But I must also urge you to remember this: Nigeria’s problems are not only political and economic… They carry deep, far-reaching spiritual dimensions that can only be decisively addressed by a superior spiritual force; one wielded by men and women with an unwavering commitment to righteousness, and above all, to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where the Nigerian church is most urgently needed.
One of the most unsettling visions I received about Nigeria came during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. In it, I watched his presidential motorcade being intercepted, deliberately cut off, by a group of politicians. They produced what appeared to be a document and, under armed supervision, compelled him to sign it. Then the vision ended.
Not long after, something unmistakable began to unfold in the natural realm. Buhari’s most vocal supporters began abandoning him, one by one, consumed by disillusionment as Nigeria descended into a catastrophic spiral of insecurity and economic suffering. What most people did not realise, what they could not see, was that the foundation for that collapse had already been laid in the spirit realm. Agreements had been struck. Bargains had been sealed.
The forces I saw in that vision were not ordinary political actors. They were spiritual powers operating through human vessels, powers determined to use the Buhari administration as a vehicle to entrench the ideology of Jihad in Nigeria; advancing it through the deliberate displacement of ethnic communities and the systematic economic subjugation of non-dominant groups.
This is a truth that must be stated plainly: the spirit controls the natural. It is not primarily politics that determines the direction of a nation, it is the totality of the spiritual climate and the spiritual allegiances of its leadership.
A Nation on the Verge of Breaking
On a separate occasion, I was shown another quick but deeply sobering vision; a map of Nigeria. Before my eyes, it cracked and split apart, from the upper right to the lower left. The vision was brief. But its weight has never left me.
Taken together, these revelations, along with many other messages the Lord has entrusted to me over the years, have driven me to one unavoidable conclusion: Nigeria is in the deliberate plan of God for a strategic shift. But that shift will not come through politics alone, nor through spiritual activity divorced from the realities of governance.
It will require both, the supernatural and the political working in concert.
Politics determines who leads and the policies they pursue. The supernatural determines the environment in which those leaders either rise or fall. One without the other is incomplete.
When the Supernatural and the Political Converge: A Warning From American History
Dr Perry Stone, in his prophetic work on the supernatural dimensions of American politics, documented a striking and sobering pattern in one of his books, Deciphering Endtime Prophetic Codes. Here, he notes an early research done by a prophetic teacher in America, stating that some US presidents elected in years ending in zero died before completing their terms, either through assassination or sudden natural death.
The cases are well documented:
- Abraham Lincoln, elected 1860, assassinated 1865;
- James Garfield, elected 1880, assassinated 1881;
- William McKinley, re-elected 1900, died 1901;
- John F Kennedy, elected 1960, died 1963.
After Kennedy, no president died in office despite the assasination attempt made on Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980, another year ending in zero. But Reagan’s story took a different turn. According to Dr Perry Stone, someone within Ronald Reagan’s inner circle had been made aware of this prophetic pattern in the aftermath of Kennedy’s assassination. Rather than dismiss it, Reagan’s administration responded with urgency: intercessors were mobilised, prayer was organised even within the White House, and the curse was confronted head-on in the spirit realm, and broken.
Reagan survived two full terms. He was even shot, and still he survived. In fact, after he was shot, one of the intercessors who knew about the “curse of the zero” year was so terrified. But their prayers saved the president’s life.
Dr Perry Stone calls this recurring phenomenon the “zero-curse year.”
The implications for Nigeria are direct and sobering. There are spiritual dimensions to the destiny of nations that no amount of political engineering can override. Nigeria is not exempt from this reality. If anything, Nigeria is one of the most contested spiritual territories on earth. Jihadists, US, UK, Russian, and French imperialists, all have strategic interests in the oil and natural resources rich African nation.
As Nigeria marks sixty-six years of independence, there is very little to celebrate when measured against a standard of genuine excellence. And excellence must be the measure. You do not determine greatness by comparing yourself to mediocrity. You measure yourself against the best, and by that standard, Nigeria has not yet arrived.
Ancient Forces, One Nation
Nigeria is not simply a political problem. It is a deeply contested spiritual battleground, and it has been for generations.
From the advancing forces of Jihad, to the lingering tendrils of the British imperial system, to other highly organised demonic structures with centuries-old interests in this land, multiple forces are actively competing for the soul of one nation. Every Nigerian with genuine spiritual discernment must therefore direct their energy not only toward political solutions but toward understanding and confronting the spiritual root systems that have made those political solutions perpetually elusive.
Nigeria is a deeply religious nation. Its transformation cannot bypass the role of faith and spiritual values. No nation rises above the ceiling of its dominant spiritual climate. While Nigeria is constitutionally a secular state with deeply polarised religious communities, we need not impose a single religion on the nation. What we must do is rigorously examine the values that each faith tradition brings to the table, and collectively commit to the supernatural belief system that most powerfully advances equity, transparency, and genuine national development. If we solve for the spiritual, the political will begin to yield.
The DNA of a Nation Born in Chains
The political instability, the corruption, the ethnic tension; none of it is accidental. To understand Nigeria’s present, we must reckon honestly with its birth.
Let us ask the question plainly: Can you nurture a nation from infancy to adulthood without understanding its spiritual and natural lineage?
Nigeria, Who Gave Birth to You?
