Build a Financial Transparency Framework for a Lagos Megachurch

Nigerian megachurches collect billions of naira annually in tithes, offerings, and special fundraising. Yet most publish no audited accounts, no spending breakdowns, and no governance reports. For the millions of young Nigerians who are quietly leaving, or who stay but sceptical, the opacity around church finances is a live wound. Your task is to design a Financial Transparency Framework tailored to a large Pentecostal or charismatic congregation in Lagos or Abuja. Think about churches in the 5,000-plus weekly attendance range, with multiple income streams: tithes, building funds, school fees, media revenue, and merchandise. The framework should be realistic, not idealistic. It has to work within an environment where the senior pastor often holds near-total authority, where congregants are conditioned to give without question, and where legal accountability mechanisms are weak. Deliver a PDF or slide deck that includes: a proposed governance structure (who sits on a finance committee, how they are selected, what powers they hold); a standardised reporting template the church could publish quarterly; a set of disclosure principles written in plain English and Pidgin; and a short section on how congregants could access and interpret the reports. You should also address likely resistance points and how a reform-minded church leader could manage them. Good work will be specific enough to be usable. It will name the Nigerian Companies and Allied Matters Act, the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, or other real regulatory touchpoints. It will not read like a generic NGO governance manual dropped into a church context. The best submissions will show genuine understanding of how power and money actually move inside a Nigerian religious organisation.