y religious faith as a priest in the Catholic Church teaches me to pray for my leaders both temporal and spiritual. My principal certainty is that prayer is the key that opens the doors of heaven and showers blessings. Besides, leadership positions such as those of president, prime minister, chancellor, emperor, king or queen, shah or whatever designation are no ordinary positions for the chicken-hearted, cool-headed or cowards. Those who occupy such a position must rise above board and assuage the yearnings and aspirations of their people or else their nations will head to perdition.
Regarding praying for leaders, St. Paul the great orator of Christendom says in 1 Tim. 2: 1-2, "First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgiving be offered to God for all people; for kings and all others who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct." Those who attain any of these positions by whatever means must realize that they are accountable to God and to a lesser degree to man. Such a position requires a strong willed person determined to succeed with the help of God. Hence praying for any leader is a duty and a divine call to action. I know that God is the ultimate judge of every human being but as the Holy Bible says, "to whom much is given, much is expected" This makes leadership a difficult aspect of human life. When a leader takes a flight while his citizens are languishing in danger then it leaves much to be desired about the qualities and priorities of such a leader.
President Umar Musa Yar'Adua, the President of Nigeria, needs my prayers and your prayers. He needs our collective prayers for him to succeed in this arduous task of leading Nigeria out of our woes. I thank God that the name Yar'Adua is the hometown and birthplace of Mr. President, which can be loosely translated from Hausa language to mean 'a little prayer.' Praying for Mr. President is not too much for Nigerians to do because everyday prayers ooze out from different directions in our towns; motor parks, buses, offices, markets, churches, mosques, homes turned into prayer houses, healing centres, beaches and everywhere. Nigerians love to pray. I love to pray myself.
I must add with whole-hearted conviction, Nigerians devote time to praying for their president. I must continue to pray like everybody does: "Pray without ceasing". Nigerians pray for their president to succeed. Only in beer parlours and pepper soup joints do we find people who criticize their president negatively. But they too have the right to criticize what goes on in government. A combination of pepper soup and alcohol brings out the best arguments concerning what leadership should be and where present leadership is heading. The actions or inactions of leaders are often criticized, synthesized and condemned. Yet, they have no time to offer prayers for their leaders. But this only shows us that we still have freedom of speech as compared to conditions under military regimes. Our president must succeed though. I want to make the difference by devoting time to offer a little prayer for Mr. President to turn things around for the better with the power of God whom we seek every minute in Nigeria. This can only be possible when he accepts wise counsel and plans selflessly for the future of the Nigerian state under the power of the omnipotent God.
Our collective success lies on his shoulders and the burdens of our daily lives are linked to his decisions in private and in public. His public rating depends largely on his presidential or un-presidential moves since he has left the domain of a private citizen to that of a public servant-leader as president.
Such a position to the ordinary eyes may seem attractive, royal, luxurious and cozy but underneath it lies heavy burdens of devastating consequences. The position itself is prestigious, princely and posh which can lead such a holder to believe that he's a demigod because his word is taken seriously. Those surrounding the president as aides take his word as dogma. He can either destroy or build when he speaks. He can draw praise when he goes the right direction or opprobrium when he goes the other way.
A leader is made in an election, when the power from the citizenry is collectively vested on one man to lead them. In other words, the only way citizens can voice their acceptance of a candidate is by way of the ballot box. This is referred to as a representative government simply known as democracy. Others eager to enjoy the allures of presidential powers acquire the office by brute force as in the case of military coup d'etats. Their characteristic feature is leading people by decrees, brute force, dictatorship and reckless disregard of public opinion. In this case, our president is a democratically elected president. The opportunity open to us is to voice our opinions and I am taking this advantage to say a prayer for the president.
What are my prayer points for Mr. President? I have three points in my kitty. The first is that God will direct him in doing the right thing at the right time with the right intention in his position. Recently the United Nations' 64th Session held in New York and thereafter the G8, a powerful group of developed economies, invited our president to participate in their proceedings. Instead of heading west he headed east, specifically to the Middle East to attend the opening grand ceremony of a University in Saudi Arabia.
