The idea of singing songs of praise is a well-established idea in the country of Nigeria. Historically, songs of praise were song to whatever god(s) the natives believed in, and oftentimes were sung to revel in a rainstorm after a period of drought, or to honor a local ruler who had died.
With the introduction of Christianity to Nigeria, many of these praise songs were simply transformed to now worship God. Many praise and worship songs still use traditional instruments, such as drums or horns, and, no matter what language they were sung in originally, it is common to hear the worship songs sung in all the local languages. Nigerian custom allows for praise and worship songs to be sung in different places and at different times. The most common are family songs that can be heard being sung in the morning and evening. They are introduced at a young age and are very popular with children, to ask God for guidance and protection. Many Nigerian praise songs are sung at weddings to ask God for his blessing on a newlywed couple. There are also Nigerian Christian songs sung as worship at church. Some popular ones include “Joy, Joy, Joy” and “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”
A very popular example of an album filled with Nigerian praise music is the CD “Fountain of Praise”, which features three of Nigeria’s best known worship leaders: Wale Adenuga, Bob Fitts, and Kunle Aja. The CD features a mixture of well-known worship songs and local language songs. It is very common in Nigerian Christian songs for the same songs to be remade by other groups, oftentimes just a short time after they were originally released. This has led to some minor controversy, as well as lyrics in contemporary Nigerian Christian songs that seem to glorify things outside of Nigeria.
That being said, there is no denying the power and popularity of Nigerian praise songs. There is a Facebook page devoted to Nigerian Christian music and many mp3s are available for download on the Internet. Nigerian people are uncomplicated and really love singing simple praise songs that worship God in adoration. For a gosepl music fan, listening to these Nigerian praise songs can provide a welcome change from the usual, and get back to the heart of worship: praising God.