Op-Ed: In The Name of The American Father, and The Nigerian Son

In Nigeria, politics is religious and religion is political. This cycle of mutual affect is brokered by religious leaders, connecting politicians who need the (hopefully blind) support of congregations, with religious people who are looking for political stances that appease their conscience. Thanks to the country’s engineered destabilisation, there is ample opportunity for this. The faithful are encouraged to look to the intervention of the Abrahamic God for sociopolitical salvation, and trust their pastors to point them in the direction from whence this salvation shall come. And for every salvation, there is a saviour. 

In recent times, as right-wing political leaders increasingly seek community with Nigerian pastors, it appears that the direction from which this salvation is sought is becoming less in the name of a Heavenly Father, and more an American one; encouraging not only a new wave of far right politics, but also a new wave of Zionism. 

Obvious signs of this have occurred as direct extensions of right-wing events happening in the US. Like numerous Nigerian pastors preaching Charlie Kirk as a holy martyr, regardless of his documented racism toward Black people. Or Christ Embassy’s Chris Oyakilome creating an entire anti-vaxx movement in his church. However, there are quieter signs that tell of deeper penetration. 

One instance is a video of a praise session from The Life and Fire Evangelical Ministry, a small church in Uyo, Nigeria, which surfaced on Twitter on the 16th of August. It showed the flags of the United States and Israel, side by side, beside the altar as the praise leader sang and danced. In a brief conversation, Apostle Ime Martin, founder of the ministry, shared that the flags were there as religious symbols because “America is born out of Jerusalem. Israel are God's chosen generation. And its capital is Jerusalem.” This echoed former American ambassador to Israel David Friedman’s 2020 speech expressing the City of David as the spiritual bedrock of America. For many like the Apostle, this connection between two of the most powerful countries in the world inspire thoughts of an active political salvation sent from above, waiting to reach Nigeria. This is especially important considering the targeted religious violence that has plagued Nigerian Christians for decades, especially in the north. 

Although in reality America’s current support for Israel’s Zionist movement  has less to do with God, and more to do with oppressive nationalism (genocide, anti-migrants movement), occupation (e.g Venezuela, Cuba, Palestine), and reported webs of blackmail; these intentions are shrouded with religious rhetoric in Nigeria. And as both powers seek influence and control  in Africa,  the appearance of religious solidarity is proving to be an easy pathway. Which is why in equally hyperreligious Kenya, Israeli investor Rivkin Erez could easily say that “God showed him” the 520 acre land he identified for an Israeli-Kenyan agricultural commune in Solai. However in Nigeria, the story is less about possible collaborations, and more a direct instrumentalization of  violence against Christians, and access  through  influential pastors.

For instance, in the midst of the Epstein Files scandal in January 2026, Trump suddenly experienced renewed concern over the Christian genocide in Nigeria, prompting the entry of U.S. troops in February. Four months later, at the U.S.-Nigeria Faith Heroes Award in Washington DC (a first!), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, honoree and Head of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), reminded the audience to “Thank God for Trump,” narrating how he visited the President of Nigeria and his wife (an RCCG pastor), advising them on how to react to Trump’s announcement of operations in Nigeria. Curiously, just before he extolled the (frequently questioned) efforts of President Tinubu, he referred to Trump as his “friend,” stating: “I have liked him since his first term when the American ambassador visited me” to have discussions whose topic “doesn’t concern you.”

Reflecting on these views, and the connected rejoicing of many Christians that Trump sent troops to save people in Nigeria, political scientist and RCCG member of 10years, Ella Oguntimehin*, expresses concern that pastors like Adeboye are being used as proxies for access. “What we (Nigerian Christians) get is just one statement from a person and we already like that person.  We can be gullible like that and Trump is using that to his advantage. We have this white savior complex… America does not come anywhere and go empty… America puts America first.” 

Oguntimehin also noted that she had observed support for Zionism in the Church, particularly after Adeboye’s 2023 video declaring that God would give Israel “absolute victory” and it “will be the war that will be the end of all wars in Israel.” She pointed out an inconsistency in the pastor’s readiness to be immediately vocal over Israeli casualties while making no public statements over christian casualties in northern Nigeria which have intensified under the administration he supports, until Trump’s announcement. 

In a similar vein, Shola Makinde*, a member of Christ Embassy Church, says she doesn’t understand why Oyakilome seems to be constantly facing the West. “He actually doesn't dabble into Nigerian politics but when it comes to things like Trump, you’ll find him… I don’t understand why they don't seem to recognize that we're living in Nigeria. We rather pray for Ukraine before we pray for God to deliver us from Tinubu.”

Whenever these kinds of criticisms of powerful Nigerian pastors come up, there is no shortage of members willing to shut them down with Psalm 105:15; “Touch not my anointed, and do my prophet no harm.” This spirit of unquestioning allegiance, is what makes pastors singularly powerful, and potentially dangerous. 

While it is true that Nigerian politicians have never needed much international incentive to destabilize the country, as the next election cycle draws nearer, this political love triangle between America, Zionism, and evangelical churches in Nigeria raises important concerns. Concerns that sit in the historical context of America’s documented use of pentecostal christianity to reduce liberation theology in the ‘Third World’ in order to protect its interests from teachings that emphasise civic organization and self-liberation. The alternative to self-liberation being awaiting a saviour. Already there are sermons, such as this by Apostle Osayi Arome of Remnant Christian Network, claiming that while countries like China may be hailed for engineering, Nigeria’s divine calling is evangelization and prayer. Interestingly, Arome recently acquired a $1.2 million property in Minnesota, and relocated his entire family to America.

America’s interests in Nigeria extend beyond needing new military ground in West Africa after being kicked out by Niger in 2024; and public support from Nigerians is crucial to douse imperialist accusations. President Tinubu is currently in a legal battle to keep his 1990s drug probe records with the FBI sealed. Consequently, it is unsurprising that he has signed a $700 billion contract inviting America to mine minerals in Nigeria, while the world reels from what American companies have done in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It would be in America’s interests for Tinubu’s administration, heavily threatened by growing civic action, to continue.

As attempts at civic consciousness are made by everyday Nigerians toward the next election, it is important to watch out for how American far-right political talking points, and their growing fascist tendencies, begin to filter through churches to condition Nigerians to unite under American political concerns, or redirect conversations from self-liberation toward dependence masked as ‘collaboration.’ Because while Nigerians may be starting to sense in the popular saying “God helps those who help themselves,” redirection seems bound to begin with sermons starting in the name of an American political father, through his Nigerian son, to inspire a spirit of unwavering support for a new  imperialism.