Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T18:02:22.422Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Pentecostal prosperity gospel in Nigeria: paradoxes of corruption and inequality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2021

Daniel Jordan Smith
Daniel Jordan Smith*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Brown University, Box 1921, 128 Hope Street, Providence, Rhode Island02912, USA
*
Email: daniel_j_smith@brown.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Preachers of the prosperity gospel in Nigeria criticise politicians’ greed and government corruption, even as many church leaders amass great wealth themselves. Drawing on ethnographic research, this article explores the relationship between Pentecostalism's prosperity gospel and political culture in Nigeria, especially as it pertains to problems of inequality and corruption. The analysis builds on a case study of one particular prosperity church in the city of Umuahia. It addresses the paradox that this brand of Pentecostalism articulates widespread discontent with the venality plaguing national political culture, while at the same time offering divine justification for the pursuit and accumulation of wealth. Examining not only Pentecostals’ interpretations of corruption, but also people's responses to scandals within these churches, the paper attempts to understand why Nigerians who are so aggrieved about corruption and inequality are at the same time drawn to churches that appear to reproduce many of the same dynamics.

Keywords

Pentecostal Christianityprosperity gospelcorruptioninequalityNigeria
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 59 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 103 - 122
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The funding for my 2012 study, ‘Pentecostalism and AIDS in Nigeria’, was provided by a grant from the Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative, through the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, funded by the John Templeton Foundation (Grant #13893, Subcontract #143426).

