WHEN FAITH BECOMES COMMERCE: HOW PENTECOSTAL EXCESS AND RELIGIOUS EXPLOITATION ARE DEEPENING POVERTY IN NIGERIA.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester

“From SPIRITUAL LIBERATION to ECONOMIC ENSLAVEMENT.”

There was a time when Christianity in Nigeria represented hope, moral restraint, communal responsibility and resistance against injustice. Today, however, a disturbing transformation has taken place. What was once a faith rooted in service has, in many quarters, degenerated into an industry of extraction, the one that feeds on poverty, desperation and blind belief. Nowhere is this more visible than in the excesses of modern Pentecostalism.

Nigeria, Africa’s most religious nation by self-identification, is also one of its poorest. This contradiction is neither accidental nor mysterious. According to the World Bank, over 63% of Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty, yet Nigeria simultaneously hosts some of the wealthiest pastors in the world, many with private jets, sprawling estates and luxury motorcades. This is not merely irony; it is indictment.

From Pulpit to Marketplace. The Nigerian Pentecostal movement, which expanded rapidly from the 1980s amid economic decline and military dictatorship, initially offered emotional relief and spiritual reassurance. Over time, however, FAITH was MONETIZED. Prosperity theology (popularly summarized as “SOW A SEED TO REAP A HARVEST”) became the dominant message. Poverty was reframed not as a structural failure but as a personal spiritual deficiency.

The late German sociologist Max Weber warned that when religion becomes fused with material reward, it risks turning faith into an economic transaction rather than a moral compass. In Nigeria today, this warning has materialized. Congregants are told to ignore hunger, unemployment and failing healthcare systems while being encouraged to give tithes, offerings, “first fruits” and special donations to often at great personal cost/or encounter with the “MAN OF GOD.”.

The result is tragic: families go hungry while pastors grow richer.

Commercialized Miracles and the Sale of Hope. Perhaps the most grotesque feature of this transformation is the commercialization of spiritual symbols. HOLY WATER, ANOINTING OIL, STICKERS, CALENDARS, HANDKERCHIEFS, SALT, SUGAR (even so-called “MANTLES”) are sold in the name of Jesus Christ, who famously overturned the tables of money changers in the temple.

Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr once observed that “religion can become the most cruel illusion when it is detached from justice.” In Nigeria, miracles are marketed as commodities, while critical thinking is discouraged. Fake prophecies flourish, fear is weaponized and skepticism is framed as rebellion against God.

This is not faith. It is psychological manipulation.

Pastors as Political Power Brokers. Equally troubling is the deep entanglement between Pentecostal leaders and political elites. Many pastors now serve as spiritual LEGITIMIZERS of CORRUPTION, offering prayers instead of accountability and prophecies instead of policies. Politicians accused of looting public funds are celebrated on altars, where stolen wealth is rebranded as divine favor.

Political scientist Claude Ake once noted that African elites often rely on ideology (religious or ethnic) to mask material exploitation. In Nigeria, the church has become one of the most effective tools for this purpose. Instead of mobilizing citizens to demand good governance, many churches preach submission, patience and supernatural waiting.

The message is clear: PRAY, DO NOT PROTEST.

Church Proliferation, Poverty Expansion. Nigeria has one of the highest concentrations of churches per square kilometer in the world. In many streets, especially in urban centers, eight to eleven churches may operate within a single neighborhood. Yet the same communities suffer worsening unemployment, crime and infrastructural decay with NO electricity.

This disproves the simplistic claim that more churches automatically produce moral or economic progress. As economist Amartya Sen argues, development requires institutions that expand human freedom and not those that normalize deprivation while promising rewards in the afterlife.

Religion that discourages social responsibility, civic engagement and critical inquiry ultimately weakens society.

The Psychological Cost of Gullibility. The greatest damage done by exploitative religion is not financial; it is mental. Millions of Nigerians have been conditioned to externalize responsibility for systemic failure. Instead of DEMANDING HEALTHCARE, they pray for HEALING. Instead of ORGANIZING for JOBS, they FAST for BREAKTHROUGHS. Instead of CONFRONTING INJUSTICE, they wait for DIVINE INTERVENTION.

This learned helplessness sustains poverty.

As philosopher Karl Marx famously argued (not to mock faith, but to diagnose suffering) “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the opium of the people.” In Nigeria, religion has increasingly become a sedative that numbs political consciousness while enriching a powerful clerical elite.

Christianity Was Never Meant to Dehumanize. It is important to state clearly: this CRITIQUE is not an ATTACK on CHRISTIANITY. It is a DEFENSE of it.

Jesus Christ preached humility, service, justice and sacrifice. He lived among the poor and condemned religious leaders who exploited them. The EARLY CHURCH SHARED RESOURCES AND CARED FOR WIDOWS, ORPHANS AND THE SICK. Today’s celebrity pastors, guarded by armed security and insulated by luxury, resemble corporate executives more than servants of God.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian executed by the Nazis, warned: “Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church.” Nigeria today is drowning in cheap grace and abundant promises with no moral cost to those in power.

Where Are We Headed? If this trajectory continues, Nigeria risks producing generations conditioned to believe that salvation lies not in education, innovation, accountability or civic duty, but in prophetic declarations and financial offerings to religious strongmen.

NO SOCIETY CAN DEVELOP THIS WAY.

Faith must return to its moral foundation. Churches must be places of conscience NOT consumption. Pastors must be servants, not gods. And citizens must reclaim their agency from politicians and from pulpits alike.

A Final Reflection.

Nigeria is not poor because God abandoned it. Nigeria is poor because responsibility has been outsourced to heaven while earthly injustice thrives unchecked. Until religion stops anesthetizing the masses and starts empowering them, the cycle of poverty will persist.

True faith should awaken the mind, strengthen the conscience and demand justice not silence hunger with promises of miracles.

The question is no longer “WHERE IS GOD?”

The real question is: WHEN WILL NIGERIANS/AFRICANS STOP ALLOWING GOD’S NAME TO BE USED AGAINST THEM?