The changing roles of the Church since independence

Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the Church trajectory and that of the country has been intertwined.

The Church on many fronts has been a mirror of development, especially in regard to nation building. Something the political class might have to learn and relearn.

However, the proliferation of religious centres across the country in some way has not helped in deepening the narrative of the Church Movement in Nigeria. This is so because the proliferation of religious centres has failed to align with nation building.

For many religious leaders, the primary goal and calling into ministry is to touch the people within the four walls of the church.

But national development goes beyond that myopic thinking into a broader mindset of reaching people outside the Church.

In 1842, the church movement in Nigeria characterised with the arrival of the Protestant missionaries from the Church Missionary Society (CMS) and the Wesleyan Methodists in Badagry, Nigeria, to establish missions and spread Christianity.

This marked the beginning of a significant era of Christian evangelism, with the establishment of churches and schools that played a vital role in the growth and indigenisation of Christianity in Nigeria, particularly in the southern and western regions.

At independence in 1960, the Nigeria Church was largely dominated by missionaries from the ‘global north’. However, that narrative has given way to a growing number of indigenous churches, who are shifting the missionary trajectory from the ‘global south to north’.

The question has been what role has religious centres played since the colonial masters left Nigeria? Over the years, there has been a proliferation of churches and mosques that are run by indigenous people of Nigeria.

Today, even churches that were established by the colonial masters are now being run by Nigerians, pointing to the rule of the Church in nation building on the back of the church-state development narrative,

‘And you will agree with me that since 1842 that the Church Missionary Society in Nigeria came, which happened to be the first church, they came with education, they came with health care facilities,’ Stephen Adegbite, executive secretary, Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), said.

Adegbite said that the Church has done a lot in Nigeria, even before independence. According to him, many of those in the ruling class since independence attended missionary schools.

He added that the Church has been able to shape the moral of Nigerians through religious studies, and Bible knowledge, being taught in schools both at the primary and secondary level of education.

‘And that is why Nigerians are saying today, the Church is saying, it should not be removed from the curriculum of our education system,’ Adegbite said.

According to him, the Church provided infrastructural facilities from schools, hospitals, and also provided leadership in many areas of the country. ‘So when we look back today, we can say, the Lord has been able to help the church in shaping the Nigerian system since independence.’ However, Adegbite believes there is a need for the leadership of the Church to revisit the history of the Church by going back to the roots to learn from the founding fathers the technique of nation building beyond rhetoric. ‘It’s not to be a church that matters, but the attitude of people that go and attend churches; their lives must be changed. And they must be Christian. Nobody should be forced to be Christian. Don’t pretend to be Christian.’

Joseph Ojo, the presiding Archbishop of Calvary Kingdom Church (CKC) said the Nigerian narrative cannot be complete without the Church movement, which predated the country’s independence in 1960.

According to him, the ‘Pentecostal Movement’ of the post-independence era gave life to what many now refer to as the proliferation of churches in Nigeria. He said that the Nigerian story will not be complete without the church – same way the church cannot exist without Nigeria.

Emmanuel Udofia, the former primate of The African Church, said the post-independence proliferation of churches in Nigeria is in response to the commandment of Jesus Christ to his disciples, which says ‘go into the world and make disciples of me.’

‘We have new churches being established almost every week or month. The mandate Jesus Christ gave to us. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations,’ Udofia said.

According to him, the role of the Church is not to sit down at a particular place; rather, it is to go out and spread the gospel. ‘So in an attempt to do that, then there is bound to be many churches.’

Udofia is also of the view that having churches everywhere has helped in shaping and building the moral compass of the people within the vicinity where they operate. ‘And it’s instrumental to many churches that we have established everywhere. Although we have some challenges around us.

‘But, if the churches were not to be there; what would have happened? Because there are so many people who are involved in different types of crimes,’ Udofia said.

While the narrative is beginning to shift from building within, many of the Church leaders have understood the essence of reaching a greater audience outside the walls of the church.

Today, it is commonplace to see churches host conferences on political and economic development with themes that were hard sales during the early days of the church movement.

