The NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 2nd Feb. – Sunday 8th Feb. 2026
A LAND OF FALSEHOOD
Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? (Psalm 12:1-4).
During the Second World War, Josef Goebbels ran the Nazi propaganda machinery with this slogan, “tell a lie a thousand times, and it will become the truth.” The statement underscores the heavy reliance of the Nazis on disinformation. They caused a lot of destruction leading to the death of over 70 million people worldwide, but they were eventually dismantled. The propaganda of Josef Goebbels did not prevent Hitler from committing suicide. Nothing good comes out of lies and falsehood.
Nigeria has been having challenges in governance since Independence, but nothing in the history of the country has prepared citizens for the emergence of All Progressives Congress (APC) into politics and power. Right from its inception, the APC has left no one in doubt that it believes that deceit is virtue. The lofty promises that APC made in 2015 captivated citizens that Nigeria was eventually arriving Eldorado. Alas, it was all deceit. APC had no intention of fulfilling any single promise it made.
Sadly, one can review some of the broken promises of the APC as follows:
• Ending Boko Haram and insurgencies rapidly.
• Creating millions of jobs (e.g., 3 million annually).
• Generating 20,000 MW+ of electricity.
• Subsidy removal without hardship.
• Free education and graduate stipends.
• Refineries running at 100% capacity.
• Fighting corruption as priority.
• N1 will equal $1
• Fuel at N70 per litre
Every promise that the APC made turned out to be the exact opposite of what it did after it got into power. Even if politicians in the APC lacked imagination and problem-solving skills, they could at least have tried to maintain what they met on ground. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) left Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa in 2015. Without blinking, the APC drove the economy into recession in 2016 and in 2020. One year after taking over government, the APC moved Nigeria from the largest economy in Africa into recession. A recession occurs when a country records two consecutive quarters of negative growth in its GDP. By comparison, from 1999 to 2015 when PDP was in power, Nigeria did not experience any recession.
Not satisfied with driving the economy into recession, the APC turned Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world in 2018. Nigeria overtook India as the country with the highest number of poor people. The “poverty capital of the world” label came from high absolute numbers of people living in extreme poverty — typically defined as living on less than $1.90 per day. In 2018, there were an estimated 87 million Nigerians living in extreme poverty, compared with India’s then-lower count, making Nigeria the country with the globally largest number of extremely poor people at that time. https://punchng.com/with-87m-poor-citizens-nigeria-overtakes-india-as-worlds-poverty-capital/?utm_source=chatgpt.com#google_vignette
The population of India is roughly six times that of Nigeria, yet under the APC, Nigeria overtook India as poverty capital of the world. Under Buhari, 87 million Nigerians were living under extreme poverty, which identified the country as the poverty capital of the world. Under Tinubu, the World Bank stated in 2025 that 139 million Nigerians are living under extreme poverty. https://www.icirnigeria.org/tinubu-reforms-fail-to-lift-139-million-nigerians-out-of-poverty-says-world-bank/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Apart from corruption and incompetence, the other area in which the APC excels is disinformation. There is a difference between misinformation and disinformation. The difference needs to be highlighted because the response to both differs. Misinformation refers to a false information shared without the intent to deceive. This could be an honest mistake or an assumption that a source was accurate. Disinformation, on the other hand, is false information shared with deliberate intent to deceive. That is common amongst politicians seeking to manipulate the electorate. Misinformation requires correction while disinformation should be tackled with exposure, resistance, and a demand for accountability.
The APC has an army of propaganda mercenaries who daily stand reason and reality on the head, acclaiming fictional achievements, claims that are sadly inconsistent with the reality in the marketplace. Whenever they are confronted with facts, they resort to abuse and insults, using forceful tactics to silence the voice of truth. Their common defence is whoever challenges the lies is 'working for the opposition.' To them, whoever interrogates their party or candidate is either a member of the PDP or the Labour Party.
Whereas politicians in the APC are degrading Nigeria, the shocking reality is that most of those who handle their propaganda are Pastors, who lie for the APC like evil spirits. We do not need to name them, but their identity is not hidden. This creates a moral and spiritual burden for the Nigeria Church, that those who promote falsehood in the land are ordained ministers of the Gospel.
The National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) once raised an alarm, that the gross misconducts being swept under the carpet by the Church were too many. The Elders urged that the house be swept clean and every misconduct brought out so that the Church can regain its moral and ethical authority. That advice might be heeded tomorrow.
As with the APC propaganda mercenaries, whoever confronts Church leaders with evidence of misconducts is usually accused of “causing disunity” in the Church and fighting church leaders, or “trying to control” the Church structure. In the face of this, most Nigeria Christians have rather supported their Church leaders than support any investigation into the allegations. Consequently, the Nigeria Church is sitting on a mountain of unresolved acts of corruption, election rigging, compromise, theft, and treachery, which have all combined to rob the Church of spiritual power and authority. The Church is assailed with foes within and without but lacks the spiritual authority to answer the enemy at the gate because of its moral decadence.
If the Church, the agent of Jesus Christ the Truth, is so alien to the truth, what hope does the land have for deliverance? Only the truth sets free, and only the Church has the capacity to unleash it. Unfortunately, the gatekeepers of the Church wear falsehood as a garment and the members of the Church love to have it so ... a land of falsehood.
Anywhere one goes in the country, one is confronted with the daily reality that the average Nigerian is a liar. This assessment is not restricted to non-Christians; it is worse within the Church. Many Church leaders on multiple occasions have been indicted of deceit. Pretence and false spirituality are common amongst Church leaders. Even some who proclaim holiness and sanctification as their doctrinal focus have shown that they will do anything for money. They fall over themselves courting the approval of corrupt politicians who loot the treasury and bring unimaginable sufferings to the masses. The spiritual influence that promotes falsehood in Nigeria flows from the Church, particularly from the gatekeepers.
As intercessors plead with God for Nigeria, there should be self-reflection on this matter. How do we handle the truth as individuals? Any Christian who does not condemn falsehood is not different from members of the APC. It is not virtue to see a lie and leave it unchecked or unchallenged. Christians must properly engage propaganda mercenaries and shutting them up. By doing so, the spread of evil will be checked. When God wrote a letter to Church leaders in August 2021, His complaint was that the leaders were not speaking against the evil taking place in the land. By keeping quiet, they endorse the evil. In like manner, when liars start promoting non-existing achievements of the APC, Christian silence is an endorsement of the lies. It is time to speak up and speak out. Silence in the face of falsehood is not virtue; it is endorsement of evil. If everybody is speaking out in righteous indignation against the evil in Nigeria, the country will change. Even if non-Christians keep quiet, Christians must speak out. That is their calling. Only the truth sets free.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Ecc. 10:16-17
Pray for God to have mercy upon Nigeria and raise men of noble birth to lead this country.
2. John 8:32
Pray that God will raise Church leaders who have regard for the truth, so that Christians can be set free from bondage.
3. Ps. 140:11-13
Pray that God will silence all the evil speakers in Nigeria who promote and defend evil.
4. Ps. 10:1-4
Pray for God’s judgment upon evil and wicked rulers in Nigeria who oppress the people and inflict pains on the citizens.
5. Eph. 6:12 Take authority over the spirits of wickedness prowling all over Nigeria, committing atrocities.
6. Ps. 68:1-2
Intercede for the release of the remaining 160 Christians from the 177 kidnapped in Kurmin Wali community in Kaduna State on 18th January 2026.
7. Isaiah 62:1-4
Pray for God’s righteousness to cover Nigeria as the water covers the sea.
AMEN
