When the poor can’t enter God’s School

By Sam Agogo

Across Nigeria today, the cost of education has become a national scandal. Parents are crushed under the unbearable burden of school fees, and countless children are being denied their right to learn. Education—the very ladder that lifts people out of poverty—has been hijacked by greed and turned into a playground for the wealthy. The most shocking part is that some of the most expensive schools in the country are owned by the Church—the same institution that once fought to educate the poor and spread the Gospel.

It is a damning irony. The Church, meant to be the defender of the vulnerable, has now become their oppressor. Faithful members who tithe, serve, and pray tirelessly are being locked out of schools their contributions helped build. This is not just an inconvenience—it is a moral outrage, a betrayal of the very Gospel the Church preaches.

When the early Christian missionaries arrived in Africa, they did not come to make money. They came to save souls and transform societies. They saw education as an instrument of the Gospel—a way to enlighten minds and change hearts. They built schools from mud, bamboo, and thatch, sometimes going without food so children could eat knowledge. Their mission was pure: literacy for the sake of faith, service, and character.

Education was made accessible through church funding, donations, and volunteer labor. Teachers served without salaries or with minimal stipends, driven by calling, not cash. Tuition was free or highly subsidized. Communities contributed land, labor, and resources. The curriculum focused on reading, writing, arithmetic, and Bible study. Those schools produced leaders, thinkers, and servants of God. Education was a ministry, not a marketplace.

Today, that sacred mission has been prostituted. Church-run schools have become luxury academies where only the rich can thrive. What was once a ministry of mercy has been turned into a business empire. Parents who once built these schools with their own hands now watch helplessly as their children are denied access. The poor have been exiled from the very institutions their faith created. This is a spiritual failure of the highest order. The Church of Christ was never called to exploit; it was called to uplift. When a Christian school becomes a fortress for the wealthy and a prison for the poor, it crucifies the Gospel all over again. Christ fed the hungry; He did not charge them to eat. The missionaries educated the poor; they did not extort them to learn.

Yes, schools need teachers, infrastructure, and discipline. But when the pursuit of “excellence” becomes a veil for greed, the Church becomes complicit in oppression. A school that claims to be Christian but shuts its doors to the poor is a mockery of the Cross.

There are still flashes of hope. In Gboko, Benue State, the ministry of Bro. Gbile Akanni has rekindled the spirit of the missionaries. In his school, no child is denied education because of poverty. Parents contribute what they can—sometimes cash, sometimes food—and the school thrives on community support and faith. This model is a living testament that Christian education can still reflect compassion, integrity, and Christlike love. It proves that faith and education can coexist without exploitation.

The Church in Nigeria must wake up. It must remember that education was once its most powerful tool for nation-building and evangelism. The missionaries did not seek profit; they sought transformation. They taught children to read, to think, to serve, and to lead. Today, the Church has the wealth, manpower, and infrastructure to make education accessible again. What it lacks is courage—the moral backbone to put compassion above commerce. If the Church truly wants to save souls, it must first save lives. If it wants to shape the future, it must open its schools to the present. A church that builds grandiose schools but locks out the poor is not building God’s Kingdom; it is building monuments to hypocrisy.

It is time for the Church to repent—not from sin of doctrine, but from the sin of neglect. The Church must rediscover its moral compass and return to true ministry. Education must once again become a vessel of mercy, not a machine of profit. Open the gates to the children of the poor. Remember the missionaries who taught for free so Africa could rise. Let our schools be sanctuaries of hope, where knowledge meets faith, and love meets learning.

If the Church refuses, it will continue to preach one thing and practice another, leaving the world to question whether we still serve the Jesus of mercy or the Jesus of convenience.

By Sam Agogo
For reflections, comments, and further conversation:
📩 Email: samuelagogo4one@yahoo.com
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