Openlife Nigeria

OpenLife Nigeria reports that popular Nigerian gospel singer Nathaniel Bassey has revealed why he has not monetised the official YouTube page of his ‘Hallelujah Challenge’, an online prayer session.

The ‘Hallelujah Challenge’ began in 2017, holds virtual prayer meetings twice a year and features several gospel artists and clerics.

Since its inception, the prayer session has gained popularity among Nigerian Christians, particularly among the youth demographic. On 22 October, the 2025 edition surpassed the one million views across social media platforms, uniting Christians in fervent worship via YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

With 4.05 million subscribers and an average of 1.5 million views per Hallelujah Challenge session, Mr Bassey insisted that the prayer session is free from financial gain, despite claims that he could have generated approximately N1 billion in potential YouTube revenue as the prayer series wraps up on Friday.

In comparison, Pastor Jerry Eze reportedly earns over N7 million daily from his YouTube channel, with peak earnings surpassing N21 million on Sundays.

However, during the ongoing Hallelujah Challenge, scheduled for 7 October to 31 October 2025, the singer stated that the decision not to monetise the prayer session was based on divine instruction, not financial motives.

While speaking on the Day 23 live session of the event, Mr Bassey explained that monetising the channel is not part of the spiritual direction he received.

The preacher said, “People are dragging me because I didn’t monetise my YouTube channel for the Hallelujah Challenge. I won’t monetise it; God didn’t tell me to.”

The singer also raised concerns about scammers who create fake YouTube pages to profit from the event. He cautioned participants to be vigilant, noting that these impostors “criminally clone” his official channel and divert viewers to monetised pages.

“Some people join the Hallelujah Challenge from fake pages on YouTube. Let me tell you why: due to my personal focus on not monetising ‘Hallelujah Challenge’, some criminals, crooks, and scammers have cloned and stolen the feed from our page to air it, all in an effort to make money.

“So, if you find out as you are watching this now, and you are not on NathanielBasseymain. That is the official YouTube page. Any other page is a scam. Just trying to merchandise the grace of God,” he warned.

Despite public claims that monetising the platform could earn him millions of naira, Mr Bassey insisted that the prayer sessions are not for profit but for spiritual upliftment.

“They have dragged me all you can. When you monetise, they would say you are doing ministry for money. They would say you are trying to be proud when you do not. We will not monetise it. I am not led to do it. God will bless us in some other way,” he added.

Through the years, ‘Hallelujah Challenge’ has remained one of Nigeria’s most popular Christian online gatherings, with Mr Bassey maintaining that its purpose is purely spiritual and not commercial.