References

REFERENCES

Akinbode, O. 2013. ‘About time Nigerian churches started paying taxes’, This Day, 7 November.Google Scholar
Akoda, W. 2012. ‘May his will be done: a history of the Deeper Life Bible Church, 1973–2006’, International Journal of Asian Social Science 2, 4: 402–10.Google Scholar
Anderson, A. 2002. ‘Diversity in the definition of “Pentecostal/Charismatic” and its ecumenical implications’, Mission Studies 19, 1–2: 40–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blundo, G. & Olivier de Sardan, J.P.. 2006. Everyday Corruption and the State: citizens and public officials in Africa. London: Zed Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chabal, P. & Daloz, J.P.. 1998. Africa Works: the political instrumentalization of disorder. London: James Currey.Google Scholar
Coleman, S. 2014. ‘Between faith and fraudulence: sincerity and sacrifice in prosperity Christianity’, in van Eck Duymaer van Twist, A., ed. Minority Religions and Fraud: in good faith. London: Routledge, 73–89.Google Scholar
Coleman, S. 2015. ‘On Mauss, masks, and gifts: Christianities, (in)dividialities, modernities’, HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 5, 1: 295–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comaroff, J. & Comaroff, J.L.. 1997. Of Revelation and Revolution, Vol. 2: the dialectics of modernity on a South African frontier. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comaroff, J. & Comaroff, J.L.. 2002. ‘Second comings: neo-protestant ethics and millennial capitalism in South Africa and elsewhere’, in Gifford, P., ed. 2000 Years and Beyond: faith, identity and the common era. London: Routledge, 106–26.Google Scholar
Daswani, G. 2011. ‘(In-)Dividual Pentecostals in Ghana’, Journal of Religion in Africa 41, 3: 256–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daswani, G. 2013. ‘On Christianity and ethics: rupture as ethical practice in Ghanaian Pentecostalism’, American Ethnologist 40, 3: 467–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daswani, G. 2015. Looking Back, Moving Forward: transformation and ethical practice in the Ghanaian Church of the Pentecost. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekechi, F. 1971. ‘Colonialism and Christianity in West Africa: the Igbo case, 1900–1915’, Journal of African History 12, 1: 103–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, S. 2008. ‘The Okija shrine: death and life in Nigerian politics’, Journal of African History 49, 3: 445–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, S. & Ter Haar, G.. 2004. Worlds of Power: religious thought and political practice in Africa. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fasua, T. 2012. ‘Thieving from the masses, exporting holiness (2)’, Daily Trust 9 December.Google Scholar
Gifford, P. 1990. ‘Prosperity: a new and foreign element in African Christianity’, Religion 20: 373–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gifford, P. 2004. Ghana's New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a globalizing economy. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Haynes, J. 2000. Nigerian Video Films. Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies.Google Scholar
Haynes, N. 2012. ‘Pentecostalism and the morality of money: prosperity, inequality, and religious sociality on the Zambian Copperbelt’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 18: 123–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaacson, A. 1990. The Deeper Life: the extraordinary growth of the Deeper Life Bible Church. London: Hodder and Stoughton.Google Scholar
Isichei, E. 1995. A History of Christianity in Africa: from antiquity to the present. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.Google Scholar
Klaits, F. 2010. Death in a Church of Life: moral passion during Botswana's time of AIDS. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, R. 1991. ‘Power in the name of Jesus’, Review of African Political Economy 52: 21–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, R. 1993 ‘“Power in the name of Jesus”: social transformation and Pentecostalism in western Nigeria “revisited”’, in Ranger, T.O. & Vaughan, O., eds. Legitimacy and the State in Twentieth Century Africa. London: Macmillan, 213–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, R. 1995. ‘“God is not a democrat”: Pentecostalism and democratisation in Nigeria’, in Gifford, P., ed. The Christian Churches and the Democratisation of Africa. New York, NY: Brill, 239–60.Google Scholar
Marshall, R. 2009. Political Spiritualities: the Pentecostal revolution in Nigeria. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maxwell, D. 1998. ‘“Delivered from the spirit of poverty”: Pentecostalism, prosperity and modernity in Zimbabwe’, Africa 28, 3: 350–73.Google Scholar
Maxwell, D. 2000. ‘Pentecostalism and politics in post-colonial Zimbabwe’, Africa 70, 2: 249–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maxwell, D. 2006. African Gifts of the Spirit: Pentecostalism & the rise of a Zimbabwean transnational religious movement. Oxford: James Currey.Google Scholar
McCall, J. 2004. ‘Juju and justice at the movies: vigilantes in Nigerian popular videos’, African Studies Review 47, 3: 51–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, B. 1998 a. ‘The power of money: politics, occult forces, and Pentecostalism in Ghana’, African Studies Review 41, 3: 15–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, B. 1998 b. ‘“Make a complete break with the past”: memory and post-colonial modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalist discourse’, Journal of Religion in Africa 28, 3: 316–49.Google Scholar
Meyer, B. 1999. ‘Commodities and the power of prayer: Pentecostalists’ attitudes toward consumption in contemporary Ghana’, in Meyer, B. & Geschiere, P., eds. Globalization and Identity: dialectics of flow and closure. Oxford: Blackwell, 151–76.Google Scholar
