Church Shake-Up: Apostle Orokpo Michael Sacks Entire Media Team Over ‘Laxity’, Orders Reapplication Without Pay
By Passman Akpos
A wave of reactions has followed a fiery sermon by Apostle Orokpo Michael, who revealed that he recently dissolved his church’s entire media department, citing what he described as “gross incompetence and lack of discipline.”
Speaking during a message that has since gone viral, the cleric recounted a frustrating incident during a live broadcast of the church’s “Global Prayer Watch,” where technical issues caused the stream to stall for 45 minutes without any communication to viewers.
According to him, despite having a full media team on ground, no one deemed it necessary to inform the audience about the disruption. “Nobody had the intelligence to say ‘we’re sorry for the break in transmission,’” he said, expressing disbelief at what he termed a culture of negligence masked by spirituality.
The preacher disclosed that the affected staff, mostly young workers, were not unpaid volunteers but salaried employees earning between ₦100,000 and ₦250,000 monthly. Yet, he argued, their output did not match their compensation or expectations.
He further criticized the team’s workload complaints, noting that their primary tasks involved editing and clipping content from just two weekly live services. Drawing comparisons with more demanding professions like banking and the military, he suggested the workers lacked exposure to true discipline.
In a particularly striking example, the cleric narrated how a staff member allegedly damaged a high-end Alienware laptop worth nearly ₦3 million after spilling tea on it while on duty. When approached with an apology, the preacher insisted that “taking responsibility” meant bearing the financial consequences—something the staff member could not afford.
“This is not about being harsh because it’s church,” he said. “It’s about accountability. Carelessness has consequences.”
Following the mass dismissal, the cleric announced that all affected staff must reapply for their roles and would undergo a two-month probation period without pay. He also hinted at the possibility of outsourcing the church’s media operations to professional firms, referencing past global ministry practices as justification.
The development has sparked intense debate online, with opinions divided between those who support the call for excellence in church operations and others who question the severity of the measures.
In his closing remarks, the preacher emphasized that the church must abandon a culture of mediocrity, stressing that service to God demands even greater diligence than secular work. Quoting Bible (Colossians 3:23), he urged believers to approach every responsibility “as unto the Lord,” warning that mercy should not be mistaken for an excuse for irresponsibility.
The incident has reignited broader conversations about accountability, professionalism, and discipline within religious institutions in Nigeria.