Similarly, the Church has fully embraced technology as a driver of the gospel message – adopting and adapting technology for impact, and not as a destructive or satanic tool of the world.

Today, Nigerian churches are building multi-purpose cathedral to serve both religious and empowerment needs of the worshipers. In many instances, these cathedrals are self-sustaining because of their multi-purpose nature.

The early years of agric programmes in Nigeria

On a general note, different agricultural programmes were introduced by successive administrations in Nigeria with the aim to provide food security for the citizens. But considering the challenges of policy flip – flops, lack of sustained support for the farmers, disregard for the sector in favour of crude oil, and insecurity

food security has declined since political independence on October 1,1960. Other factors that have exacerbated food insecurity in recent years include climate change leading to the flushing floods, seasonal drought and land degradation, in some parts of the country. Another critical issue is that of violent conflicts between armed herders and farmers. It is therefore, evident with the contribution of agriculture to the national economy dropping from 64 % to the GDP in 1960 to 46% in 2010 and down to 20.97% in 2024. According to the World Food Summit, food security exists when people have access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development, and an active and healthy life. By contrast, food insecurity refers to when the aforementioned conditions do not exist. Chronic food insecurity is when a person is unable to consume enough food over an extended period to maintain a normal, active and healthy life. Acute food insecurity is any type that threatens people’s lives or livelihoods. Latest figures from the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, or SOFI, report, show that 673 million people experienced hunger in 2024.

Yet, the right to food is expressly recognized in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as part of the right to an adequate standard of living, and is enshrined in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Of significance, is that the level of a country ‘s food security is one of the factors used to measure its economic development. As for Nigeria, the number of food-insecure citizens increased significantly, from 66.2 million in Q1, 2023, to 100 million in Q1, 2024 (WFP, 2024), with 18.6 million facing acute hunger and 43.7 million of them showing crisis-level. The import of this is that much more needs to be done than said about the different agricultural programs since the Sixties.

An appraisal of the different programs, their impact or not has become important to fashion the best way forward out of the food insecurity challenge.

It should be noted that the impact of the agricultural value chain of food production, processing, packaging, preservation, marketing for both local consumption and export plays a significant role on both the Gross Domestic Product, GDP and the Human Development Index, HDI.

Beginning with the administration of Tafawa Balewa (1960-1966) the Regional Agricultural Programmes (RAP) was characterized by focus on colonial cash crop production against food crops mainly for export.

They were set in place between the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and the Regional Governments (RGs) in accordance with Nigeria’s Constitution of 1963. To achieve this aim, the Regional Ministries of Agriculture were established in 1962/63. The Western region became the major producer of cocoa and coffee, while rubber came from the Mid-West. The Eastern Region Oil Palm and Northern region Ground-nut and Cotton boosted the production of more cash crops, agricultural raw-materials for industries, export earnings and jobs opportunities for millions of Nigerians.

But the programme ‘s failure was because priority was not given to food crops. There was lack of unity. Issues of ethnicity and political differences led to disagreements that affected the programmes from becoming a success.

On its part, General Yakubu Gowon’s regime (1966-1975) came up with National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP) as an agricultural extension programme established in 1972, following the end of the Nigerian civil war. It was aimed to end the food crisis that engulfed the country at that trying time. Its failure was because the farmers who could not form co-operatives were left out.

Subsequently, Shehu Shagari’s Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) came on board. The programme, according to Elijah and Tenon relied on disbursement of credits and farm inputs through cooperative societies excluding most small-scale farmers.

The major reasons for its lack of impact included the sudden withdrawal of funding by the federal government. It also lacked farmers’ participation As for the acclaimed farmer, General Olusegun Obasanjo, (1976-1979), in May 1976, Obasanjo launched Operation Feed the Nation, a project to revitalise small-scale farming and which involved students being paid to farm during the holidays. It was launched in order to bring about increased food production across the entire nation through the active involvement and participation of everybody in every discipline.

But it did not succeed because of the indiscriminate use of land for farming activities since most armers were very young and inexperienced. Also, hired labour was the main source of labour employed by participants. There was absence of available markets, so livestock diseases caused havoc on farms of the novice farmers bringing the beautiful dream to its end.

