Two prominent Nigerian pastors participated in events marking the inauguration of Donald Trump. Pastor William F. Kumuyi was invited to the swearing-in ceremony, but he couldn’t attend due to a venue change caused by harsh weather.

Instead, he attended a prayer service for the incoming president and met with political groups.

The invitation of Kumuyi to the inauguration was unusual, as Trump broke tradition by inviting world leaders from countries like China, Italy, and Argentina, but no African leaders were on the guest list.

Nathaniel Bassey, a well-known Nigerian gospel minister, performed at the ‘US Presidential Inaugural Prayer Breakfast’ on Monday morning. This non-political, faith-based event was held before the swearing-in ceremony, but it wasn’t part of the official celebrations, and the president-elect didn’t attend.

As a former math professor, Pastor William F. Kumuyi is the founder of Deeper Life Bible Church and the convener of the worldwide evangelistic ministry, the Global Crusade With Kumuyi. According to the Global Crusade, the Deeper Life church is the third largest in the world, with 120,000 attendees every week.

After traveling to Washington DC, Kumuyi posted on his social media that he met with Congressmen from the powerful conservative youth group Turning Point USA to discuss how they could partner for global evangelism. On Sunday, he delivered a prayer at the ‘Inauguration Praise & Prayer convocation’ hosted by US pastor Jim Garlow and Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council, a US evangelical organization.

Nathaniel Bassey is a Nigerian singer, pastor, trumpeter, music producer, and gospel songwriter from Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria. He has gained global recognition through his music and worship program “Hallelujah Challenge” on social media, with almost four million followers on Instagram. Bassey started his online praise and prayer sessions in 2017 to connect Christians worldwide.

Although Bassey refers to himself as a pastor, he is most widely recognized as a gospel artist. He is also a youth pastor and music minister at the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lagos, Nigeria. Bassey was the only African artist to perform at the Prayer Breakfast event in honor of Trump.

According to a statement from the Global Crusade ministry, Kumuyi participated in the inauguration-related festivities to “celebrate a return to religious freedom for America and support for other nations to combat religious persecution.” Trump is popular among evangelical Christian voters in the US and has promised to uphold Christian values.

In 2019, during his first presidential term, Trump hosted the first meeting of foreign ministers focused solely on religious freedom. In a 2020 Executive Order, he stated that “religious freedom for all people worldwide is a foreign policy priority of the United States.”

Dion Forster, Professor of Public Theology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, said that both Trump and Kumuyi would benefit from Kumuyi’s invitation to the inauguration. He stated that Kumuyi could demonstrate, “I am a friend of the most powerful man in the world.” For his part, Trump and his team could use Kumuyi’s popularity to gain power and influence in Africa and keep other actors like Russia and China out.

“The genius – and I hate to use that word – of the Trump political machine is that they really know how to work outside the traditional structures of national politics,” Forster said. “Where Joe Biden would have set up connections with ambassadors, senior business leaders, Trump is the kind of guy who says ‘where does power lie outside of those structures? And how can I bring those kinds of people closer to me?'”

Caleb Okereke, founder and editor of Minority Africa, agreed that the backing of popular pastors like Kumuyi and Bassey could help Trump gain popular support on the African continent. Okereke believed that shared political views could unite US conservatives and African evangelists.

“There is a marrying of global conservative ideals, so I think Pastor Kumuyi and Pastor Nathaniel Bassey are only a small representation of what I think is a huge alignment between US politics and politics on the continent,” Okereke said. “I see them as a signifier of something that is much more entrenched, which is the agenda of aligning against LGBTQ+ populations.”

However, Okereke noted that there are mixed feelings about Trump in Africa, citing the US president’s reference to African nations as “shithole countries” and his restriction of immigration from several African states, including Nigeria, as part of a controversial travel ban during his first term.

“I’m amazed at how much gender and sexuality almost blind everyone to whatever they’re saying,” Okereke said.