President Goodluck Jonathan has
described the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern
Protectorates in 1914 as an act of God.
Jonathan, who joined the faithful at
the Apostolic Faith Church, Jabi in Abuja, for the last Sunday service
of the year, however, identified lack of unity and love as the
greatest problem facing Nigeria.
He likened the nation’s challenges
to those of the Israelites when they were about to move out of
Egypt to the Promised Land.
“As you are getting closer to the
promised land, you meet more obstacles and thank God for the sermon we
have heard here today(Sunday). Even the songs showed that the
greatest problem we have are lack of unity and love.
“Nigeria was amalgamated by our colonial
masters in 1914. By January 1 next year, Nigeria will be 100 years
. I totally agree with the minister that it was not by chance that we
are one as a nation, it was ordained by God.
“If God didn’t will it that way and at
that point, the North and South would not have come together. The
details of the North and South coming together make Nigeria a very
great country.
“I used to say that Nigeria is great not
because of its oil. We have countries that produce more oil than
Nigeria but nobody talks about them.
“We have countries that have
multi-billion dollars in their reserves and nobody talks about them but
here we are, just talking about $40bn in our reserves , yet the
biggest and smallest countries talk about Nigeria. Why? It is
Because of the diversity from the North to the South, the human and
natural resources, the potential and the population that we have.
“ So, Nigeria is a country that has a
special blessing from God. It is therefore left to us to appreciate
God and continue to pray for his intervention for this country to
continue to be great.”
Jonathan again promised to bequeath a different Nigeria to the next generation.
He said his administration was committed
to working hard to overcome barriers that had to do with religious or
ethnic differences.
The President said it was also when such barriers were crossed that Nigerian children would enjoy a better future.
He said, “I promise our children that we
are totally committed to making sure that they meet a different
Nigeria. We will collectively work hard to overcome our barriers.
“Immediately we cross the barriers and
we begin to believe that we are all Nigerians and we are committed to
the development of this country, our children will surely meet a better
Nigeria. We will try our best but this is not the time to reel out
what we are not doing, otherwise people will think I am here to
campaign.
“But I assure this congregation, and
indeed all Nigerians, that by the grace of God and your support, I am
where I am today from nowhere. Any Nigerian child can also be where I
am.
“I come from the smallest state in this
country and even in my state (Bayelsa), my community is one of the
smallest. Within my community in the state, mine is one of the
smallest , but I am here today as President by the grace of God.
“That is the type of Nigeria we want to
create; a Nigeria where you can get what you want if you work hard,
not a Nigeria where you know somebody that knows somebody that will
take you to somebody.
“We will work with you to help you to get to wherever you want to go.”
The President also said he was now wary of what he says in public because of the fear of being misinterpreted .
He said, “Because for those of us in
politics, these days are not the best days to make speeches because any
statement we make, people look at how to paint it. The next day when you
read the newspapers, you start doubting if that is what you said.
“So any statement we make is always
used against us but I am quite pleased to be here with you today(Sunday)
to worship with you.
In his sermon titled “Living worthy of
great mercies, great faithfulness of God,” Rev. Bayo Adeniran said
Nigeria would be great again if its citizens learnt to forsake their
evil ways and returned to God just like the people of Nineveh in the
Bible did.
He said, “If Nigeria believes in God
like the people of Nineveh, God will heal Nigeria. The swiftness of God
shall visit this country. We are so bothered about external corruption,
but there is so much corruption in the heart.”
“The nation starts with the individual
and the family. Return to God and God will answer your prayers. Nigeria
shall not die, it will live if we return to God.”
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