NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 15th – Sunday 21st January 2024
SECTION 14 (2)b of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states:
“The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government:”
On Monday 8th January 2024, a marketing staff of a bank in Lagos State committed suicide in the office toilet by drinking poison. We grieve deeply with her family, relatives, colleagues, and friends. It is one more painful death too many in this country. We pray that God would comfort members of her family.
In our prayers this week, we shall highlight this unfortunate incident as a fresh call for concerted and intensive prayers for righteous leadership in Nigeria. The 32-year-old woman needed not to have died if those who acquired leadership in the country had performed their roles creditably. The young woman left a note in her diary which, amongst others, stated:
"Nothing is working in my life. My figures are low. The economy is getting harder. The future doesn't seem bright at all. I see extreme hardship. I can't bear the pain anymore. Dear Lord have mercy on me!"
It can be concluded that the young woman was driven to suicide by the state of the economy. An insensitive commentator wrote that suicide is not an option, as if the woman willingly chose suicide as her exit plan from the world. The correct comment should have been that an incompetent and inconsiderate government was not an option for this country. Nigerians deserve better than the quality of leadership they are currently receiving. The people are not deceived by media propaganda of government activities. The reality is in the marketplace.
Since 2015 when the All Progressives Congress (APC) forced its way into power, it has inflicted nothing but hardship and sorrow upon Nigerians. Every index of growth and progress of the country collapsed under APC. To worsen matters, when the new administration was sworn in through a controversial Supreme Court judgement, it immediately increased the price of fuel from N187 to over N500 within minutes of receiving power. There was no arrangement to cushion the impact on the populace. It was a most inconsiderate and insensitive policy.
Under APC, tens of thousands of Nigerians have lost their lives in various genocidal attacks by Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, bandits, ISWAP, and kidnappers. Millions of Nigerians have lost their means of livelihood because APC on multiple occasions drove the Nigerian economy into recession and turned Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world. To date, APC has not provided solutions to the crisis it has brought and still brings upon Nigeria.
Governance is serious business. It should not be seen as personal political achievement or a tribal trophy in the contest for supremacy amongst ethnic nationalities. Those who accept the responsibility to govern must demonstrate empathy and capacity to make the lives of the people better. Since 2015, APC has not demonstrated responsibility in governance.
The first two constitutional parameters to assess the performance of government are stated in Section 14 (2)b. Only a self-deceiver would give APC any pass mark in “the security and welfare of the people”. In both parameters, APC scored ZERO. It is absurd that such a political party still contested for re-election and went all out to push itself into office through very controversial circumstances.
The death of this young woman is very painful, and the agony of Nigerians under APC is unbearable. The buffoonery and crass corruption exhibited by some officials of the present administration leaves a bad taste in the mouth and a nauseous odour in the atmosphere. The impression one gets is that these government officials assume that governance is a booty, and the national treasury is the spoil of war.
So far, this new administration has not demonstrated any capacity to handle the problems caused by its predecessor. On the contrary, it is making itself an accomplice in the genocide and economic hardship inflicted on the masses.
One can therefore conclude that, contrary to the Constitution, the security and welfare of the people are NOT the primary purpose of APC in government. The question that APC should answer is, What is the primary purpose of APC in government? Apparently, it is neither the security nor the welfare of the people.
If the politicians in APC do not understand governance, they should hire consultants to teach and help them. The incompetence, the irresponsibility, and the insensitivity of APC to the sufferings they have inflicted on Nigerians should stop. A group of greedy and kleptomaniac politicians should not continue to feed fat on the misery and pain of Nigerians.
In the meantime, prayers should be mobilized and intensified that all unrighteous leadership in Nigeria must give way for righteous leadership. It is when the righteous are in power that the people rejoice. As of today, Nigerians are not rejoicing.
May God have mercy upon Nigerians.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Rom. 12:5
Pray for the family of Amarachi the unfortunate dead banker, that God would comfort and strengthen them to bear the loss. Pray also for other Nigerians on the verge of giving up, that God would deliver and encourage them to endure the present afflictions in the land.
Pray against the growing rate of suicide in the country.
2. 1 Tim. 2:1-3
Some believers misunderstand this Bible verse. They assume that every ruler should be blessed. God commands us to pray, but He did not tell us the type of prayer we are to pray for a kind of leader. For benevolent and considerate rulers, we might pray for wisdom and more grace, but for wicked and evil rulers, we can pray that God would restrain them and teach them righteousness by His judgment, as we find in Acts 12:5, 23-24. The goal of the prayer for rulers is so that people would “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”
Isaiah 26:9–11: Pray for the judgment of God upon every corrupt politician and corrupt government official in Nigeria. Pray that God would teach corrupt Nigerian government officials righteousness by His fiery judgment.
3. Isaiah 28:14–18
It is open secret that many politicians get into office through rituals and ungodly covenants. Pray that their covenants with hell shall be nullified; that their blood sacrifice be nullified by the Blood of Jesus.
Isaiah 25:7–8: Pray that every spell and incantation cast as a veil over Nigeria shall be consumed by the fire of God.
4. Rev. 16:5-7
Pray that God would judge all those shedding the blood of Nigerians to draw power from darkness; that God would give them their own blood to drink.
5. Ezek 34:7–10
Pray that every Church leader who endorsed this set of evil politicians into office shall partake of their judgment and punishment.
6. Ps. 72:12–15
Pray that from henceforth, the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government in Nigeria.
7. Joel 2:25–27: Pray that times of refreshing shall come upon Nigerians.
LINK TO JOIN MARATHON PRAYERS ZOOM PLATFORM
Interested persons can register at:
https://io.layfaithful.org/24hourprayers
The Marathon Prayers ZOOM link: https://zoom.us/j/94064259957?pwd=bm13eDlSNTMrZWhVdTl5bmNRRlBHQT09
Meeting ID: 940 6425 9957
Passcode: Altar
There will be no prayers on the Marathon platform during the daily 9.00pm - 10.00pm (WAT) National Prayer Altar.
JOIN US AT THE NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
DAILY INTERDENOMINATIONAL PRAYERS FOR NIGERIA
From 18th April 2022
TIME: 9:00pm – 10:00pm daily (Nigeria time)
VENUE: ZOOM
ZOOM link:
https://zoom.us/j/96806190505?pwd=K2RqcUN3YjRwQzEzRDZaMUt2N1ZsUT09
Meeting ID: 968 0619 0505
Passcode: 024184
CONTACT:
Bosun Emmanuel & Prof Kontein Trinya
Please share with other Christians and get them to join these prayers. THANK YOU!!!
“God is our refuge and strength.…”
Ps. 46:1