A mandate to praise God in the month of June have drastically erupted to what could be termed as a Revolution in Nigeria and the world at large.
This revolution which is popularly known as the The Hallelujah Challenge, led by popular gospel singer, Nathaniel Bassey had witnessed people in different parts of Nigeria, as well as those in the diaspora, gather with an intent to worship and praise God, also committing the state of the nation into God's hand.
With over 60,000 people joining daily on Instagram and Facebook to participate in the one-hour, midnight praise/worship session all through the month of June, the Hallelujah challenge has come to be the most trending tropic on the Nigerian social media space with the #HallelujahChallenge#Olowogbogboro. Judging from the comments on social media, the testimonies are endless, the experience, life changing, and as such, it's success is not far fetched.
Although in the Nigerian music scene, gospel music or gospel artistes are deprived of many opportunities when compared to secular music. Radio stations and music channels have relegated gospel music to an early morning or Sunday morning syndrome, hence, making it difficult for some gospel artistes to attain commercial success.
Although in the Nigerian music scene, gospel music or gospel artistes are deprived of many opportunities when compared to secular music. Radio stations and music channels have relegated gospel music to an early morning or Sunday morning syndrome, hence, making it difficult for some gospel artistes to attain commercial success.
However Nathaniel Bassey has broken the chain and has set a standard for not just his gospel music counterparts but for Nigerian music generally, driving his mandate with the use of social media as an integral tool for effectively propagating his course. I am sure many of us never expected it or even saw this coming, that a live worship/praise/prayer session will gain the massive attention it did, with celebrities consistently involved such as Chioma Akpotha, Ice Prince, Funke Akindele, Rita Dominic, Ini Edo, just to mention a few, also getting as far as been featured on CNN. Indeed this is a wake up call for other artistes, a revolution!!
The Hallelujah Challenge has received heavy criticism from different people recently and in their own perspective have seen it to be a shift of focus, away from solving the challenges of the Nigeria Economy. One of such criticism is by Media Personality, Joy Isi Bewaji who went all out against the singer and his mandate.
After establishing a trend, we strongly believe there will be many other live events to come, on social media. The question is who will jump on this train next? Will they exceed and out-perform Nathaniel Basseys' record breaking #HallujahChallenge? We are here watching as things unfold.
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