While such controversial leaders such as Mahmoud Ahmedinajad of Iran, Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela braced all odds and put up dramatic appearances in defense of their nations, our president was absent drinking hashish in the Arabian Peninsula. This is a case of misplaced priorities. Take it or leave it, the presentations of those controversial leaders in the eyes of the West, particularly the United States of America, drew the attention of the international community to the plight of their nations. Gaddafi's 96-minute long speech is his first and only speech in his 40 years as Libyan leader at any UN General Assembly meeting. Despite the controversy surrounding his embrace of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi's, the convicted mastermind of the Pan Am 103 air disaster over Lockerbie Scotland, he still made his way to the assembly. People demonstrated outside the UN headquarters for and against Gaddafi. He made statements in support of African Union's inclusion in the Security Council of the UN and lampooned the assembly for favouring the 15-member body for practicing "security feudalism" for those with a protected seat.
Chavez and Ahmedinajad in their usual charade castigated the US in the discussion on nuclear proliferation, climate change, international peace and security. Iran and Venezuela have bilateral relations. Ahmedinajad accused the West of spreading war, bloodshed, terror and intimidation. He made a case for the Palestinian territories blaming Israel for the problems of the Palestinians. Where was Nigeria's President to stress the issues of corruption, combating crimes, especially 419 which is giving us bad blood, the Niger-Delta militants, the intermittent civil unrest in the north, desertification, environmental degradation and grinding poverty? Nigeria's president was absent from all deliberations and did the same with the G8 Summit.
My second point for prayer point is that God should make the president listen to the Academic Staff Union of Universities [ASUU] and settle their demands once and for all. It is shameful to note that both the president and his minister of education come from the academia. Using his background as a university lecturer, he should listen to the demands of the striking lecturers. The UN demands that nations must dedicate 13% of their budgets to education. Nigeria dedicates less than 2% and even at that the money does not go to the right places. For nearly six months now, it has been negotiation after negotiation and no implementation of the resolutions. If it's the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, that is the wet blanket, the president should do away with him because at the end of the day it is his administration that will be blamed. Already the students are languishing at home with nothing tangible to do other than to engage in criminal activities.
The president should know those who are working for or against his interest and should act accordingly. The long period this strike is taking speaks volumes of the president's position. This is not to talk about the rot in the academic institutions which the president must assist in solving or at least reducing to return credibility to our colleges and universities.
In this matter, the indefatigable Governor of Edo State Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, a man used to negotiations with tough regimes, has brokered some settlement with the ASUU and the FGN. However, it seems only temporary. ASUU leadership says it's calling off the strike only for two weeks as a trial to observe if the Federal Government will keep to their promises. When Mr. President was shaking hands with the Governor of Makkah, he did not realize that in Nigeria lecturers were wondering how a man could grace such an occasion while his house is not in order. The speech of King Abdallah Bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud at the opening of King Abdallah University of Science and Technology was presented with encouraging words on research and development of humanity. Saudi Arabia's two universities are rated amongst the best 500 in the world. Nigeria's best university occupies the 6,602nd position. Yet our president was there witnessing the opening of a brand new university while his own universities were locked down due to insensitivity from the education ministry and the presidency.
My last prayer point for Mr. President is that God should make him realize the rise in criminal activities and move ahead to reduce them by beefing up internal security. There's an increase in criminal activities, religious and civil unrest, a rise in kidnappings of high profile citizens and a surge of militants. Homeland security is the single most important part of national life so citizens can sleep with both eyes closed. It's painful when citizens cannot enjoy this freedom even in the sanctity of their own homes and offices. The power supply is erratic so Nigerians have developed a system of generating power using generators referred to as I-pass-my-neighbour with carbon monoxide pumped into the atmosphere.
More painful is the fact social services have completely dwindled and not much is done to restore them. The police force is helpless in tracking down armed robbers, kidnappers and those criminals who terrorize fellow citizens in this period of great economic depression. What is all the noise about a seven-point agenda when even one cannot be realized? Do we need a long list of promises as if we are in an electioneering campaign? Or are we already in second term campaigns for Mr. President?
With cases of militants in the Niger-Delta, Boko Haram, 419ners, armed robbers, and kidnappers springing up all over the place, our president should address these criminal activities giving Nigeria a bad name. He should urge those officers in charge of fighting crimes to stand up to the occasion and crackdown on those criminals. However, something must be done by the government to engage these youths in positive ventures in order to take their minds form "thinking evil, acting evil."
I have resolved to pray for President Umar Musa Yar'Adua like all others preceding him on the hot seat at Aso Rock Villa. My reason is simple. He needs divine assistance to direct this nation of over 150 million souls. Few citizens are privileged enough to supply their daily bread without sweat, due to their exalted political positions, privilege of government contracts or benevolence from politicians who settle them. The majority do not have this born-with-a-silver-spoon opportunity or our-time-has-come attitude. This majority struggle through difficulties and sweat to put bread on their tables in spite of the unfavourable conditions. Every day they battle between insecurity in their homes, on the road and even in holy places to operate as normal human beings in a country that is their own.
