Author: Abioye Tosin Lawrence
When governments fail to plan, they often turn to prayer. That seems to be the latest policy innovation from Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, which recently declared a three-day fasting and prayer programme, themed “Divine Intervention for Protection and National Development.”
One might ask genuinely, is there need to disturb God when the problem of man is caused by man?
Let’s be clear: prayer, in its essence, is noble. But when it becomes the default response to a crisis caused by human negligence, it ceases to be faith and starts to resemble state-sponsored avoidance therapy. Food insecurity in Nigeria is not a mystery. It is not a spiritual attack. It is the direct consequence of decades of misplaced priorities, politicized appointments, ignored reports, and rampant corruption.
The truth is uncomfortable but simple: God is not the Minister of Agriculture. He is not the Commissioner either. He is not in charge of farm input distribution, does not supervise rural road networks, and certainly doesn’t approve the federal budget. So why is He now being invoked in a circular, as if the heavens caused banditry, flooding, or the collapse of irrigation infrastructure?
A country where ministries are run by loyalty rather than logic is bound to keep fasting, because it’s easier than acting.
We keep pretending we are under spiritual siege when we are simply under hollow system. Farmers in Zamfara, Benue, and Kaduna are not leaving their land because of demons, they are fleeing bullets. Our silos are not empty because of divine famine, they are empty because of failed logistics, poor investment in research, and policy summersaults that demoralize producers.
Look around West Africa. Countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, and The Gambia, with far less rainfall and poorer soil quality than Nigeria, make strategic use of irrigation and targeted agricultural policies. These nations are not praying for rain, they’re working with what they have. Meanwhile, Nigeria enjoys over nine months of rainfall annually, has some of the most fertile and nutrient-rich soil on the continent, yet we’re here calling for divine intervention as if we’ve been cursed.
When last did you hear Ron DeSantis asking the Florida Department of Agriculture to fast and pray? Do American farmers wait on a holy ordinance to plant maize or manage pest control? No, they rely on science, innovation, sound policy, and a system that rewards results, not religious performances.
Even more tragic is that while the Ministry prepares for spiritual warfare in Abuja, many actual farmers can barely access fertilizer, are taxed at multiple illegal checkpoints, and remain invisible in national planning.
If we want protection and food security, here is the real prayer:
Fast from corruption. Abstain from appointments based on political loyalty. Pray with your hands in the soil, not just in the air.
Nigeria needs action, not anointing oil. We need data, not deliverance services in government buildings. We need policies that work, not proclamations soaked in incense.
The heavens have heard enough. Maybe it’s time the Ministry of Agriculture heard from the ground, from the farmers, from the experts, from the broken silos.
It’s time to be honest with ourselves. If we truly want people to love this country again, we must stop shifting blame to God and start doing the work of governance. Let us wake up, roll up our sleeves, and face reality.
God bless Nigeria. But Nigeria must bless itself too.
