In Nigeria, deception doesn’t hide in the dark—it wears a robe, carries a Holy Bible or Qur’an, and often sits at the front row of both church and mosque. This is the sacred charade, the unholy alliance between the pulpit and the podium, the holy lie that has quietly become the loudest sermon in our national life.
When our leaders lie, they don’t tremble. They are sworn into top public offices and even preach with Holy Books. They even invoke God’s name in stolen manifestos, quote scriptures over looted treasuries, and make sanctimonious speeches while orchestrating social injustice. A governor fails to pay salaries for eight months, yet attends crusades to ‘thank God’ for victory at the polls. A senator builds a church auditorium with constituency funds and dedicates it with pomp. Is this devotion or diversion? The line between piety and pretense has become so blurred that many now mistake fraudulence for faith.
But the deception doesn’t end with politicians. It spreads like wildfire through spiritual corridors. Some pastors, mallams and politicians have become manufacturers of illusions—twisting sacred texts to suit political and selfish ends. They reverse meanings, over-spiritualize failure, canonize corrupt leaders, and make villains look like vessels of God. What should be a warning becomes a prophecy; what should be rebuke becomes endorsement.
The sacred spaces have become theaters. Pastors exaggerate prophecies they never received. Some lie about encounters with angels, others inflate testimonies with Hollywood drama. They call it inspiration; but it is nothing but distortion. In truth, many churches and mosques have become safe havens for falsehood, platforms where the lie gets baptized and handed holy water. Evangelist Yinka Yusuf once thundered, “When the altar begins to lie, the people will rot from the soul outwards.”
Church members, too, have joined the deception. From stage-managed testimonies to fake miracles, they give false accounts of healings and breakthroughs just to be seen or approved. They sing hallelujah with their lips while harbouring lies in their hearts. When people bear false witness in the name of thanksgiving, it’s not testimony—it’s theatrical betrayal. Yet we call it the move of God.
What we face is not just a political crisis, but a spiritual pandemic. Religion has become a smokescreen, a convenient veil for immorality, dishonesty, and misrule. In this, the words of Apostle Ayo Babalola resound afresh: “Not all who kneel are humble, and not all altars carry fire.” The holy lie is that divine approval rests on those with church titles, Arabic fluency, or seed-sowing capacity. But heaven is not mocked by makeup devotion.
Nigeria’s problem is not the absence of religion, but its overused, misused, and abused presence. We are a country with churches on every street and mosques at every corner, yet injustice flows like a river. We pray more than we plan. We fast more than we farm. And while we chant “God will do it,” wicked men keep doing evil in His name.
Let us return to the old path, where righteousness mattered more than rituals. Uthman Dan Fodio warned that “Conscience is an open wound, only truth can heal it.” We cannot be healed while we continue to sanctify deception. Even the heavens wait for our repentance—not from idolatry, but from holy hypocrisy.
To the pastors and mallams who peddle falsehood for power or profit: the people may shout “Amen,” but God frowns. To the political leaders who use the Qur’an and Bible as campaign slogans, know this: even Judas quoted the scriptures. To the followers who give false testimonies to impress the crowd, understand that every lie dressed in thanksgiving is still a lie. And to the leaders who hide corruption under religious theatrics—God is not your personal PR manager.
It is time to stop. Time to rip the mask off the pulpit and the podium alike. Time to tell ourselves the truth, however inconvenient. Nigeria does not need more altars. It needs clean hands and pure hearts. It does not need louder worship. It needs deeper honesty.
As Prophet T.B. Joshua once said, “It is not the size of the congregation, but the truth of the Word that saves.” Until truth returns, our nation will continue to pray and perish in the same breath.
The holy lie must end. Because the longer we keep pretending in God’s name, the farther we drift from His help.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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