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The service is off to a chaotic start, in true Nigerian fashion. The band is missing a member. The head pastor is nowhere to be found. With some delay the lead vocalist, wearing a pink sequinned turban, begins to sing: “Iwo l’oyẹ, Baba iwo l’oyẹ” (“You are worthy, Father you are worthy” in Yoruba, which is spoken in south-west Nigeria). She could be in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. But the church is in Croydon, on London’s southern fringe.
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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “A home in the world”
Middle East & Africa
October 26th 2024
From the October 26th 2024 edition
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