•Singer Timi Dakolo and Apostle Femi Lazarus
Nigerian music artiste, Timi Dakolo, has publicly criticised Apostle Femi Lazarus, the lead pastor of Light Nation Church, for allegedly charging $150 for enrollment in his school of ministry.
This comes after Pastor Lazarus previously condemned gospel musicians for requesting fees for their performances, reports The Guardian.
In a post shared on his Instagram page on March 24, 2025, Dakolo questioned the consistency in Pastor Lazarus’s actions. This came right after the pastor detailed the charges and gospel artistes and how much they charge for a single ministry.
He highlighted that while the pastor admonishes gospel artistes for monetising their talents, he simultaneously imposes fees on individuals seeking religious education through his ministry school. Dakolo expressed his concerns, stating:
“All this was said in love and with respect sir. I am not a gospel artiste but a Christian raised in church. Let’s not shift the goal post. By your definition, if anyone charges to minister, they are not Gospel artistes, they are performers. And by that definition, if any preacher charges to teach and minister, they are merchants of hope and motivational speakers and performers too.”
He further stated: “Sir, you are charging as low as 150 dollars per person for your school of ministry. Teaching and preaching Jesus. Probably having as much as 1000 students. Let’s do the Maths. You even have premium and standard for God’s house? Are you not selling the gift and revelation freely given to you? Again let’s not keep shifting the goal post.”
This exchange stems from a broader debate initiated by Pastor Lazarus, who criticised gospel singers for charging fees to perform at church events. He argued that such financial demands shift the focus from genuine worship to commercial enterprise.
In response, Dakolo defended the artistes, asserting that they have the right to earn a livelihood from their craft and suggesting that churches unable to afford their fees should rely on their in-house choirs.
This has ignited reactions from christian communities and christians alike with comments in support of Femi Lazarus and others in support of Timi Dakolo.
A netizen wrote: “I don’t see anything wrong in charging for a school of ministry. It’s time, running expenses, overhead costs, contingencies etc. THE SAME WITH A MUSIC MINISTER!!! There are a few who overcharge; both parties included. Most of the ministers who are publicly against people charging for their service/craft will not fly economy, they won’t stay in B-C class hotels, there are certain churches they won’t attend or even respond to, they don’t fly alone and because they do their profiling well, their honorarium is bigger than the charges of other people. Go figure. So it’s not comparison, it’s compassion and common sense. Also, “unto the LORD shall the gathering of His people be,” not unto your opinions, vox populi, emotions or whatever else. Stay with the Gospel!!”
Another stated the opposite: “Dear Timi , I recently learned that you can’t win a tangible, logical based argument with Christians. They are mostly blinded by their belief to even see simple points that a 5-yr-old can understand if not biased already at that age. All of a sudden, it’s okay for him to charge for his own gift of the holy spirit because it’s a school, I like how they are factoring in cost of logistics and study materials . The gospel artist also has the same right to charge for his own external factors outside gift of the Holy Spirit . I don’t like this argument because they’ll never understand the simple basis and human construct of it . They’ll just keep shifting goal post and very soon end it with “ you can’t understand things of the spirit “ when clearly this is a logical conversation. This God we are all serving should just come and tell us the real interpretation of his Bible once and for all.”
Currently, online is buzzing and both celebrities are tackling each other, giving netizens premium gist for the day. What’s your take on the matter?
