Pray for Nigeria

Producing global Afrobeats music and thousands of Nollywood films each year, Nigeria’s entertainment industry is making its mark on pop culture around the world. As Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria has more than 500 distinct ethnic groups. Though Nigerians share values around family, community, and hard work, the country is split by clear geographic and cultural lines. In the South, where the majority of the nation’s Christians live, industrialized cities sit next to coastal swamps and rainforests. Farther north, wetlands give way to savannas and semi-dry plains. Here, traditional, rural villages house most of the nation’s Muslims, along with 80 percent of the country’s poor. The country faces terrorist violence in the north, plus gang attacks and land disputes in central areas.

Tensions are highest in northern and central states where Muslim and Christian communities live side by side. Twelve northern states operate under Sharia law. At the same time, Boko Haram, ISWAP, and armed bandits have carried out mass kidnappings, village raids, and school attacks. Tens of thousands have died, and millions more are displaced. In central Nigeria, conflict between Fulani herders and farmers over land has destroyed whole communities, while an “abduction industry” of kidnapping for ransom spreads nationwide. Military forces and foreign allies have failed to stop the violence, which is constantly fed by deep poverty. With no clean water or jobs, desperate youth are easily recruited by armed groups.

Nigeria’s population is almost evenly split between a Muslim-majority north and a Christian-majority south. In the North, believers face severe persecution, but over time, violence has spread south through brutal village attacks and gang kidnappings. This propelled Nigeria into the top 10 of Open Doors’ World Watch List in 2021, where it has stayed consistently. Nigeria accounts for a staggering share of faith-related deaths worldwide. Despite this shift, mega-churches and youth movements have built West Africa’s largest evangelical population and one of the world’s most active missionary-sending churches. Even in the North, Muslims are coming to faith. Rapid growth has sometimes brought shallow discipleship, tribal divisions, and prosperity gospel teachings. Addressing these gaps is vital for the Church’s long-term health, especially as workers push to reach the remaining unreached people groups. While Nigeria’s missionary movement has helped reduce the number of unreached, these communities still represent nearly one-third of the total population.