By Deborah Nnamdi
Popular gospel artist Nathaniel Bassey has revealed that he deliberately chose not to monetize his official YouTube channel during the 2025 edition of the Hallelujah Challenge, despite the platform’s potential to generate enormous revenue.
The annual online worship and prayer session, which ran from October 7 to October 31, drew millions of participants across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Bassey’s YouTube channel, which currently boasts over 4.7 million subscribers and averages 1.5 million views per session, could reportedly earn him as much as N1 billion if monetized.
However, the gospel singer maintained that his decision was based on divine instruction rather than financial considerations. Speaking during the Day 23 live session of the Challenge, Bassey said, “People are dragging me because I didn’t monetize my YouTube channel for the Hallelujah Challenge. I won’t monetize it; God didn’t tell me to.”
He also raised an alarm over fake YouTube channels impersonating his official page to stream the event for profit. Bassey warned worshippers to be cautious, stressing that his only authentic page is NathanielBasseymain.
“Some criminals and scammers have cloned and stolen the feed from our page to air it and make money,” he said. “If you’re not watching from NathanielBasseymain, you’re on a fake page trying to merchandise the grace of God.”
Addressing critics who suggested he was missing out on a huge financial opportunity, Bassey insisted that the Hallelujah Challenge remains a ministry rooted in worship, not wealth.
“They have dragged me all they can,” he said. “If I monetize it, they’ll say I’m doing ministry for money. We will not monetize it. I am not led to do it. God will bless us in some other way.”
Since its debut in 2017, the Hallelujah Challenge has grown into one of Nigeria’s largest online Christian gatherings, bringing together millions of believers worldwide for nights of praise, worship, and prayer. Bassey has consistently emphasized that the vision of the event is to glorify God and unite Christians in worship—not to generate profit.
