Nigeria’s national motto since 1978: “Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress” (formerly “Peace, Unity, Freedom”)

In 2012, Nigeria’s external debt was an estimated $5.9 billion and N5.6 trillion domestic – putting total debt at $44 billion. In April 2006, Nigeria became the first African country to fully pay off its debt owed to the Paris Club.

INT. PAPAL LIBRARY – VATICAN CITY – NIGHT

The massive room is quiet except for the rhythmic tick of an ancient clock and the soft flutter of candlelight. Shelves of forbidden tomes and dog-eared scriptures stretch to the ceiling. At the center: a red velvet table where two men sit facing each other—*

POPE PIUS XIII, the Young Pope, clad in white and gold, a piercing gaze beneath his papal tiara.

RICHARD “PROFESSOR GRIFF” GRIFFIN, in black robes with red African embroidery, a kufi on his head and a pocket Quran beside a worn Bible.

They sip hibiscus tea.

---

POPE PIUS XIII
Eight years, Brother Richard.
What would you do with eight years in Nigeria?
Tell me not what the world expects, but what Heaven demands.

PROFESSOR GRIFF
(leaning forward)
First, Holy Father… I’d end riba.
No more compound interest crushing widows and youth.
No more parasitic banking.
The Prophet and Christ—both warned us.
“Lend, expecting nothing in return,” He said.
I’d build a system of trust.
Of community. Of zakat and jubilee.
True tithing. Not trickle-down lies.

POPE PIUS XIII
(nods)
You’d be hunted for that.

PROFESSOR GRIFF
Only the truth gets hunted.
Second—water.
We desalinate the coasts, gravity-fed, solar-powered.
No more thirsty children in Sokoto while oil flows like blood.
Water is more precious than crude.

POPE PIUS XIII
I saw the plans. The aquifers are dry.
But Christ turned water into wine.
Why can’t the Church turn salt into salvation?

PROFESSOR GRIFF
Because it lost faith in miracles.
Which brings me to the third mission:
Revive Chrislam.

POPE PIUS XIII
(raises an eyebrow)
You dare speak the forbidden word in this library?

PROFESSOR GRIFF
Because it’s not forbidden in Lagos.
Millions worship Christ and say “Allahu Akbar” in the same breath.
They don’t fear the fusion.
They live it.

POPE PIUS XIII
Do you believe the Church could ever embrace a faith hybrid?

PROFESSOR GRIFF
Was Christ not a Jew?
Did Paul not quote Greek poets?
The Spirit speaks every language.
In Yoruba. In Arabic. In tongues not yet written.
You want unity? Start with Nigeria.

The Pope leans back, fingers templed, calculating eternity.

POPE PIUS XIII
If you succeed, they’ll call you a heretic.
If you fail, they’ll call you forgotten.
But if you endure…

PROFESSOR GRIFF
Then Heaven will know my name.

POPE PIUS XIII
Then I give you eight years, Richard.
A papal ambassador without passport.
Go to Nigeria.
End riba, summon the waters, and let the children chant both Qur’an and Gospel beneath one roof.

They both stand. Griff bows his head. The Pope lifts his hand in blessing.

POPE PIUS XIII (softly)
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti…
And in the name of the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

A silence falls like a seal.

The future of Africa begins again.