus’s model of servant leadership which is understood and appreciated by the authors. This article seeks to explore the philosophy of Ujamaa in terms of how it can be used to address the issue of Pentecostal capitalism. Worthy of note is that every model propagated including Ujamaa may not be perfect, but the goal of this article is to explore and see what can be learnt from the model in terms of our Christian concept. Thus, the focus of this article is the principles of Ujamaa and not the person of Julius Nyerere. Frailties are common to all humans, notwithstanding their contributions to socio-moral and leadership development cannot be waived off. This article will now narrate the problem in the following section.
As Maxwell views it, ‘everything rises and falls on leadership’ (Maxwell
Indeed, the ideal culture and protocol had been superimposed by the enterprising gospel. Halverson could not agree less with an apt description of the chain of retrogressive change in the global church when he alleged that ‘the church was once a
Furthermore, the prosperity gospel takes the form of secular and capitalistic business activities. Consequently, profit-making drives the motive of many Neo-Pentecostal preachers, hence they can be regarded as Neo-Pentecostal capitalists. Whilst various economic scholars have their definitions, this article sustains the definition of Pettinger (
Agreeably, not all Neo-Pentecostal Christian leaders are involved in non-people centred capitalistic practices. Thus, this article holds no bias against any Neo-Pentecostal leader or group. Rather, the authors opine that not all Neo-Pentecostal leaders are culpable. Whilst there are many examples of people-centred servant leaders amongst African Neo-Pentecostals, the pieces of information below allegedly suggest that some African Neo-Pentecostal leaders are agents of capitalism. Although there are many alleged cases reported,
Nairaland Forum (
In Charlse (
Congruently, Chabalala (
Correspondingly, Cilliers (
The allegations of fraudulent and manipulative fundraising styles against Ashimolowo and Adejumo are good examples. Odunayo (
Ogar (
Also, the profiteering nature of the unaffordable schools belonging to Olowonla’s church shows that he has the tendencies to be a venture capitalist. FOPSA and JOPSA
Furthermore, Olowonla emphasises prosperity beyond measure. One of the biggest gatherings where giving is over-emphasised is the annual Shiloh programme. From all over the world, people gather in hundreds of thousands for a week and constantly indoctrinated to give and make ‘Shiloh covenant sacrifice’. These include donations of houses as seeds, cars, landed properties, local and foreign currencies, etc. Sahara Reporters (
Consequently, there are two questionable issues in these practices. Firstly, buying those elements from the church brings the preacher’s motives into question. Secondly, ascribing some sort of spiritual power to such elements for financial breakthrough confers a level of marketing on the oil and other objects sold by the church. More importantly, in the African context, it confers idolatry and deification upon the entire practice. Ultimately, the theological question will be – where were such sales done by Christ as a way of empowering people financially in the New Testament? Contrarily, Jesus drove buyers and sellers out of the temple to protect his father’s house from desecration (see Mt 21:12). This is a clear indication that Olowonla is possibly a profiteering venture capitalist deserving to be addressed as an agent of capitalism in the pulpit. In summary, with a few exceptions, many Neo-Pentecostal leaders operate in a common theological space that is exploitative, profit-oriented and not people-centred. We will now discuss Ujamaa philosophy below.
Ujamaa is a Swahili word that means familyhood. It was chosen by Julius Nyerere to describe the kind of socialist society Tanzania desires to establish (Gbadegesin
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Indeed, the church accepts Ujamaa as being consistent with Christian beliefs of justice and equality.
Additionally, despite his educational qualifications, all Nyerere wanted were answers to such questions as to why his country was not free and why there was a colonial administration (J. Listowell
Nyerere was born under colonial suppression where a three-way social stratification was the order of the day; whites enjoying first-class rights and privileges, Asians rated as a second class with their equivalent benefits whilst the Africans were treated as third-class citizens. Denying Africans equal access and the right to vote by the Europeans stirred up a passion to see this white supremacy come to an end. Subsequently, Ujamaa emerged from the desire to end the oppression of the white supremacists. The underlining principles of Ujamaa are not only applicable to end the foreign colonialists’ socio-moral abnormalities, but also the unethical activities of post-colonial African bourgeoisie which include political and religious leaders. It is on this premise that Ujamaa becomes a strong moral modicum to critique African Neo-Pentecostal bourgeoisies who exploit, manipulate and convert public (adherents) properties to personal business ventures.