With the return of democratic government, Alhaji Shehu Shagari (1979-1983) introduced the Green Revolution Programme (GRP) on June 3, as a replacement for OFN. ‘The programme depended on the ministry-based extension system and was instrumental to raising mass awareness on the problems of food confronting the nation.

The FGN ensured the success of the programme by providing agrochemicals, improved seeds/seedlings, irrigation system, machine, credit facilities, improved marketing and favourable pricing policy for the agricultural products and encouraged farmers to produce food, cash crops, and livestock.’

According to Goodluck Jonathan, ‘Green Revolution and Operation Feed the Nation failed because they were not properly articulated, agricultural programmes in Nigeria just followed the political class and disappeared.’ Coming to General Muhammadu Buhari (1983-1985) and his Back to Land (BL) programme was to revive the agriculture by encouraging Nigerians to go back to farm to reduce over dependence in oil.

But it failed with regards to poor quality of infrastructures provided by the directorate due to embezzlement/mismanagement of fund. ‘Lack of focus and accountability made the impact of the programme almost insignificant.’

Next came the IBB-driven Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986 to achieve the objectives of its far-reaching reforms on diversification of exports and adjustment of production and consumption. SAP provided strategies on food crops, livestock, industrial raw materials, wildlife, forestry, fish production. It also provided policies on support services such as agricultural extension, technology development and transfer.

Its failure was traced to unskilled handling of water application through irrigation that degraded and depleted the soil of its productive capacity.

While the Family Support Programme (FSP) was initiated in 1994 the Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP) came in 1996 by General Abacha and his wife Mrs. Maryam Sani Abacha. The programme eventually culminated in the creation of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare.

The programme focused ‘on areas like health, education, women in development, agriculture, child welfare and youth development. They also touched on the provision of shelter for the less privileged in the society from ongoing housing programme of government’. The sudden death of Gen. Abacha limited their impact on the women and the masses.

This topic will be an ongoing one for us to learn from the mistakes of the past agricultural programs and fashion the best way forward

Court rules employees owe loyalty even without non-compete clauses

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has upheld the dismissal of a hotel supervisor for serving as a director in a newly established company that was planning to venture into a business that would directly compete with his employer.

According to the court, this amounted to a conflict of interest since the business the employee and some colleagues sought to establish was a potential competitor to his employer’s operations.

The CEO who walks barefoot and owns only two pairs of shoes

During the interview, Andrew Mwanyota Lewela, the self-styled barefoot CEO of KeNIC (Kenya Network Information Centre), will attempt to persuade me to remove my shoes, but will fail. It’s not that he’s starting a cult or flirting with some earth-aesthetic religion, though it’s a shame, for he could work a congregation. The man just loves walking barefoot.

He has dabbled with Buddhism, had a pas de deux with Jewish kippahs. How then do you define him? He rejects, in many ways, the very premise of the question. There is, he says, no way to pigeonhole him.

Kenya eyes India-type CSR funding model to power struggling startups

Kenya is exploring ways to tap into corporate Social responsibility (CSR) funds raised by large companies to support startups and innovators, borrowing from models in India.

Tonny Omwansa, Chief Executive at Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA), said the agency has begun drafting a proposal for the government to establish a framework that would channel a small percentage of CSR budgets into a national innovation fund.

Paid to post: Content creators’ dilemma in State funding deals plan

As the State unveils a scheme to bankroll social media influencers to showcase flagship projects, a thorny dilemma takes shape: should creators grab the cheque and risk alienating their audiences, or guard their credibility and watch the money slip away?

With less than two years to the General Elections, the timing has only deepened suspicions that the move is less about civic education and more about political survival for an increasingly unpopular regime.

The programme, announced last week by President William Ruto’s Head of Creative Economy and Special Projects, Dennis Itumbi, seeks to tap into the extensive reach of digital creators whose content shapes conversations among millions of Kenyans daily. While proponents see the plan as a modern way of delivering government messages where citizens already are, suspicion is rife that the absence of strict disclosure rules or independent oversight could blur the line between transparent public communication and subtle propaganda.

