Nigeria, Sept. 5 -- Elizabeth Olayiwola, University of Abuja

In Nigeria today, one doesn't have to attend a church service to hear a sermon. The pulpit has moved - onto screens, into living rooms, and across YouTube.

Along with this shift, a fascinating genre has emerged: Nigerian evangelical cinema. These films blend entertainment with Pentecostal spirituality, turning prayers into special effects and spiritual battles into dramatic storylines.

This transformation is not accidental. It reflects a wider trend in which religion and media intersect to shape how Nigerians - and increasingly, Africans in the diaspora - understand the spiritual world.

As a media scholar I have been researching the Nigerian evangelical screen world for over...