Buhari concedes that the Nigerian government is resigned to God coming to its assistance

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that his administration is resigned to putting its faith in God as it seeks to grapple with the plethora of security challenges facing the country and the consequently socioeconomic headaches they create.

Of late, Nigeria has been wracked by a series of insecurity crises including terrorism, kidnapping, marauding armed Fulani herdsmen, banditry, rape, etc. Totally overwhelmed by the pandemic, the security forces appear to be out-gunned as Nigeria is awash with as many as 6m illegal forearms.

Speaking at the 11th National Prayer Breakfast organised by the Christian Legislators Fellowship of the National Assembly, President Buhari said that although the country was facing various challenges, hope and trust in God will still prevail. He said that many Nigerians have, however, unfortunately chosen to play the role of God by failing to put their trust in the Almighty.

Represented by the permanent secretary, General Services Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Dr Maurice Mbaeri, President Buhari said:  “The theme of this year’s national prayer breakfast, Faith in the Time of Crisis, clearly speaks to what we need as individuals and as a collective in these times when most Nigerians seem to have forgotten their faith because it appears that we are facing insurmountable hurdles. However, in actual fact, a good number of Nigerians have taken over the role of God by failing to place their trust in Him and placing it entirely on themselves and other men.

"Of course, it is very difficult to keep faith in times of crisis, especially when all we think we can do and agree as humans and most especially policy makers, is not yielding the desired results of calming the stormy waves.  As such we begin to ask God, where are you? We begin to debate whether there is need to trust God.

“Our hope is in God Almighty and our strength is in his will concerning us and that is why we are confident that these prayers are not in vain but will work out for our good as a people and as a nation. Prayer is a source of strength regardless of religion and it brings forth solutions at all times. In our multi-layered society where there is an obvious combination of various tribes and religions, it is fair to say that we believe that sincere prayer would bring about the desired change and betterment of our families, local communities and of course the society at large.”

In his remarks, vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo, added: “In the throes of the pandemic well over a year leading to severe economic downturn, there were loss of jobs and source of livelihood. As we climb out of the recession, we have been faced with an unprecedented scale of insecurity in different zones of the nation but for us who are gathered here today, Christian legislators, who trust in the God that answers prayers and who lead by faith and not by sight, would see the invisible.

“By our faith we have knowledge that every time that a nation is challenged, it is God’s call for to his people to take action, to rise up in faith, seize the opportunity for God to demonstrate that he is all over the nations, he is the creator of the heavens and the earth and that he knows the beginning from the end. The scripture has consistently shown us that the children of God by their faith are central to the deliverance of their nation in time of crisis.

“They must desire the change, they must cry to God and be ready to make the sacrifice of repentance. The word of God does not agree with logic or with our thinking. God is saying here that it is not the nation that repents, it is his own people who are called upon to repent and turn from their evil ways."