Abstract

It is no longer news that corruption is a persistent phenomenon in Nigeria; in which there is official misuse of funds and resources. If dishonesty or fraudulent practices are found in the mist of those in political power and among public servants, should such then be found in a place where the agitation day and night is on “holiness unto the Lord”? When “sacred corruption are found where the “so called people of God” dwells, then such a country is finished. The Church should be the precursor of anti-corruption campaign. But unfortunately, corruption in the Church is “a new thinking in reverse order”. Corruption in today’s Church takes many forms and can be interpreted in various ways. The faces of corruption in the Church are many. These as observed in this paper includes, misinterpretation of the word of God to suit their purposes, extortion, ethical problems, charismagic and so forth. The paper then examines the high rate of corruption in some selected new generation Churches in Ibadan Metropolis; with the view to establishing the level of greed and how efforts to maintain self-imposed ostentatious life style leads them into “sacred corruption in sacred places”. Phenomenological and descriptive methods were employed in carrying out the research. It is our belief that the results of the research will go a long way in reducing the level of “sacred corruption in sacred places” in Nigeria. 

Keywords

corruption, Ibadan metropolis, Neo Pentecostal, sacred, sacred places