There is something about Toke Makinwa and uncomfortable conversations—they always seem to find her, or perhaps, she finds them first.
In her usual fearless fashion, the media personality recently shared a deeply personal view that has since stirred both applause and quiet outrage. Speaking candidly during an interview with Chude, Toke revealed she hasn’t been comfortable paying tithes to churches. Not out of rebellion, she implied, but out of reflection.
For the 40-year-old mother of one, it is no longer just about giving—it is about where the giving goes.
She explained, with the calm honesty that has become her signature, that she would rather channel her tithe towards those who truly need it: the homeless, the orphaned, and the forgotten faces who will never sit in the front row of a cathedral, because in her words and sentiment, need does not live in air-conditioned auditoriums or beneath billion-naira chandeliers.
Her concern, she noted, stems from what she sees as a growing contrast—magnificent church buildings rising higher and grander, while suffering continues quietly outside their gates.
According to her, if churches have found the resources to build such massive structures, perhaps they already know where to find the funds to finish them. The unspoken question lingering in her words was simple: must the already burdened carry the weight of more bricks?
It was not an attack. Not entirely. It sounded more like disappointment dressed as honesty.