President Goodluck Jonathan has inaugurated a 'One Year
Prayer Project' that will seek ways of mobilizing the church to effectively
pray for divine solutions to Nigeria's problems.
The President flagged off the project during a church
service to commemorate the 52nd Independence of Nigeria at the Ecumenical
Christian Centre, Abuja.
He appreciated Christians who have been praying for
Nigeria and believing that if it is well with Nigeria it will be well with
their families too, adding that though "we are still facing challenges God
will see us through and we will overcome them".
The prayer project was conceived by the Christian
Association of Nigeria, following the many challenges facing the country
especially the challenge of insecurity and the need to find urgent solutions to
them. The project which is a 12 month prayer project for National rebirth and
transformation kicked off on the 30th of September 2012.
Calling on Nigerians to join hands with government to
build the nation Jonathan said "A leader alone cannot change the whole
nation" except he uses people. Citing an example of how Prophet Nehemiah
built the walls of Jerusalem, he said he believed that in every strata of
government there were Nehemiah's God could use and " I believe very
strongly that God will use you help this country, and I believe that Nigeria
will succeed."
The President who said Nigeria had been rated as the
second in ranking in terms of countries fighting corruption also said in no
time corruption in Nigeria will be a thing of the past in the country.
"We will continue to work hard, we have seen some
improvements and will not rest until things change," he said.
Quoting from Psalm 102, the President extolled the
virtues of prayer and the need for continuous prayers for the country. He then
flagged off the One year Prayer Project for Nigeria which he said will
The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who gave the message of the day titled, " God
still answers Prayers" reading from 2 Chronicles 7:14, said Nigeria must
first humble herself before God.
Also reading from 2 Chronicles 32:26, Oritsejafor noted
that many of Nigeria's elected men have been disconnected from the people they
are supposed to serve and if Nigeria has to overcome her problems she must deal
with the issue of pride in her national life.
"We cannot judge God's ability to perform by what
we see but by what we know about Him."
Explaining his second point he said "the bible
says the nation must depart from wickedness. He gave example of Nigeria
spending N1.6 Trillion on generators annually, while a good number of Nigerians
only see electricity cables without having electricity".
Oritsejafor speaking on the challenge of Boko Haram in
Nigeria said " the activities of Boko Haram are not fuelled by poverty but
by a religious fundamentalist ideology. Boko Haram is funded from within by
people who desire to use them to create political space for themselves and
funded from without by those who want to see Nigeria divided along religious-
ethnic lines."
He also said the group was sustained by media
apologists who feed the unsuspecting public with politically incorrect
half-truths.
"As a nation if we are serious about getting
answers to our national prayers, we met as a matter of urgency, turn from our
wicked ways," he said in conclusion.
Yakubu Gowon in his remark said this year's
Independence celebration is a call for sober reflection. He called on Nigerians
to work together as he said " together we can conquer the challenges
facing Nigeria."
Speaking on the one year prayer project he said many
have criticised the call for prayer at this time stating that it was not
necessary but " without prayers Nigeria would not be where it is
today".
Those present at the event included former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, former Vice President
Alex Ekwueme, Senate President David Mark, Deputy Senate President Ike
Ekweremdu, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ikedioha,
President's Mother Eunice Jonathan, service chiefs, members of the diplomatic
corps and members of the Federal Executive Council.