Rita Odafe
Rev Fr Chinenye Oluoma, a Nigerian Catholic priest, has voiced his frustration regarding the substantial amount of money that the federal government allocates annually for religious trips to Israel.
He raised questions about the justification for the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) accepting funds from the government for these trips.
Oluoma proposed that this financial resource could be better utilized to support various tech startups, business ventures, and innovative ideas aimed at helping young Christians.
He conveyed his message in a post titled “Look At The Birds” on his Facebook page, emphasizing the importance of this issue.
In his post, he stated, “I want to raise your awareness and inspire a pushback against empty religious practices in our society. As Christians, we should scrutinize CAN. Are you aware of how much money CAN receives from the Federal Government for religious tourism to Israel each year? Just think about how many young Christians could benefit from such funds supporting startups, businesses, and innovations.
“When you realize the potential these funds have for energizing our young entrepreneurs, please show some love.”
“We can take inspiration from nature—birds, dragonflies, beavers, bats, and cats—and harness similar ingenuity for technological progress. However, we can only achieve this when we stop fretting over trivial matters. Jesus pointed out, ‘Look at the birds; they don’t plant or harvest, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them…’ This signifies that humans should not fret over issues we can address. If birds, without the advanced intelligence required for agriculture, don’t stress about sustenance, neither should we.”