Meyer, B. 2004. ‘Christianity in Africa: from African independent to Pentecostal-charismatic churches’, Annual Review of Anthropology 33: 447–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nsehe, M. 2011 a. ‘Wealthy Nigerians, pastors spend $225 million on private jets.’ Forbes 17 May. http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2011/05/17/wealthy-nigerians-pastors-spend-225-million-on-private-jets/.Google Scholar
Nsehe, M. 2011 b. ‘The five richest pastors in Nigeria.’ Forbes 7 June. http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2011/06/07/the-five-richest-pastors-in-nigeria/.Google Scholar
Obadare, E. 2018. Pentecostal Republic: religion and the struggle for state power in Nigeria. London: Zed Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ojo, M. 2006. The End-Time Army: charismatic movements in modern Nigeria. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Olivier de Sardan, J.-P. 1999. ‘A moral economy of corruption in Africa?’, Journal of Modern African Studies 37, 1: 25–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, K. 2014. Speculative Markets: drug circuits and derivative life in Nigeria. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. 2010. Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.Google Scholar
Pierce, S. 2016. Moral Economies of Corruption: state formation and political culture in Nigeria. Durham: NC: Duke University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Premawardhana, D. 2012. ‘Transformational tithing: sacrifice and reciprocity in a Neo-Pentecostal church’, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 15, 4: 85–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robbins, J. 2004. ‘The globalization of Pentecostal Christianity’, Annual Review of Anthropology 33: 117–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robbins, J. 2020. ‘World Christianity and the reorganization of disciplines: on the emerging dialogue between anthropology and theology’, in Lauterbach, K. & Vahakangas, M., eds. Faith in African Lived Christianity: bridging anthropological and theological perspectives. Boston: Brill, 15–35.Google Scholar
Silverstein, S. 1984. ‘Igbo kinship and modern entrepreneurial organization: the transportation and spare parts business’, Studies in Third World Societies 28: 191–209.Google Scholar
Smith, D.J. 2001 a. ‘“The arrow of God”: Pentecostalism, inequality and the supernatural in south-eastern Nigeria’, Africa 71, 4: 587–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, D.J. 2001 b. ‘Kinship and corruption in Nigeria’, Ethnos 66, 3: 344–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, D.J. 2007. A Culture of Corruption: everyday deception and popular discontent in Nigeria. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, D.J. 2014. AIDS Doesn't Show Its Face: inequality, morality, and social change in Nigeria. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ukah, A. 2003. ‘Advertising God: Nigerian Christian video-films and the power of consumer culture’, Journal of Religion in Africa 33, 2: 203–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ukah, A. 2007. ‘Piety and profit: accounting for money in West African Pentecostalism (part 2)’, Dutch Reformed Theological Journal 48, 3–4: 633–48.Google Scholar
Ukah, A. 2008. A New Paradigm of Pentecostal Power: a study of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria. Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Ukah, A. 2018. ‘Faith, fame, and fortune: varieties of Nigerian worship in global Christianity’. In Levan, C. & Ukata, P., eds. The Oxford Handbook of Nigerian Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 728–42.Google Scholar
Wariboko, N. 2014. Nigerian Pentecostalism. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.Google Scholar
Werbner, R. 2011. ‘The charismatic dividual and the sacred self’, Journal of Religion in Africa 41, 2: 180–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daily Champion, Lagos, Nigeria; Daily Trust, Abuja, Nigeria; Newswatch, Lagos, Nigeria; This Day, Lagos, Nigeria.Google Scholar
All names are pseudonyms to protect promises of confidentiality.Google Scholar
Chima, a 35-year-old tailor and member of a Pentecostal church, Umuahia, Nigeria, 31.1.2012.Google Scholar
Chinansa, a 38-year-old school teacher and member of an Anglican church, Umuahia, Nigeria, 24.2.2012.Google Scholar
Chinyere, a 41-year-old mother of five, hair salon proprietor and member of a Pentecostal church, Umuahia, Nigeria, 27.3.2012.Google Scholar
Emeka, a youth leader in Abia State, Ubakala, Nigeria, 14.7.2006.Google Scholar
Njoku, a 34-year-old father of three, motorcycle taxi driver, and member of a Pentecostal church, Umuahia, Nigeria, 13.2.2012.Google Scholar
Nkechi, a 43-year-old mother of four, small shop owner, and member of a Pentecostal church, Umuahia, Nigeria, 2.3.2012.Google Scholar
Uzoma, a 21-year-old unemployed secondary school graduate, Owerri, Nigeria, 24.10.2004.Google Scholar
Daily Champion, Lagos, Nigeria; Daily Trust, Abuja, Nigeria; Newswatch, Lagos, Nigeria; This Day, Lagos, Nigeria.Google Scholar
All names are pseudonyms to protect promises of confidentiality.Google Scholar
Chima, a 35-year-old tailor and member of a Pentecostal church, Umuahia, Nigeria, 31.1.2012.Google Scholar
Chinansa, a 38-year-old school teacher and member of an Anglican church, Umuahia, Nigeria, 24.2.2012.Google Scholar
Chinyere, a 41-year-old mother of five, hair salon proprietor and member of a Pentecostal church, Umuahia, Nigeria, 27.3.2012.Google Scholar
Emeka, a youth leader in Abia State, Ubakala, Nigeria, 14.7.2006.Google Scholar
Njoku, a 34-year-old father of three, motorcycle taxi driver, and member of a Pentecostal church, Umuahia, Nigeria, 13.2.2012.Google Scholar
Nkechi, a 43-year-old mother of four, small shop owner, and member of a Pentecostal church, Umuahia, Nigeria, 2.3.2012.Google Scholar
Uzoma, a 21-year-old unemployed secondary school graduate, Owerri, Nigeria, 24.10.2004.Google Scholar