Popular relationship coach and pastor Kingsley Okonkwo has stirred controversy after launching a paid Christian matchmaking platform that charges subscribers up to ₦700,000 per year.
Okonkwo, senior pastor of David’s Christian Center, announced the platform, Mentor To Marry, on X on August 25, 2026. In a series of posts, he described modern relationships as commercialized and said many young men struggle to find genuine partners because they lack wealth.
“Relationships have been so commercialized nowadays that it’s almost impossible for a young man to find true love,” he wrote.
He went on to invite men who feel priced out of relationships, or who want to meet “godly, well-mentored ladies from all over the world,” to join the platform.
Mentor To Marry runs on three paid tiers. The Regular package costs ₦70,000 annually and includes eight weeks of mentoring classes, readiness assessments, and access to a limited pool of profiles. The Premium package, priced at ₦350,000, adds monthly profile recommendations, unlimited browsing, and membership in a private group. The VIP package, the platform’s top tier at ₦700,000, includes a dedicated matchmaker, priority access to Okonkwo himself, and off-platform introductions.
The platform frames its process around three stages: mentor, match, and marry. According to its website, mentoring comes first, with members expected to complete assessments and accountability checks before receiving introductions.
However, the pricing drew swift reaction on social media. Many users questioned why a faith-based mentoring service charged subscription fees comparable to or higher than those of established dating platforms. One user wrote that a man who could not afford ₦700,000 for the platform could also not afford it, pointing out the contradiction with Okonkwo’s own remarks about men being priced out of relationships.
X user OurFaveOnlineDoc questioned the setup directly, asking Okonkwo, “How is this different from what pimps do?” The same user argued the platform functions less like ministry and more like a commercial matchmaking service aimed at men paying for introductions.
User Nurse Bassey accused people of exploiting faith for profit, writing that “everybody is looking for a way to monetize people’s ignorance these days.”
Harry Chinwuba, who said he once followed Okonkwo’s relationship teachings, felt the platform crossed a line, arguing simply that people should “not merchandise the word of God.”
On the contradiction between his message and his prices, User Nero pointed to the gap between Okonkwo’s stated concern for men without money and the cost of the VIP tier, asking, “Can a poor person afford 700k just to meet a girl?”
One X user reworked a familiar proverb to mock the pricing, joking that the saying now reads, “he that subscribes 700k finds a wife.”
On the platform’s legitimacy, User Oriowo dismissed the entire model outright, calling it “scam of the highest order” and asking whether subscribers would get refunds if a match failed.
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Others raised concerns about the model itself, comparing the payment structure for accessing a pool of profiles to conventional matchmaking services rather than to church-based counseling.
Okonkwo has continued to promote the platform since its launch, describing it as a space for “serious godly men” to meet women who, in his words, are not focused on financial gain from relationships. He has not issued a direct response to the criticism as of August 27, 2026.
Mentor To Marry is registered under Love, Dating and Marriage Ministries and lists Kingsley and Mildred Okonkwo as its coaches and founders.