Ujamaa is predicated on a higher value for communitarianism where all exists for one and one for all. This way, oppression, suppression, exploitation, injustice and inequality can be adequately addressed. To achieve this, Nyerere gave principles and factors. Gbadegesin (
On the factors: love, sharing and work, love is instructive in building a common society without any dispute on its importance. As individuals are loved by parents from birth, Nyerere stated that such action should grow into a community culture, this will address the selfish nature of the spirit of individualism in society. For Nyerere, the love attitude must be viewed such that everyone understands that they fall and rise together. Everyone must understand that ‘I exist because there is we’ (Gbadegesin
[
However, this does not create room for laziness amongst the people, which is why Nyerere added the factor of work for everyone.
On education, using the Ujamaa principles and factors, Nyerere decided to provide an education system that has been ‘serving the fatherland at heart’, a system made available to all and not just a few. Thus, Nyerere (
As the last point in this section, it is imperative to mention that the principles and factors of Ujamaa are not in contrast with theology. The principles and factors namely, Equality, Freedom, Unity, Love, Sharing and Work are not only interconnected but they are also in alignment with scriptures. Deuteronomy 10:17 pictures the character of God as one who takes no bribe and shows no partiality. Proverbs 22:2 shows that the character of God via creation is devoid of inequality; both the rich and the poor have the same creation advantage under God. The theological position of Romans 2:11 further reveals that favouritism has no approval amongst the brethren. Also, James 2:9 outrightly opines that inequality or favouritism is condemnable. Besides, in the Christological discussion of Paul in Galatians 3:26–29, association with Christ makes all associated beings equal. Thus, when humans are baptised into Christ, their status, gender, race or colour as Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free humans, rich or poor become irrelevant; they all become equal. Correspondingly, this equality is fostered by the Love of Christ and unity amongst brethren (see Jn 3:16, Col 3:10–11, Lv 19:33–34, Ja 2:8–9, Mk 12:31). As such, the people enjoy freedom from the bondage and cruelty of inequality, disunity and racial or colour-based hatred. Additionally, Proverbs 12:24 bears witness that putting one’s hand to work ensures a great future but whoever does not appreciate work is lazy. Also, Proverbs 12:11 suggests succinctly that work encourages abundance and productivity. In the theological rhetoric of Psalms (90:17) humans’ handwork were blessed. Concomitantly, Ephesians 4:28 emphasised that the antidote to stealing is work. Invariably, there is an interplay between Ujamaa philosophy and theology. So, it is permissible to state that the consonance of theology and Ujamaa makes it a possible template to critique Neo-Pentecostal capitalistic practices in Africa. We will now view African Neo-Pentecostal capitalism through the lens of Ujamaa.
The followings are contrast and analyses made.
Ujamaa held that if a person’s religion involves human sacrifice or demands exploitation of human beings, such religion is unacceptable (Mesaki & Malipula
Ujamaa seeks the liberation of Africans from socio-economic oppression imposed by the colonial capitalists and the African bourgeoises. This is opposed to the capitalists’ ideologies of Neo-Pentecostal leaders as they entrench exploitation by reaping off the hard-earned but insufficient income of the adherents. This principle calls for a change from manipulative extortion to a freewill donation in the church. For example, Bushiri’s extortion of R25 000 from members as a fee for the gala night as seen in the subsection ‘Prophet Joshua Iginla, Sheperd Bushiri and Alpha Lukau’ above is financial exploitation that needs to stop.
This is contrary to the socio-morally bankrupt Neo-Pentecostal culture which allows the Church leaders to continuously increase their wealth base whilst the adherents live in abject penury. This principle in addition to the factor of sharing demands that what is gathered by the church be shared amongst all equally irrespective of position held (see Ac 4:42ff.). Thus, Ujamaa called for a communitarian approach in ministry where individualism is forbidden and the grabbing of what belongs to all by one can be abolished. Consequently, rather than a luxurious lifestyle via accumulation of mundane things as seen in subsections ‘Oristejafor and Oyakhilome’ and ‘Bishop Olowonla’, leadership principles should be built on caring for the well-being of the congregants and surrounding communities via equal sharing of resources gathered.
