More Nigerians decry serial takeover of industrial warehouses by churches in Lagos, others
Since few years back when ease of manufacturing in Nigeria started getting out of hands, it resulted in gradual closure of industries in some parts of Lagos.
Lagos residents or people who had lived in some parts of Ikeja, Apapa industrial layout or even the Ilupeju and Oshodi axis will understand that chimney smokes and industrial production noise then, were the identities of the areas and so many other spots in Lagos State.
But lately, all that had disappeared and were replaced by choice cars and multitude of worshippers who park along the roads during Sunday Services or any of the day of church activities.
According to Abayomi Obabolujo, “I lead a church.. I preach the gospel but I am also a business man”.
According to him, the trend whereby warehouses are now worship centres is disturbing. He said “Churches don’t need to take over warehouses to grow. It is a disturbing trend. I was in a church when they were celebrating the purchase of a portion of Dunlop’s facilities along Oba Akran..” “Everyone in the church was dancing and rejoicing but the business man in me was shedding tears as my heart was bleeding because with Dunlop’ death, those who invested in their stocks had lost money. Jobs were lost and hopes dashed. But, are the churches to be blamed? Not at all.
In the case of Dunlop, Obabolujo revealed that “The Company took loan from a bank, failed to pay back after many years. When Dunlop died, the bank only took over its facilities that were pledged as securities for the loan”.
“The bank also was under pressure because it was depositors’ funds, if they did not recover some of the funds given as loan, CBN axe dangles. Dunlop is dead, the bank might also follow. The onus was on the bank to get a buyer and so the church in question heard about it, negotiated, made payment and by that helped the bank to stay afloat. The issues behind many of the warehouses in question might not just be different from that of Dunlop.
Giving further inroad on what were the real issues, Obabolujo averred that “The economy is harsh. Doing business to make money in Nigeria will take God. Economics don’t work in Nigeria. In Nigeria, nothing works. At that, don’t blame the church but economic managers”.
“Some Nigerian business men are frivolous with borrowed funds. Some took loans they never needed while some had situations worked against them as the plans did not gel. The church did not cause any of these.
“Many of the owners of the warehouse in question were textile manufacturers but along the line, our fashion preferences changed. We became more interested in foreign items at the mercy of the home made goods. The material Nigerians wear now are not made in Nigeria though sewn here. That was why those warehouses became empty. Our consumption pattern changed, we no longer wear ankara to big occasions. Did the church change our consumption pattern?
“The cost of production became too high. Profit became difficult. Imported items even became cheaper because the system became so corrupt that duties that should increase the cost of imported items were not paid as expected but just some amount paid to personal accounts of custom officers. These importers and custom officers’ smile to the bank but local manufacturers died and their warehouses were taken over first, by rats and rodents before the churches bought to give some respite and purposeful use regardless of perceptions.
However, another social commentator, Sam Diala recalled that “While celebrating its 100 years of uninterrupted operations in Nigeria 2003, a prominent Nigerian who graced the occasion in Lagos (can’t recall the name now) lambasted Compagnie Franchise de l’Afrique Occidentale (CFAO) for existing in Nigeria for a century without PRODUCING a pin”.
“CFAO was in the class of Bhojsons, Chellarams, Kewalrams, Leventis Stores etc engaged in General Merchandising, Distributive Trading, Sales & Services …. Sapping Nigeria of her forex energy and enriching their home countries.
“The warehouses that “filled” Lagos, Onitsha, PH, Aba, Ibadan, Kano …. Were occupied with imported goods and services. With petro-dollar flooding the forex market @ N0.75/US$1 later N1.00/US$1, the washhouses competed for space in the bouncing economy. They feasted prodigally on the notoriously prolonged forex regime of N22/US$1 (official) and N82/US$1 (parallel) during which many of the “successful” Nigerian businessmen we celebrate today for their “hard work” created the nest for their wealth. Of course, the warehouses faded away like the morning star at the rising of the sun when the boom era ended. That is the kernel of our economic woes till date — a consuming nation that creates no wealth, adds no value and invents nothing.
“I can’t see where the church comes into the matter. At a time, we blamed Colonialism and Neo Colonialism for Nigeria’s economic backwardness; later, we placed it at the doorsteps of prolonged Military rule. Now, it’s the Church and its worshippers. Let the non-Church goers brave it and move the economy to Singapore/Malaysia/China …. level. The beauty of this life is the six-letter word called choice .
“I have said it on this platform before, whether we choose to belong to the Pentecostal generation of Acrobatic preachers/worshippers or the old generation churches with their Esoteric doctrine of Babylonian mysteries, nothing stops us from creating a new world. Assuming the role of armchair critics against those that chose to embrace ‘mental laziness’ as against intellectual radicalism of inventing and producing goods and services is, in my view, uncalled for. Societies evolve and move in phases.
Diala observed that “The era that will take over the warehouses from the churches may be on the way. When it comes, no one will need to be persuaded to return to heathenism and idol-worshipping. I am told that is the trend in India”.
