*Prayer Rally planned for Lagos
Kazeem Ugbodaga
Former Nigerian leader, General Yakubu Gowon has called on Nigerians to pray fervently for the leadership of the nation as it is only prayer that can save and rescue the nation from its problems.
Gowon, who visited Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Friday evening at the State House, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria said his group, Nigeria Prays was in Lagos as it wants to hold prayer for the nation in the Southwest zone.
“We are coming to Lagos to pray for our leaders, especially President Muhammadu Buhari to do the right thing for the State and the country. We are having the prayer on Sunday.
“We have encouraged Nigerians to pray for the country. It is only God who can help any nation solve any challenge the nation may have faced. God has anwered Nigeria’s prayers over the years,” he said.
Gowon said his group had always prayed for the good of the nation, saying that God had wrought miracles in the nation due to prayer, adding that it was because of prayer that the 2015 presidential election went on peacefully.
According to him, it is only prayers offered in sincerity of heart to God that he would answer, calling on Nigerians to be sincere with God.
Ambode thanked Gowon for the visit, saying he rememebered it was the former head of state who created Unity Schools where he had his secondary education.
“I also quickly recall that at the end of the civil war in 1970, your good self declared that there was no victor and no vanquished and the main reason why you did that was because you wanted to create a platform for the future unity of Nigeria and that is why we are so glad to receive you here today.
“All these point to the fact that you have an unalloyed commitment to the unity of all Nigerians irrespective of where they come from and that is what we are very proud of in Lagos. Lagos remains a major cosmopolitan state and all Nigerians from different tribes and all walks of life are actually living in it for the last 48 years since it was created. I want to welcome you because what you stand for is what you have continued to preach as young as you were before and even at the age of 81, you are still preaching the same thing you have been preaching 50 years ago,” he said.
Ambode emphasised that the last election could not have taken place if the hand of God was not there, saying it was obviously a manifestation of the greater blessings of the collective will of Nigerians to come together to lift up Nigeria spiritually.
“And we can see that the future can only be better than what it has been in the past and we know that the cohesion that is coming from the different religious groups; Muslims, Christians and even other religious groups, there is a common vision that we are all serving.
“We are looking for a peaceful Nigeria and then a prosperous Nigeria and that is what all of us stands for and we as a government in Lagos State are committed to that spiritual upliftment and the development of Nigeria as a whole,” he said.
Ambode said he was glad that Lagos was hosting this rally and that the State is committed to making it successful.
View Comments (2)
Why did Gowen not just pray that Biafra would change her mind and wilfully return to nigeria, instead of ACTING and doing what he needed to do to effect his wishes? Did GOD just tell Buhari to systematically exclude Biafran Nigerians from high offices in his cabinet? Did God tell Buhari to overthrow the second republic democracy when it looked like Dr Ekwueme was destined to become the next president? Nigeria, a Nation where there are more Churches than Schools, and where the most driven of her citizens are being deliberately undermined to fail, but pray for success . Nigeria, FRICA'S GREATEST ZOO
Dayum! We are freaking hedging the survival of Nigeria on prayers. This is a country run for the most part through the years by devout religious thieves named Alhajis who have been praying 5 times a day since milenia without result. Every Nigerian street corner is plastered with a prayer house, church or mosque yet the iniquity called greed and corruption goes on like business as usual. Either that past prayers were no use or the prayer mongers were advocating for a different agenda. Prayers indeed. Since when did prayers otherwise known as personal wishes trump rule of law?. F×÷k prayer.