You were born from the womb of the British Empire — not out of love, not out of vision for your people, but as the product of economic transactions among greedy imperialists. Your very foundation was constructed on the doctrine of divide-and-rule: the deliberate merging of vastly different ethnic, cultural, and religious peoples into a single state, not to unite them, but to ensure that their divisions would make them permanently manageable and perpetually dependent.
This strategy is not unique in history. It bears a troubling resemblance to the apparatus of Nazi Germany, where division was weaponised as a tool of control. Hitler’s propaganda machinery, led by the notorious Dr Joseph Goebbels, was engineered to create a German society incapable of distinguishing truth from deception. As Dr Erwin Lutzer defines it, propaganda is “the intelligent manipulation of the masses.” Goebbels did not eliminate truth, he buried it beneath layers of orchestrated narrative, sacrificing the welfare of ordinary people to preserve the establishment.
George Orwell captured the same dynamic with devastating precision: “They don’t solve problems, they use them.”
Nigeria’s story is a variation of the same script. Her vast resources have been systematically plundered, first by imperialists, and then by their locally trained successors: the political elite, the entrenched establishment, the corrupt gatekeepers of power who have learnt to profit from the nation’s dysfunction. In this environment, misinformation has become the preferred currency of governance. As Dr Lutzer soberly observed, “The media does not just disseminate information, it alters the consciences of entire generations.”
Nigeria’s media, which should serve as an independent arbiter of truth, has been substantially compromised, leaving ordinary citizens adrift in a sea of competing narratives, unable to locate solid ground.
Sixty-Six Years and Still Waiting to Rise
As Nigeria marks sixty-six years of independence, there is very little to celebrate when measured against a standard of genuine excellence. And excellence must be the measure. You do not determine greatness by comparing yourself to mediocrity. You measure yourself against the best, and by that standard, Nigeria has not yet arrived.
A nation that still cannot guarantee consistent electricity. A nation where clean water is a luxury rather than a right. A nation where the security of life and property remains fragile. A nation where fuel prices, food prices, and housing costs have become unbearable burdens for the average family, such a nation cannot, in good conscience, declare herself great.
She is great in potential. But potential does not fix roads. Potential does not feed children. Sustained, courageous action does.
The battle for Nigeria must be fought on two fronts simultaneously: politically and spiritually. To fight on only one front is to fight with one hand tied behind your back. Nigeria’s redemption is possible. But it will require the full surrender of both our ballot and our altar. Happy 66th birthday to my beloved Nigeria!
There is a passage in Scripture that I believe speaks directly to Nigeria’s past, present, and the promise of its future. It is found in Isaiah 66:7–9:
“Before she was in labour, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labour, she gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” Says your God.
This is the blueprint, from labour pains to delivery. If God Himself has brought Nigeria to its time of birth, He is fully committed to causing it to deliver. The promise is irrevocable.
But the condition is equally clear: the gods that have entrenched themselves in Nigeria, chief among them the god of greed, which has taken deep root in the hearts of many politicians and far too many religious leaders, must be systematically uprooted. A nation cannot deliver under the authority of a false god.
The Church Must Lead, Or Step Aside
As followers of Jesus Christ, we carry a responsibility that extends far beyond the walls of our sanctuaries. The Bible is unambiguous: contentment is a virtue; greed is a sin at its root. The church of Christ in Nigeria must therefore lead the spiritual revolution of this nation, not through rhetoric, but through the visible, verifiable modeling of the values of Jesus Christ.
These values must govern how we run our churches, how we conduct our ministries, how Christians engage in politics, how Christian professionals operate in the marketplace, and how church leaders steward the platforms entrusted to them. This is what it truly means to be the light of the world.
When the church operates with this kind of moral authority, she earns the credibility to unite people across divides, to pray with genuine spiritual power, to engage political parties and candidates with discernment, and to advance sound moral values that weaken and subdue the wicked spiritual forces that are actively working for Nigeria’s destruction.
Dr Tony Evans said it precisely: “When conscience dies in a nation, truth becomes the first casualty.”
And we must equally remember: a nation is not great because of the value of its wealth. It is great because of the wealth of its values, values that are both spiritual and natural.
A Word to the Advocates and Fighters
I want to close by honouring every Nigerian, at home and in the diaspora, who has refused to give up on this nation. Those who daily defy threats, intimidation, and danger to lawfully advocate for truth, freedom, fairness, equity, and justice. Your courage is not unseen. It is not unimportant.
But I must also urge you to remember this: Nigeria’s problems are not only political and economic.
They carry deep, far-reaching spiritual dimensions that can only be decisively addressed by a superior spiritual force; one wielded by men and women with an unwavering commitment to righteousness, and above all, to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where the Nigerian church is most urgently needed.
The battle for Nigeria must be fought on two fronts simultaneously: politically and spiritually. To fight on only one front is to fight with one hand tied behind your back. Nigeria’s redemption is possible. But it will require the full surrender of both our ballot and our altar. Happy 66th birthday to my beloved Nigeria!
Ayo Akerele is the senior pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of the Voice of the Watchmen Ministries in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached through [email protected]. You can connect with him on: YouTube: @VoiceoftheWatchmen, TikTok: @drayoakerele, Instagram: @drayoakerele, Facebook: @Ayo Akerele
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