Weekend Arena - Actor Clem Ohameze And Pastor Jeremiah Fufeyin: Between Charity And Marketing

We all need to thank Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin and members of Christ Mercy Land Church in Warri, Delta State. I hadn’t heard of them before, but their act of benevolence, whether intentionally soaked in marketing like people are saying, or not, has beamed great attention on them.

Whoever thinks it is easy to attract attention with generosity should do his. Many Nigerians are in need of such. I will volunteer to draw attention to anyone with such gestures with my share button.

Truth is that the act of giving is a virtue, a product of grace, and hardly justifies how rich or holy one is. People don’t give because they have too much. They give because something, they cannot explain ministers to them to do so. I am sure Fufeyin is neither the richest pastor in Nigeria nor the only one who saw Nollywood star, Clem Ohameze, who had made a video of himself, requesting for prayers. He had asked for prayers but got N8m in addition. It is a product of grace. God has intervened and it is left for Him to reward, depending on what the intentions of giving are.

For some colleagues of Fufeyin’s in pastoral pursuit, the N8m would have been a foundation for another exotic car in their fleet. Or a baseline donation for an altar call towards another private jet. But he chose to sow it in the health of Nollywood star, Clem Ohameze.

Those who know Clem very well will testify that he is a good man. He is generous to the level his income can accommodate and from my interactions with him, save from the usual ‘fine boy’ demeanours associated with dudes blessed with striking looks who happen to find themselves in a glamorous industry like the movies, he is a jolly good man. Perhaps, this is the reward for his little acts of generosity when things were good for him.

Perhaps, that is also what has kept him going in the face of two terrible accidents.

That ‘Oguta boy’ is a cat with nine lives indeed. While savouring the fame his role as Pastor Weaver in Kenneth Nnebue’s soar-away Nollywood flick, ‘End Time’, brought his way after his debut in ‘Millionaires are Saints’ produced by Dr. Ibe Kachikwu’s Hints magazine, his career almost got punctuated due to an accident. I had gone to interview him at LUTH where he lay in pains with a stiff neck due to that accident, but he was able to overcome the challenge, and soon bounced back to reckoning in the film industry.

But things are a lot different today.

Although there are no guarantees in life, Clem’s life should be speaking to lots of Nollywood stars. For many years, the Actors Guild of Nigeria has been talking about an insurance scheme for their members, who are the ones in public glare. Quite a laudable initiative, considering the precarious nature of life and living in our society, but little progress has been made in this direction. Perhaps successive Presidents of the guild have not drummed it hard enough into the ears of their members. 

I am aware that the smaller actors in the industry are readily available to sign up for such policies unlike the ‘big stars’ who feel they ‘have arrived’ and can place calls across to the Government Houses. But whoever ‘has arrived’ today should learn that he or she may not be the one who ‘will arrive’ tomorrow.



Slips of this nature happen mostly in creative industries where there are no managers, where the talent negotiates for everything, including the messaging in their press releases. Michael Jackson had people around him who took care of every business aspect of his talent, while he concentrated on his creativity. This is lacking here and that is why often, our entertainers are weighed down by vicissitudes of life. While looking at the inadequacies amongst artistes, one should not lose sight of the insurance companies. 

One would expect they come up with policies that will captivate the artistes and effectively plug the marketing space so created. Nobody would need to preach too hard to an artiste to get an insurance policy if it was an insurance company that was shown on social media paying claims to Clem, rather than the prophet.


The prophet has taken the ‘shine’ and deservedly too. I can only urge other pastors to emulate him and trend like him. There are many others, artistes and journalists in the industry, who need such gestures. People like Emeka Ani, Laura Nduoyo, Austin Fair Nwaulu and Ifechi Okoh do need all of us at this time. 

May God raise another Fufeyin for them!