Comedian Forever, whose real name is Akuidolo Orevaoghene, has weighed in on churches paying christian performers when invites to minister in church.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV, Forever gave his opinion on the current back-and-forth between pastors and gospel singers.
A number of pastors have spoken against gospel singers charging to sing in churches.
Others speaking in support of gospel singers mentioned that pastors also make money from preaching and have no right to criticise gospel singers.
Giving his opinion, Forever said he has a selective approach to accepting payment from churches. He said some churches get his services for free while others are charged.
He recalled a particular incident in 2007 where he was paid a meagre N50 by a church. He said he initially thought it was a joke until another member confirmed that the payment was indeed genuine.
The comedian said nowadays, when churches invite him to perform, he responds by saying he doesn’t charge churches but aks them to decide on a payment amount.
According to him, this approach allows him to gauge the church’s appreciation for his expertise, which he has honed over the years.
He said: “There are churches I don’t charge, and there are churches I charge. I’ve gone to certain churches and I told them to use their mind to pay me but I ended up asking if they really had any mind at all.
“In 2007, I was paid N50 by a church. I thought it was a joke until another person was bringing N50 mint and the first person said ‘we’ve paid him’, that was when it dawned on me, I left it with church mind.
“When a church calls me now, I’ll tell them that I don’t charge churches, but I’ll like to know how much they want to pay me. Because the reason they call me is not because i’m the only funny person, but because they trust the expertise that I’ve mastered over the years.”
Forever also shared a surprising experience last two years with a large church in the East where he was invited from Lagos to perform at the General Overseer’s birthday celebration.
He recalled: “There’s a big church about two years ago in the east, they invited me to surprise their G.O on his birthday.
“I ended up being surprised after I received N150,000. I was shocked because I imagined myself leaving Lagos to go collect N150,000 in the East.”