Additionally, worthy of note is the role of inequality and lack of sharing in our society today. When the wealth of the church and the nation is concentrated in the hands of a few religious leaders and political actors, it creates artificial poverty. It allows a few to have more than enough whilst the majority wallow in poverty. In essence, the Neo-Pentecostal leaders need to pay attention to the referral of Pillay (
Ujamaa contradicts the conversion of what belongs to the entire community to personal business venture of the profiteering clergies. For example, the conversion of private jets purchased for missions, and the schools built by offertory to personal family businesses are highly condemned in an African Ujamaa society. This sharing factor calls for a reversal of individual ownership of the congregation’s property as seen in the subsection ‘Bishop Olowonla’ above. It is antithetical to privatise control of church finances and diversion of the same via money laundering business as seen in the case of Oyakhilome and Olowonla in subsections ‘Oristejafor and Oyakhilome’ and ‘Bishop Olowonla’, respectively. It also calls for accountability because what is cooperatively owned demands public accountability.
So far, the four contrasts and analyses delineated above showed that criminal conversion and larceny can be popular in Neo-Pentecostal capitalism because there are no principles of checks and balances. Concomitantly, Pillay (
Nyerere opined that love should spread beyond nuclear and extended family to the entire community because it will promote the communitarian spirit of Africa. This is contrary to Neo-Pentecostal capitalism where lack of love in the heart of Neo-Pentecostal leaders drives their passion for exploitation, manipulation and extortion. Love gives as seen in Jesus’ model in John 3:16 and Nyerere’s factor of love. This factor strongly calls for a change, whereby Neo-Pentecostal leaders will focus more on what to give and what not to grab from the people. Behind extortion and exploitation are greed and selfishness, whereas behind giving and sharing is love.
The ‘education for all’ modicum contradicts the unaffordability motivated by greed, social classism in some schools owned by Neo-Pentecostal churches in Africa. The subsection titled ‘Bishop Olowonla’ above showed that average members of Olonwona’s church cannot afford church-owned schools. Ujamaa principle of equal opportunity calls for the abolition of profit-centred policies and the reduction of exorbitant fees unaffordable by most adherents.
This article revealed that African Neo-Pentecostal capitalism is nonparallel with Ujamaa as it exhibits socio-moral and socio-economic bankrupt practices. The article noted that Ujamaa philosophy is robust to address Neo-Pentecostal capitalism and provides alternative imagination to God’s kingdom values and people-centred leadership. This alternative imagination which calls for new thinking is synonymous with the recommendation of Jerry Pillay to the body of Christ in South Africa; the Church needs to reconfigure and start something new to achieve more acceptance and impact in the society (Pillay
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
Both authors contributed equally to the writing of this article.
This article followed all ethical standards for research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.
Pentecostal capitalism is the adoption of one or more forms of capitalism systems as the financial and administrative pattern upon which Pentecostal practice is structured. It uses of capitalists’ patterns in missions, policy formation, staffing, funding, ownership, and ‘leader-follower relationship’ so that it favours the leaders, and few individuals at the expense of the majority. It is the adoption of the philosophy of free-market enterprise to run the church. It is a practice that supports individualism rather than collectivism in the Pentecostal denominations.
The founding fathers’ culture and 1960s movement led by Dennis Bennett, Charles Fox Parham and William J. Seymour are available at:
Neo-Pentecostalism emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, but those referred to here are the newer African versions of the 1980s to date.
Pettinger (
Pew Research Centre (
The article does not claim to be the source of all information in cases where original names of clergies were used. All information were allegedly presented from initial media published sources in the public domain.
This article is an offshoot of a PhD thesis. More literature and media investigation reports and examples can be obtained in the full thesis. See details in ‘Agencies of Capitalism: Evaluating Nigerian Pentecostalism using African Moral Philosophies’, submitted in the year 2020 to the Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria.
See further information at
See Hart’s report on
The following video links further buttress the claims:
Bushiri is currently standing trial for the alleged charges. See eNews Channel Africa (eNCA) report at
On Alpha Lukau, see media alleged report by Sikhupa Mlotshwa at
Odunayo’s report came along with a video clip. Also, Pastor Adelaja of the Embassy of God Church in Ukraine condemned the act in another video. See
See Youtube video links of $1000 dollar seed raised by Adejuwon:
15, July 2018,
12 July 2018
28, October 2017
Olowonla is a pseudo name used for ethical reasons.
The full Interviews of FOPSA and JOPSA are available in Daniel Orogun’s PhD thesis, pp. 320–333 and 334–342, respectively.
Ibid
The Arusha Declaration is the new Tanzania resolution and constitutional document written for the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) by Julius Nyerere on the 5th of February 1967. The Church leadership accepted and commended the agreement of the policy with the true spirit of Christ and the Church. See details at