“Way Maker” was sung by millions who never knew its writer’s name. Sinach made sure they learned it

In May 2020, a Nigerian worship leader sat at number one on Billboard’s Christian Songwriters chart. It was the first time an African had held the top spot.

The songwriter was Sinach, born Osinachi Kalu Okoro and now legally Osinachi Egbu, and the song was “Way Maker”. By then it was being sung in churches across the world, in dozens of languages, and many of the people singing it had no idea it came from Nigeria.

A song that travelled without its writer

Sinach wrote “Way Maker” and performed it live, including in South Africa, before the commercial recording was mixed in 2015. It began as a worship song in Nigerian churches and spread fast across Africa, then to the diaspora, then into the wider Christian music industry. Its chorus, “Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness”, is simple enough to sing on first hearing, and its bridge builds to a repeated declaration that has kept congregations going for ten minutes at a time.

Major Christian artists in the United States recorded their own versions. Leeland’s version, released in 2019, and a version by Michael W. Smith were among those that pushed the song into American radio and the charts. At one point in 2020 two different versions of “Way Maker” were in the top ten of a Billboard Christian chart, which is what lifted Sinach to the top of the songwriters’ list.

The song’s global reach brought an old problem into the open: covers by well-known artists sometimes eclipsed the writer. Church music writers and commentators began pointing out that “Way Maker” was an African song written by an African woman, and that she should be named whenever it was sung.

The BMI award

In 2021, BMI, the American performing rights organisation, named “Way Maker” Song of the Year at its Christian Awards. Sinach became the first African gospel artist to win it. For a songwriter, that recognition matters in a practical way: it reflects how widely the song was played and performed, and royalties follow the same trail.

Who Sinach is

Sinach grew up in Nigeria and came up through the music ministry of Christ Embassy, where she led worship for years. Before “Way Maker”, she was already known across Africa for songs such as “I Know Who I Am” and “Great Are You Lord”, which were sung widely in churches. “Way Maker” took her from continental fame to global recognition.

A court fight settled in her favour

Success brought a legal challenge. Michael Oluwole, who had been hired to mix and master the recording, sued at the Federal High Court in Lagos, claiming co-authorship, a share of licensing income and ₦5 billion in damages. In August 2026, Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa dismissed the suit in its entirety. The court found the song already existed before Oluwole’s technical work began, and that mixing and mastering do not make someone an author.

The song has since been translated, reworked and recorded so many times that nobody can count every version. The name on the songwriting credit on all of them is the same.