Externally, global precedents already offer a warning.

In the US, for instance, the Federal Trade Commission compels influencers to flag any ‘material connection’ with sponsors, while the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority insists that paid content must be ‘obviously identifiable, from the first glance.

Platform’s such as TikTok have gone further by embedding ‘paid partnership’ labels into their systems.

Kenya, by contrast, has no clear framework, leaving creators torn between short-term payouts and the long-term loyalty of their followers.

While announcing the initiative last week, Mr Itumbi termed the plan a dual-purpose initiative that supports content creators while amplifying government priorities.

“The government is willing to put money specifically for a few things that government is doing, and you can benefit directly. If you do content around housing, health, job creation and agriculture, we are willing to put money into it for you,” he said during a forum with creators.

Mr Itumbi further argued that the model would formalise partnerships with digital creators, some of whom he said are already promoting government programmes on their own platforms without pay.

“There are creators who are already explaining the Affordable Housing programme, or Hustler Fund, because they believe in it. This is about recognising that effort and supporting it,” he said.

While no official guidelines have been published on how the initiative will run, the absence of regulatory guardrails has sparked debate on what transparency will look like in practice.

The Advertising Standards Body of Kenya (ASBK), a self-regulatory initiative set up by players in the marketing industry, has spelt out general provisions to ensure ethical and responsible advertising but does not have influencer-specific disclosure rules.

In advanced economies, regulators have insisted that the success of such campaigns depends on clarity.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission has previously penalised influencers who failed to disclose paid endorsements, while Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority maintains a public list of influencers previously found in breach of disclosure requirements.

For local creators, the dilemma is not just regulatory. Accepting government contracts could alienate audiences who see them as independent voices, particularly at a politically sensitive moment.

Turning them down, on the other hand, means passing up rare formal earnings in an industry that’s still struggling for sustainable monetisation. As a profession, influencing has gained ground in Kenya in recent years, transforming from a side hustle to a full-time career for many young people.

According to online research tool Salary Explorer, local influencer marketers earn between Sh82,800 and Sh286,000 a month, with the average being Sh180,000.

High-profile creators can charge up to Sh100,000 for a single sponsored post, while others rely on smaller but more frequent deals.

Global data platform Statista projects that ad spending in Kenya’s influencer market will reach $2.1 million (Sh271.3 million) by the close of this year, translating to an annual growth rate of 8.8 percent.

Yet, despite these figures, industry earnings remain uneven as only a fraction of creators secure consistent contracts, leaving the vast majority struggling for sustainability. As such, the government’s promise of guaranteed pay for content on flagship programmes could prove attractive.

The political undertones of such arrangements, however, complicate the picture.

With Kenya’s general election due in under two years and the ruling administration facing growing discontent over economic hardship and contested policies, critics argue the State-funded influencer campaigns risk becoming an indirect tool of political messaging disguised as civic education.

While the tension between money and credibility is not new in inflencer culture, stakes are even higher when government is the sponsor. Unlike commercial brands selling products, the State carries political political baggage.

orsing housing, health or agriculture projects might look like neutral civic messaging on the face of it, but in an election cycle, the same content could be interpreted as campaign propaganda.

Inclusive skilling: How Africa can tap 230 milllion AI-powered job opportunities

By 2030, artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to unlock 230 million digital jobs across Africa – a transformation comparable to South Korea’s post-war rise or India’s IT boom in the 1990s. Realising this potential requires bold investment in digital skills across every corner of the economy.

Despite widespread ambition, with governments, donors, and private sector leaders prioritising digital skills, progress remains uneven. The challenge is not only scale, but also coordination. Fragmented efforts and a lack of unified strategy continue to slow momentum and dilute impact.

To fully realise AI’s potential for job creation, Africa must build a coordinated, inclusive skilling ecosystem, where government, education, industry, and civil society work together to shape the AI economy. This means moving beyond isolated programmes to scalable frameworks that prepare diverse audiences, from policymakers and educators to entrepreneurs and job seekers. It also requires infrastructure and tools, including large language models (LLMs) tailored to Africa’s linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic contexts.

