By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
A non-governmental organization, the National Unity Forum on Sunday converged on the Unity Fountain, Abuja, where they held intercessory prayers for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the 36 state governors and all others in positions of authority in the country. The group particularly prayed for the success and well-being of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while describing his position as pivotal to the sustenance, growth and development of our nation’s democracy.
In a statement by Com. Godwin Meliga, National Coordinator of the forum, the group’s decision to resort to prayers to God as a way out of the myriad challenges confronting the nation was informed by the time-tested efficacy of prayer, and guided by scriptural injunctions as contained in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, thus,” I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, Intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives…”
The group, composed of both Christians and Muslims, has also set aside the 25th day of February every year as its National Intercession Day. It therefore enjoined all patriotic citizens of Nigeria, regardless of their faith, to consider it a civic obligation to spare some moments on the 25th of February every year to join their hearts in prayers to God for national peace, unity and progress.
After the session of prayers, worship and thanksgiving at the Unity Fountain, the group embarked on a solidarity walk to the Headquarters of INEC in Maitama, where they specifically prayed for the Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, and the success of all subsequent elections in Nigeria.
The group thanked Prof. Yakubu and his team for their strident efforts to ensure the success and credibility of the 2023 General Elections. It opined that given the tensed state of the national polity before the last general elections, due mainly to socio-ethnic and geopolitical diversities, any attempt by INEC to have delivered a compromised electoral process could have triggered violent upheavals across the country, which may have threatened the very fabrics of our mutual coexistence.
“But the fact that INEC, under Prof. Yakubu, was obviously above board in the discharge of its mandate during the last general elections, helped to a great extent in disarming all those nursing sinister intentions for the country, including all those who may wish to capitalize on the outbreak of widespread electoral violence to achieve their narrow destabilization agenda for Nigeria,” stated Com. Meliga.
Com. Meliga further stated that while other Nigerians may resort to acts of self-denial, civil disobedience and open protests in order to express their disenchantment with the prevailing socio-economic and political challenges facing Nigeria, his group resorted to praying because it was the best option for the country at the moment, citing the book of Job 12:23 -25, “He (God) makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations and dispenses them.”