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President Goodluck Jonathan
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President Goodluck Jonathan on
Sunday admitted that Nigeria’s problems were increasing, instead of abating. Noting
that the situation would have been worse if not for the prayers of Nigerians,
Jonathan said he was optimistic that God would, in the same way he tackled the
problems of the Israelites, do same for Nigeria.
The Punch reports the President
spoke at the last Sunday of the year service by the
Christ Apostolic Church, Area 1, Durumi, Abuja.
He said , “One of the reasons I go
round churches, at least in Abuja, is to thank my brothers and
sisters for the prayers they have been having for the country, the government
and I.
“We are facing a lot of challenges
now as a nation. The challenges did not start today but somehow,
instead of abating, the problems started increasing for one reason or the
other. But I am convinced that it would
have been worse than this but for your prayers. With the prayers you continue
to offer to God, God will see us through. I always say that whenever I read
the Bible, especially the Old Testament, particularly the journey of the
Israelites from Egypt to the promised land, the kind of challenges they faced;
their confrontations, the wars up to the days of King David, they were always
fighting. You may need to ask, why should children of God continue
to be fighting?
“I believe what is happening to us
is not even as serious as sometimes the passages we read in the Bible and God
saw them through.”
Jonathan promised that despite the
challenges, his administration would continue to do its best to reposition the
country.
He said although the results might
not be immediate, his government had introduced a lot of policies that would
change the nation’s fortunes positively.
According to him, if the
steady progress is sustained, Nigeria will be a better place in the next four
or five years.
He added, “The God we believe in
will see us through. What I will request from you is to continue to pray for
us. For me and members of my team, in spite of the challenges, we will continue
to do our best. As a nation, we have not reached where we want to go,
definitely not. But we are coming up with a number of policies. Those who are
taking pain to look at what we are doing will agree with us that if we progress
as a nation steadily in this manner, in the next four or five years, this
country will be a better place. Only a few days back, the Vice President was in
Port Harcourt, Rivers State to flag off the Eastern railway. The Western one
moving from Lagos to Kano has been running. We will start using the modern one
from Kaduna to Abuja by the first quarter of next year and the one from Port
Harcourt. When we were small, there were railways. But I believe most of our
children of about 30 years only see railway as cartoons on the television but
now, they are seeing it.
“We relied on agriculture before the
oil boom or doom and all that died. We are reviving it and the whole world has
appreciated that we are moving forward in agriculture.
“When something is started, people
do not see the benefits immediately. We know that as a nation, we have a lot of
challenges in terms of getting jobs for our young ones and we have set up a lot
of programmes that can bring job opportunities for our young men.
“The result may not be obvious
immediately but God willing, job opportunities will continue to increase and
many more young people will be engaged.”
Jonathan reiterated his position
that his administration was working hard to ensure that the effects of the drop
in oil price did not affect the nation’s economy adversely.
He said since the nation survived a
similar situation between 2008 and 2009 when oil price dropped to US$40, it
would survive the current one
He said although there might be
temporary inconveniences, the situation would not bring the economy down.
Jonathan described 2015 as a
tempting year for the country, saying elections year in third world countries
is always a turbulent year with all kinds of predictions.
Despite the charged atmosphere ahead
of the elections however, he said God would see the country through.
He urged the congregation to continue
to pray for politicians for God to guide their utterances and actions.
The President observed that if
indeed aspirants to various public offices were interested in the well-being of
the people, they would not kill or maim people to win elections.
Jonathan said, “All that I will
request of you is to continue to pray for politicians for God to
guide us in our utterances and what we do so that we will not sacrifice the
lives of Nigerians because of our ambitions.
“Nobody’s ambition is worth the
blood of any Nigerian. Pray for God to give us that wisdom and mind to make
sure we conduct ourselves in a way that will not set the country ablaze because
of our own personal ambitions.
“There are so many good Nigerians
that can hold the offices we are occupying or aspiring to occupy. It is
by God’s plan that we are here in positions of authority.
“None of us should begin to think
that he is the best person to occupy any public office. There are a thousand
and one Nigerians that are more qualified than those aspiring to
occupy offices. The development of Nigeria is what all of us want. If every
aspirant has the mind to develop the people, then you do not need to kill or
maim people to get there. You do not need to kill the people you want to
develop in order to get to the office you want except if you are aspiring for
that office for a different reason.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the
President of CAC Worldwide, Pastor Abraham Akinosun, had said that God had
promised to make Nigeria a great nation.
Akinosun’s message was read by the
Chairman of the church’s Federal Capital City Zonal Headquarters, Pastor
Michael Olatunde.
He regretted that despite God’s
promises to the nation, the devil had also appointed some people to truncate Nigeria’s
progress. He said such people and their activities were manifesting in various
ways.
The clergyman said the position of
such people who had vowed to make the nation ungovernable was not strange.
He recalled that Jesus Christ,
Nehemiah and Ezekiel among other Biblical characters also faced stiff
opposition from their people.
He urged Jonathan not to be
distracted but to remain focused on rebuilding the country.
Jonathan was accompanied to the
service by his mother, Eunice; his Chief of Staff, Jones Arogbofa;
his Chief Personal Physician, Dr. Fortune Fiberesima; and the Special Adviser
on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, among other top government officials.
Special prayers were made for the
President, the country and the success of the forthcoming elections during the
service held under tight security.
Gifts were also presented to the President by
the church authorities.
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