There is much to learn from the ongoing rollout of Kenya’s AI Skilling Initiative (AINSI), which presents a promising approach to progress. Its framework offers valuable insights to inform similar efforts elsewhere.

Strong government leadership is essential for building national AI capacity. Governments are uniquely positioned to set strategic priorities, regulate responsibly, and provide access to critical infrastructure and data.

Kenya’s Regional Centre of Competence for Digital and AI Skilling is a compelling model for countries seeking to institutionalise AI training.

Beyond training around 1,500 public servants in AI and cybersecurity, the Centre’s structured approach, combining bootcamps and online programmes, demonstrates how targeted, scalable interventions can build capacity across government, with almost 6,500 public sector officials across the country registered.

Growing interest from countries like Uganda and Nigeria highlights its potential as a replicable model for inclusive and innovative AI ecosystems.

However, much work remains. To ensure skilling efforts lead to meaningful employment, harmonising credentials and recognised qualifications across regions is vital. This validates skillsets and helps employers identify talent with confidence. Governments play a central role in setting these standards and aligning them with industry needs.

For AI to drive national progress, it must be embedded across all industries, formal and informal. Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which account for over 44 million businesses across sub-Saharan Africa, are critical to this effort. Imagine how vast the impact would be if each MSME could use AI to hire just one more person?

AINSI’s cross-sector partnerships are helping build momentum. Collaboration with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) demonstrates how industry-led initiatives can accelerate AI skilling.

Kepsa’s training of over 70,000 organizational leaders, professionals and SMEs in AI and cybersecurity is helping drive progress from the top down. Yet, there is more to learn about reaching underserved sectors and sustaining long-term impact.

Innovation in the informal economy is essential. MESH, the first professional network designed for micro entrepreneurs, reaches over one million Kenyan entrepreneurs monthly with bite-sized learning, peer-to-peer trading, and community support.

Its AI-focused content puts the voices of micro entrepreneurs at the center, also uncovering persistent challenges around the sector’s AI adoption, including affordability, data access, and connectivity.

To truly empower the informal sector, skilling initiatives must be tailored to local realities.

Education is central to Kenya’s AI transformation efforts, with strategic partnerships integrating AI into higher education, technical training, and basic education.

In higher education, faculty skilling programs have supported curriculum reviews at 10 universities and delivered hybrid AI and software development training to computer science lecturers.

Over 78,000 individuals in TVET institutions have gained AI fluency through bootcamps and online modules, helping to build foundational capacity.

At the basic education level, national initiatives are equipping K-12 teachers and leaders with AI skills, supported by master trainer programmes and curriculum modernization. These efforts help bridge the digital divide and prepare learners for a tech-driven future.

When your lifestyle choices disrupt the rhythm of your heart

At his Nairobi clinic, Dr Daniel Nduiga sees between 100 and 150 patients with heart conditions each month, with at least two of those being newly diagnosed cases of atrial fibrillation (AFib).

AFib is a condition characterised by fast, irregular, and uncoordinated heartbeats.

A decade ago, such cases were rare and primarily seen in elderly patients. Today, however, AFib is appearing more frequently in younger and middle-aged patients, a trend that Dr Nduiga attributes to lifestyle changes.

Court orders plumber to pay Sh30m for flood damage

A house construction firm has received court approval to recover Sh29.7 million from a plumbing company as compensation for flood-linked damages to a house in Nairobi’s Muthaiga area.

In the judgment delivered by Justice Janet Mulwa on Friday, Devshibhai and Sons Limited was awarded the amount for damage caused by the negligence of Allied Plumbers Limited agents in March 2015 at a residential house.

175,000 companies drop off KRA radar amid crackdown

Some 175,760 companies dropped off the compliance radar of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in the year to June 2025, reflecting tax cheating and opportunistic business registration for one-off ventures such as government supply contracts.

Data obtained from the KRA shows 442,441 of 618,201 firms in the taxman’s register filed annual corporate income tax (CIT) returns, leaving more than a quarter (28.43 percent) of firms in the tax net as non-filers.