Nigeria’s real security challenge, By Sunday Ogidigbo
In the courts of heaven, blood has a voice. When innocent blood is shed, it does not dry quietly; it speaks. It cries. And though men may silence the victims, the soil remembers the sound. From Abel to the prophets, and from the villages of Jos to the fields of Kaduna, the principle remains constant — the blood of the innocent never dies unheard.
Nigeria stands today under the weight of that cry. Long before threats of foreign intervention began to echo, the ground had been groaning. For years, blood has been spilled across faiths and tribes — Christians, Muslims, children, farmers, travelers — and each drop is an indictment. Every unaccounted killing builds a moral case file that heaven cannot ignore.
Now, when an external voice — in this case, that of U.S. President Donald Trump — threatens military action over alleged genocide, we must discern the moment. Such a threat is not the cause of our crisis; it is the effect of it. It is the sound of politics reacting to what the spirit realm has already registered. It is the fruit, not the root.
In the days of David, Israel endured famine because Saul’s government had violated a covenant and shed innocent blood. David discerned that the drought was not meteorological but moral. The heavens had closed because justice had been ignored. When he sought mercy and atonement, rain returned. That is how spiritual ecosystems work. When blood is shed, consequences follow — sometimes as famine, sometimes as instability, sometimes as diplomatic hostility. What Nigeria is facing now is not merely an external threat but a divine echo — the world responding to what heaven has long registered.
Trump’s remarks about possible military action over alleged killings of Christians may sound bold to some, but to those who understand divine causality, it is a man treating fever while ignoring infection. The threat of intervention is an attempt to manage the fruits of violence without addressing its roots. You cannot bomb away a curse. You cannot drone-strike a spiritual wound. A military solution will not wash away the blood; it will only add more to the soil. Both Christians and Muslims will suffer if we turn a moral crisis into a geopolitical battleground. Nations often reach for weapons when they should reach for repentance. They prepare for war when heaven waits for intercession.
Every time blood is shed unjustly — whether by bandits, insurgents, or those sworn to protect — the spiritual temperature of a nation drops. Trust erodes, fear multiplies, and the land becomes defiled. Yet there is hope: when the Church rises in repentance and intercession, the same heaven that heard Abel’s blood can also hear Christ’s Blood — the Blood that speaks better things. This is the hour for the Church in Nigeria to stand in the gap, not with partisan anger or sectarian rhetoric, but with priestly authority and prophetic insight. To pray until mercy interrupts judgment, and to push the nation into the mercy seat before men with missiles decide to play God.
Still, prayer alone is not enough if governance remains careless with justice. The Nigerian government must recognize that every unresolved killing weakens our moral standing before both heaven and the international community. The state must show, through transparent action, that no citizen’s life is expendable. Justice is not achieved by denial but by truth. The government should urgently institute an independent truth and reconciliation process to investigate the patterns of violence across regions — whether communal, sectarian, or political — and publicly identify their root causes. Silence and cover-ups are not neutrality; they are complicity.
Security reform must move from the rhetoric of reaction to the discipline of prevention. We need intelligence coordination, community policing, and early-warning systems that protect both farmers and herders, Christians and Muslims alike. When people see justice being done, extremism loses its oxygen. National healing also requires leadership that speaks peace with both conviction and compassion. The presidency, governors, and faith leaders must jointly communicate a new moral direction — that every Nigerian life counts. The blood we share as citizens must speak louder than the blood we shed in conflict.
Our foreign policy must be guided by humility, not hostility. We cannot threaten our way out of moral scrutiny. Instead, Nigeria should engage diplomatically, showing the world that we are not deaf to the cries within our borders and that we are capable of moral self-correction.
Our recovery must begin where David began — at the altar, not the armoury. The Church must lead the nation in repentance, truth-telling, and reconciliation. Political leaders must seek justice for victims and transparency in security operations. Religious leaders must preach peace louder than politicians preach fear. If we cleanse the land of blood through repentance and justice, heaven will defend our sovereignty better than any army ever could. But if we ignore the cry of the blood, even global powers will feel licensed to interpret our silence as consent.
The voice of the blood is calling, and the world is reacting. Let us not blame the echo; let us address the source. The true security of a nation is not found in its weapons but in its righteousness. If we humble ourselves in prayer, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways, then — and only then — will He hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land.
Trump’s threat may dominate headlines, but heaven’s indictment is deeper. Nigeria’s healing will not come from Washington or from warfare. It will come from repentance, righteousness, and mercy — from a Church and a Government that understand that before God, every drop of innocent blood still speaks.
Sunday Ogidigbo is Senior Pastor of Holyhill Church, Abuja. He writes on faith, leadership, and the intersection of spirituality and culture. X/Instagram/Facebook: @SOgidigbo. Email: [email protected]