The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has suspended its controversial plan to hold national prayer and fasting sessions as a response to the worsening hunger crisis in Nigeria.
In an issued press statement signed by the Assistant Information Officer for the Director of Information, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, yesterday, the ministry said that the ongoing prayer sessions were merely an internal initiative by the Human Resource Department to address staff well-being, and were not a policy directive.
The spiritual programme, revealed in a leaked circular dated June 11, 2025, had directed ministry staff—including directors and desk officers—to gather for weekly fasting and prayer sessions at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
The statement read: “The Ministry’s attention is drawn to the internal circular of the Human Resource Management Department being circulated by online media, in this regard the ministry wishes to inform that the prayer session is an initiative of the Human Resource Department to address the well-being of the staff just as the already existing monthly aerobic exercise and establishment of the gymnasium in the ministry are for physical fitness as the regular medical check-up of staff are for their health”.
According to the Ministry, the prayer sessions were introduced in response to anxiety among staff following the “recent untimely and successive death of management staff of the Ministry. “The staff also deem it not out of place to pray for the country, hence the theme of the prayer sessions: ‘Divine Intervention for Protection and National Development”, it added.
Emphasising that the prayer initiative should not be misconstrued, the Ministry clarified, “It must be emphasised that this is NOT an official policy by the Ministry to address agriculture and food security issues in the country. But in response to the yearnings of staff who are apprehensive following the death of some of their colleagues in recent times.”
The statement also outlined several efforts currently being undertaken by the Minister.
Reiterating its commitment to tangible results, the Ministry stressed that “the prayer session is an internal initiative of staff to address the concern over sudden deaths in the Ministry and not intended to replace or downplay the remarkable effort and achievement of the Ministry and other stakeholders in achieving food security in the nation”.
