1.1 Introduction
The Pentecostal church was introduced at a time when Nigerians were experiencing economic depression, poverty, un-employment, corruption and sicknesses. The education sector is in the poorest state. These are socio-economic problems being witnessed in Nigeria because of bad leadership in the country. The Living Faith Pentecostal church has been able to provide schools that offer quality education services from Nursery to tertiary level nationwide. The cost of education in Nigeria is very high. Pentecostals are Christians who believe in an experience called "baptism with the Holy Spirit." This form of baptism refers to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon a person, allowing the person to speak in tongues and to manifest other spiritual gifts (Encyclopedia, 2021).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
A global study and research on Pentecostal churches is an on-going assignment because of its impact on the religious, political and socio-economic life of the people. A survey of the available number of Pentecostal churches in Nigeria as shown that they are emerging daily in the nooks and crannies of the country. The emergence of Pentecostal churches is daily challenging the existing Mainline and Aladura Pentecostal churches in national development. It has therefore become a fundamental concern for scholars of Pentecostal church History, History and Sociology in Nigerian Universities to devote much time to study such pentecostal churches.
Essien (1998) opines that "this situation calls for continuous research of their forms, the socio-religious and economic conditions that necessitate their emergence and their relevance to the social life of their adherents and to the society at large". This has necessitated the need for this study on the influence of Pentecostal churches on the development of education in Nigeria. In Nigeria, some of the established Pentecostal churches are Pentecostal church of God's Mission, founded by the late Arch-Bishop Benson A.Idahosa in Benin City, Edo state, Household of God's Pentecostal church, being led by Rev. Chris Okotie in Oregun, Lagos, the Redeemed Christian Pentecostal church of God founded by the late Pastor Josiah Akindayomi and presently under the leadership of Pastor Enock Adejare Adeboye with International headquarters at Mowe, Ogun state. The Deeper Life Christian Pentecostal church founded by Pastor Williams Folorunso Kumuyi and based in Lagos.Rev.Gabriel Oduyemi's Bethel Ministry at Wonder City, Lekki Peninsular, Lagos, Pastor Patrick Anwuzia's Zoe Ministries, and Pastor Tunde Bakare's Latter Rain Assembly in Lagos, Rev.Tunde Joda's Christ Chapel International, Lagos and Bishop Wale Oke's Sword of the Spirit Pentecostal church based in Ibadan.
Others are the Victory Life Pentecostal church International established by Pastor Mike Bamidele at Ilesa, Osun state, New Testament Pentecostal church based in Ilorin and established by Pastor M.R.Popoola, Mountain of Fire and Miracles, founded by Pastor Daniel Kolawole Olukoya with its headquarters in Lagos, the Synagogue of All Nations, established by Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua in Lagos, Rhema Chapel, Ilorin established by Rev.George Adegboye, the Word Assembly being led by Rev Isaac Omolehin and of course the Living Faith Pentecostal church (a.k.a Winners Chapel) founded by Bishop David Olaniyi Oyedepo.
Many Nigerian scholars have researched on Pentecostal churches in the country. For instance, Deji Ayegboyin, Matthews Ojo, Michael Ogunewu, Richard Burgess, Hannah Ishola, and of course Rotimi Omotoye. Generally, Pentecostal churches are "Christians seeking deeper experience of God beyond regular pentecostal church attendance. They rely on the new birth and the power of the Holy spirit" (Ojo, 2004). In other words the pentecostal churches are seen emphasizing the importance of the Holy spirit in daily worship. This research is focused on the Living Faith Pentecostal church a.k.a Winner Chapel and its contributions to education development in Nigeria.
Pastor David Oyedepo in Ilorin started Living Faith Pentecostal church with about 48 members in 1980 and within nine months of its existence, membership rose to about 128. He eventually established the Living Faith Outreach Centre in May, 1981.Pastor Oyedepo then relocated to Kaduna. It was from Kaduna that he went to Lagos in September 1989 before he moved to Ota, Ogun state which is now regarded as Cananland and International headquarters of the pentecostal church. The pentecostal church has over three hundred branches in Nigeria alone (Opoola, 2010). The pentecostal church building at Ota is assumed to be the biggest auditorium in Nigeria seating fifty thousand and four hundred congregation as at September 2000. Living Faith Pentecostal church has however contributed to education development in Nigeria in several ways (Omotoye, 2006).
Western education was introduced to Nigeria by the Christian missionaries in the 19th century. It was a strategy adopted by the early missionaries to get converts into Christianity. The Living Faith Pentecostal church went into the establishment of schools early, unlike some other Pentecostal churches that ventured into education. The Living Faith Pentecostal church has to its credit a conglomerate of Nursery, Primary, Secondary and Universities. The nursery and primary schools are under the name Kingdom Heritage while the Secondary section is named Faith Academy. These schools are found in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. The first University of the Pentecostal church was named Covenant University and was established in Ota in 2002.The second University was named Landmark and was established in Omu-Aran, the native town of Pastor David Oyedepo in 2010. The Universities as also complemented the efforts of Federal and State Governments in providing admission to many applicants who are seeking admission to the Universities in Nigeria. We also believe that that the missionary orientation of the schools would minimize cultism and moral decadence in the Nigerian Universities. Apart from providing jobs for teaming Nigerian populace, scholarships are usually provided by Pastor Oyedepo for indigent students, most especially in the Covenant and Landmark universities. He was once quoted saying that "All school age children, not in school, due to inability of parents, will be fully taken care of by the Pentecostal church".
Therefore, in Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel) where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Influence of Pentecostal Churches on the Development of Education.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that the Pentecostal churches were introduced at a time when Nigerians were experiencing economic depression, poverty, un-employment, corruption and sicknesses. The education sector is in the poorest state. These are socio-economic problems being witnessed in Nigeria because of bad leadership in the country. The Living Faith Pentecostal church has been able to provide schools that offer quality education services from Nursery to tertiary level nationwide. The cost of education in Nigeria is very high.
Odumuyiwa (2006) observed in his study that the tuition fees being paid in the Christian Universities are too exorbitant and beyond the reach of the common man in the society. He opines "A situation in which pentecostal churches establish private universities, charge exorbitant fees should be replaced with technical colleges that can be maintained within the resources of the pentecostal church. However, this study is examining the influence of Pentecostal churches on the development of Education.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to scrutinize the Influence of Pentecostal Churches on the Development of Education using Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel) as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To examine the influence of Pentecostal churches on the development of Education
- To examine the educational activities of Pentecostal churches in Nigeria.
- To identify the factors that can contribute to rapid development in education in Nigeria.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- What is the influence of Pentecostal churches on the development of Education?
- What are the educational activities of Pentecostal churches in Nigeria?
- What are the factors that can contribute to rapid development in education in Nigeria?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
- H0: There is no significant factor influencing of Pentecostal churches on the development of Education in Nigeria
- H1: There is a significant factor influencing of Pentecostal churches on the development of Education in Nigeria
1.7 Significance of Study
The following are the significance of the Influence of Pentecostal Churches on the Development of Education research work:
- The outcome of this study will educate the general public on the influence of Pentecostal churches on education development in Nigeria.
- It will be a useful guide for the management and the authorities of Living Faith Pentecostal church Worldwide and their academic institutions on how to improve on their services in a bid to contribute to educational development in the nation.
- This research will also serve as a resource base to other scholars and researchers interested in carrying out further research in this field subsequently, if applied will go to an extent to provide new explanation to the topic.
1.8 Scope of the Study
This study on the influence of Pentecostal churches on the development of education in Nigeria will cover all the educational activities and contributions of Living Faith Pentecostal church A.K.A Winners Chapel.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
