On the Issue of Spirituality and National Security in Nigeria by Olusegun Qazim

Nigeria’s Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla recently made an interesting remark while commissioning three new places of religious worship—a Catholic Church, a Church of Redemption, and a Central Mosque—at Navy Town, Asokoro, to mark the 69th anniversary of the Nigerian Navy.

Ogalla said, and I quote: “While we look for the military solutions, we also believe that the spiritual solution is part of what is needed to be able to surmount security challenges facing the nation.”

A few mischievous headlines and interpretations have since followed, distorting the Admiral’s message.

Anyone paying attention to what he actually said will see that the Naval Chief was NOT outsourcing the work of securing Nigeria to spirituality or religion.

Instead, he was emphasizing the critical role of religious faith and belief in attaining peace, security and harmonious co-existence in Nigeria.

We are all aware of the immense and important work that religious leaders in the country are doing in peace building and conflict mediation.

Just in February 2025, the Nigerian co-founders of the Interfaith Mediation Centre, Reverend Dr. James Movel Wuye and Imam Dr. Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa, were awarded the inaugural Commonwealth Peace Prize, for their “dedication to bridging religious divides, fostering mutual understanding, and preventing violent conflict.”

This is the power of spirituality, and this is what Vice Admiral Ogalla meant when he alluded to “spiritual solution.”

Across the country, religious leaders and institutions like Wuye and Ashafa exist, often as silent heroes, moulding hearts and minds, defusing tensions, and uniting communities.

There is also the important place of spirituality in the personal lives of military personnel. Before they are members of the Armed Forces, they are first and foremost members of society, with spirit, heart, soul, and beliefs, which they draw strength and direction from in their daily lives and in the discharge of their constitutional duties as protectors of the nation.

As Gen. George C. Marshall— former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, former Secretary of State, former Secretary of Defense, and the only Army General ever to receive a Nobel Peace Prize, in 1953—said, in an address at Trinity College, Connecticut, USA in June 1941, “The soldier’s heart, the soldier’s spirit, the soldier’s soul, are everything. Unless the soldier’s soul sustains him, he cannot be relied on and will fail himself and his commander and his country in the end.”

In a 2024 article titled “Spiritual Readiness”, published in a US Army Journal, the author, a Canadian Armed Forces officer, affirmed: “In an increasingly secular society, leaders must actively enable soldiers to develop their personal beliefs and values in pursuit of spiritual readiness.”

Anyone who knows and understands Nigeria knows that it makes no sense to approach our challenges without accounting for the religious contexts that define us and underlie our existence.

Indeed, the “whole of society” approach to defeating insecurity in Nigeria must include and centre the spiritual/religious dimension, otherwise it will not succeed.

What the Naval Chief said is an obvious truth, and no amount of interpretative mischief (as seen in some clickbait headlines) will change this fact.