RELIGION AND ECONOMY: A STUDY OF PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES AND SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SCALE ENTERPRISES (SMES) IN PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA

Résumé

Much literature on the church and national development focus on the place of the church on Nigerian politics and the roles of different Christian denominations towards the development of education in Nigeria. Not much light is shed on the roles of the church in the development of myriad sectors of Nigeria’s economy. This paper directs our attention to the roles the church towards the development of Small- and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Port Harcourt City and its environs. A number of SMEs examined include the textile, paper, music, electronics, manufacturing, transport and automobile, timber mill and building industries. The paper observes that the church through it inter-face with the above industries contributes immensely the Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria. It the recommends that greater attention be given to show how religious ideologies could contribute to the making of Nigeria an industrialised country.