Mr. President should remember the cases of Somalia, Sudan, Rwanda, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Burundi where civil unrest brought untold hardship to their people. With Nigeria's 150 million people, any disturbance of the peace will cause a mass exodus out of Nigeria and lead to chaos in the region. Nigerians are not happy with the quality of leadership and they need a systemic change to offer them hope for a better tomorrow.
There's general anomie affecting the country with dissension rearing its ugly head at various locations of the country. The man to be blamed resides at Aso Rock Villa and it happens to be Umar Musa Yar'Adua. On a personal level, he is a humble man, innocent looking, unassuming, forthright and uncorrupted from the allures of office. However, his management of the Nigerian state leaves him isolated from the people; boxed within his circle of friends including his overbearing wife, kinsmen and praise-singers. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo foisted him on Nigerians perhaps wandering what happened regarding the failure of his third term bid.
Like every typical father in an African family, President Yar'Adua must take every glory or blame for whatever conditions Nigerians find themselves. Do not forget that Africans have what the Europeans have termed extended family system. If you buy a ram for your father, you must also buy one for your uncle, your step-mother or great grandfather. If your married sister in the next village hears of this, then she comes in the early morning with complaints of neglect. A successful man who is blessed by God and well placed in society does not need any reminder that he is in charge of his family's welfare including extended family members and relations. Mr. President is a successful man in the eyes of his people and in our eyes too. This is where the tragedy is, that when the head of the family refuses to supply for all these teeming dependants, he is considered a bad man, a tight fisted in-law, a miser, an insensitive man, and sometimes a stupid man for not playing ball with all these people. This is our life.
The Nigeria of today under President Yar'Adua is in periculum magnum from different angles. Nigeria is passing through a period of trials and temptations; the incessant militant attacks, religious riots, teachers' strikes, bank restructuring, deregulation, civil service reforms, constitutional reforms and an erratic supply of social services in the midst of general insecurity. Naturally, Nigerians are looking for whom to blame for their plight. Since there's a sitting president, he must take all this dirt on his head. It may not be the president's fault that we are experiencing this situation. But who do you blame?
I need to pray for President Yar'Adua believing that God will deliver him from the senseless and uncompromising counsel against the Nigerian people from praise-singers, charlatans and sycophants. I have heard complaints from people blaming the president for lack of electricity, lack of good roads, lack of drugs in our hospitals and so many other complaints. I have read commentaries blaming the president as papa go-slow, Mr. Rule- of-Law and all such incendiary comments. All these are due to the fact that he is in charge of this territorial boundary called Nigeria at this moment. He needs our sympathy.
The pressure on every president is tremendous. Some people follow shrewd methods to bend his opinion to suit what they want in either approving a contract, an appointment or release of funds for their use. There's no need to pretend about events happening in Nigerian society and Mr. President must know that things are not well with us. There's general apathy both at home and abroad about the style of leadership employed to deal with national issues. Unless something is done and done fast, Nigeria may suffer terribly in the months ahead.
In the eyes of the international community, Nigeria is a rich country that can support itself and take care of its needs. But there's nothing indicating that we are on the path towards prosperity. Nobody is convinced by the wanton lies told to Nigerians about the fight against corruption, improvement in the economy and the fight against criminal activities. If you watch the face of Nigerians you will notice the worry written all over their faces. All indicators are pointing towards the presidency that they accuse of being too slow in making serious decisions, too slow to understand, and too slow to plan ahead.
The onus falls within the purview of Mr. President to look up to heaven and make hay while the sun is shining. There's every reason for Nigerians to smile because of our abundant natural and human resources. Many analysts believe that Nigeria's problems rest with the leadership. And when talking about leadership, we focus on the symbol of leadership as found in Mr. President. The blame goes to him for whatever happens. Although this is not always right, it only shows that people are helpless and look up to someone with powers to turn things around. When such occasions are not forthcoming, we blame the person whom we expect to take the bull by the horns and call a spade a spade because he is empowered by Nigerians to represent their collective interest.
My prayer for the president is short: In the midst of abundance, guide President Yar'Adua Lord, to take Nigerians out of this economic morass. Increase his strength and heal him in body and mind completely. Dear Lord, help him to make the right decisions and be at the right place at the right time with the right intention. Above all, prosper Nigeria so that criminal activities will halt forever. We pray O Lord!
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