Popular preacher Pastor Abel Damina of Abel Damina Ministries has stirred controversy by stating that those who call themselves gospel music ministers are no different from mainstream artists like Davido, Tiwa Savage, and Burna Boy.
According to Damina, there is no biblical basis for the term “gospel music minister,” adding that there is nothing gospel about their lyrics.
The clergyman made the remarks while addressing his congregation, referencing a viral video where Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy lamented that he had to let go of some gospel music ministers because they were only in it for the money.
“The worst of them are the ones they call music ministers; I didn’t see that in the Bible. There is no difference between them and Davido, Tiwa Savage and Burna Boy. Their modus operandi is the same. They have agents, agencies, and managers. They have a list of things you must do. You pay, you sort things out before they come. They are the same thing.”
Damina argued that their lyrics do not reflect the gospel, emphasizing that true gospel music must contain the core message of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
“The only difference is that their lyrics are motivational, ‘Everything na double double o’. It’s not the gospel. The gospel must have the facts in it. Any song that doesn’t have those facts is not the gospel, it’s motivation. The gospel is how Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, that he was buried and that he rose again on the third day. If those lines are not in a song, it is motivation.”
The clergyman further expressed frustration that gospel artists were only interested in hyping and motivating the congregation rather than ministering the gospel.
“Yet they charge $50,000 for one night. Those of them they call A-List gospel ministers. They charge that kind of amount. N10 million for one night. These are businessmen using the Bible as a meal ticket. They don’t stay in teaching services and they don’t have pastors. They don’t sit down to be taught. They are just like prostitutes. When they come and sing, immediately they finish singing, they are gone. Because as far as they are concerned, they are the bosses. The rest of you, plus your preachers are apprentices. They are superstars. I don’t blame them. It is the churches that patronise them that are giving them that relevance.”
Damina also accused some ministries of being responsible for nurturing and creating what he described as a “monster” in the gospel music industry.
“There’s a ministry in this country that was responsible for fertilizing, nurturing and creating that monster. Now that ministry is regretting and looking for how to fight it but the monster has matured. They don’t know how to destroy it. They have tried to destroy it but some of them have left those churches because they have already established their business.”
He explained that the reason gospel music ministers eventually left the churches that groomed them was because they had grown too big for them.
Damina also faulted pastors who proclaimed gospel artists as anointed and ordained men of God, saying they are now struggling to control the situation.
“They are now trying to fight it but it is not working. You created the elephant, deal with it.”
