Venerable Iyke Chukuka, a Nigerian Christian missionary, has raised concerns about how some church leaders in the country mislead their followers. He believes this is making people lazy by giving them unrealistic expectations about life.

Chukuka shared his views during an interview on 90MinutesAfrica with Rudolf Okonkwo. He is a respected clergyman in the Church of Nigeria and has helped spread the gospel by supporting church planters in different nations.

According to him, Nigerian pastors should focus on raising hardworking Christians, not just prayerful ones. He compared this to the Bible’s Apostle Paul, who worked as a tentmaker to support himself while preaching. He said the church should focus more on building “Pauls” than “Peters.”

He explained that many believers are being told to spend all night praying but then sleep during the day instead of going out to search for work. This, he said, goes against what the Bible teaches. Jesus came to give people a full life, including the blessing of the work they do with their hands.

Chukuka strongly believes that giving people unrealistic spiritual promises — like waiting for divine job offers without taking action — is not right. Telling someone who hasn’t job-hunted that “God will provide” is not biblical, he added.

To solve the problem, he suggested that pastors should also work like Apostle Paul did. That way, they can better understand what ordinary people go through every day.

Chukuka, who leads Emblaze Ministries, also warned Christians not to fall for the idea that everyone must become rich just because they are believers. He reminded listeners that even Jesus said there will always be poor people among us.

He criticized the prosperity gospel being preached in many churches today, saying it doesn’t work in places like the United States and Canada. In his view, this “gospel of the poor” only thrives in environments where people lack basic needs.

In Western countries, people don’t rely on prayer to travel safely or get medical help, he noted. They have working systems, good roads, and free healthcare, which reduce the need for desperate prayers that are common in Nigerian churches.

According to Chukuka, this is why many Nigerian churches abroad only attract Nigerians. Their messages don’t connect with people who already have their daily needs met and live in well-organized societies.