Preachers Will Not Always Be Right”: Femi Lazarus Defends Arome Osayi as Nigeria’s Calling Sermon Ignites F!restorm
Preachers Will Not Always Be Right”: Femi Lazarus Defends Arome Osayi as Nigeria’s Calling Sermon Ignites Firestorm
The Nigerian church has never been a stranger to controversy. But the firestorm that erupted after Apostle Arome Osayi delivered a sermon arguing that Nigeria’s true national purpose is spiritual rather than economic has drawn battle lines that cut across the pulpit, the comment section and the wider public square. Now, one of the country’s most influential young clerics, Apostle Femi Lazarus, has stepped into the fray, not to endorse the sermon but to defend the preacher’s right to be wrong.
Lazarus, the founder of Sphere of Light Church, took to social media on Sunday, September 28, 2026, to call for restraint after Osayi was subjected to what he described as mockery and personal attacks. “We will not always agree,” Lazarus wrote. “Preachers will not always be right. Context matters, and we must learn to extend grace always. Apostle Arome is ours. A gift to the body. That attack on him and mockery is unacceptable. We can disagree while maintaining ethical boundaries. Unfortunately, this is what we get when we in the body ourselves tear each other down. Apostle Arome is a gift; we can disagree honourably.”
Lazarus’s intervention came after Osayi’s sermon, delivered on Sunday, September 27, 2026, went viral on social media. In the sermon, Osayi argued that Nigeria’s national calling was not rooted in manufacturing or technological advancement but in becoming a source of global spiritual revival and missionary manpower. He cautioned against reducing Nigeria’s identity to comparisons with manufacturing powerhouses like China, insisting that nations carry unique spiritual mandates. He also tied the country’s persistent challenges to spiritual opposition and called on ministers to deepen their preparation for greater spiritual responsibilities.
The sermon drew immediate and fierce criticism. Social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, offered one of the most pointed responses. He argued that a culture of miracle-centred religion had held Nigeria back from meaningful innovation and technological progress. While acknowledging that Nigerians are intellectually capable, he lamented that this potential is rarely channelled productively. He also defended Nigerians who travel abroad to acquire technical skills and return home to apply them. Social commentator Solomon Buchi framed his concerns around morality and civic conduct. He questioned how a nation with such a high concentration of churches continues to grapple with widespread corruption and dishonesty. Buchi recalled an era when being a Christian carried a strong association with integrity, arguing that this reputation has since faded considerably.
Osayi responded to the backlash by taking a swift and notable action on his social media page: he locked his comment section. The decision drew attention in itself, with many noting the timing relative to the wave of negative reactions his sermon had attracted. In a subsequent statement, Osayi broke his silence, claiming the viral 22-second clip that fuelled the controversy was taken out of context. “We are not saying that we don’t make mistakes sometimes, because I’m not saying that I’m a living perfect master,” he said. “But a scripture has a minimum standard of what is acceptable ministry in the service delivery of the Word, the mind of God, through the platform of scriptures. There’s a minimum requirement.” He criticised bloggers for isolating portions of his statements and presenting them without the surrounding context. “Every truth exists in a context,” he said. “So they take a window that is dissociated from its context and try to present me. So that 22 seconds thing you cut out was standing on a context, and it cannot stand alone.”
The controversy has exposed a deep and recurring tension in Nigerian public discourse: the role of religion in the nation’s development. On one side are those who argue, like Osayi, that Nigeria’s destiny is fundamentally spiritual and that its people must remain committed to ministry despite hardship. On the other side are voices like VeryDarkMan and Buchi, who contend that a fixation on miracles and spiritual calling has stunted the country’s capacity for innovation, accountability and civic transformation.
Lazarus’s intervention has added a new dimension to the debate. By defending Osayi while acknowledging that preachers are not always right, he has attempted to chart a middle path that neither endorses the sermon nor condemns the preacher. His call for grace and ethical boundaries is a reminder that disagreement, however sharp, does not have to descend into personal destruction. It is also a recognition that in the body of Christ, as in any community, unity does not require uniformity.
Osayi’s comments about the publicity generated by the controversy suggest he views the backlash as a form of validation. “The publicity I’ve had in Nigeria came from people that felt they wanted to shut me up,” he said. “They gave me the publicity I cannot pay for because I’m approved unto God.” Whether that framing will resonate with his critics or deepen the divide remains to be seen. For now, the debate continues, with Lazarus’s plea for grace serving as a counterpoint to the acrimony that has dominated the conversation.
The episode is a reminder that in Nigeria, where faith and public life are deeply intertwined, a single sermon can spark a national reckoning. Osayi’s message about Nigeria’s spiritual calling has forced a conversation about what the country’s true purpose is and whether the church has been a force for transformation or a distraction from the hard work of building a functioning society. Lazarus’s decision to defend his colleague, while urging him and others to disagree honourably, reflects the difficulty of navigating that conversation in a community that often struggles to separate the message from the messenger. The debate will not be resolved in a social media post or a locked comment section. But it has opened a space for reflection that may prove more valuable than the controversy itself.
