THE NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 7th – Sunday 13th September 2026
THE MESSAGE FROM OSUN STATE
A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished (Prov. 22:3).
Dr Goodluck Jonathan, a past president of Nigeria, once said, that the most difficult person to wake up is the one pretending to be asleep. There is little difficulty waking someone who is genuinely asleep. Dr Jonathan's proverb underscores the attention that has been attached in these prayer call series to the political issues in Nigeria. The current political class is pretending to be deaf and blind. They hear and see the restiveness of the people, yet they act as if nothing has gone wrong in the country. Consequently, at the risk of sounding repetitive over the same matter of good governance for Nigeria, the subject shall be considered again. Politics affects the life of every citizen, and the outcome of the next election will determine standard of living, safety, and the security of the people. Someone might assume that since this is a Christian concern, the message might not get to the politicians in power. Not true.
The next transition of power should be of concern to all Nigerians, because not only politicians but religious irredentists have also escalated the upcoming elections as a contest between religions in the country. That is a sensitive dimension to an already testy situation. It can only be fueled by a government that has no answer to the problems of the country, and thus engage in diversionary tactics. Careful observers are of the persuasion that the government was behind the recent inflammatory statements of Sheikh Jingir in Kano on 8th August 2026, because, after his tirade, government donated N600 million to support an Islamic group which he heads. The sum of N300 million was donated by Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari (Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Political Affairs) and another N300 million by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State. Both donations went to the Jama'atu Izalatil Bid'ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah – Izala, which Sheikh Jingir heads, for a university project.
Every effort should be made to diffuse the religious tension that is building up towards the 2027 elections while patriots should strive to ensure that the country does not sacrifice good governance in the process. The performance of the incumbent president has been “hugely sub-optimal and manifestly disappointing,” according to a recent resolution published by the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF).
The message from Osun State in massively rejecting the candidate of the ruling party in their recent gubernatorial election is a declaration by citizens, that they will no longer acquiesce to manipulations at the polls. The declaration was made in the heartland of the Yoruba people, whom some people mistakenly assume are fully in support of President Tinubu. The ancestral home of the Yoruba people, Ile-Ife, is in Osun State. If Yoruba people could take such a stand against the APC, what would non-Yoruba nationalities do in their parts of the country? It should be noted that the Yoruba people are generally considered politically moderate and temperate in their response to issues, unless pushed to the wall. They were pushed to the wall between 1962 to 1965, which resulted in political crisis in the Western Region of Nigeria. That crisis led to the first military coup in Nigeria in 1966. The message from Osun State should not be ignored.
One thing is clear, as the country approaches another election, the confidence of the APC ruling party is not based on its performance, it is based on the crooked machinery that brought it into power. That underlies the statement of President Tinubu, that “all is fair in politics.” The people are aware, and they are also getting ready. While the Yoruba people in Osun State engaged peaceful resistance, there are other parts of the country that might not adopt a similar method. Some parts of Nigeria are known to be prone to violence at the slightest provocation. The calculation that religious sentiments can be exploited to sway Nigerians might be incorrect. The acute hunger in the land has provoked the people. They see the opulence and luxury in which their politicians indulge themselves. There is an apprehension that the ruling party might unleash Federal might to coerce the people to accept its comeback. A coercive tactic could be counterproductive.
Under the circumstances, APC should wake up and start reading the handwriting on the wall. It is no use pretending to be sleeping. The Tinubu-led administration has provoked Nigerians by its arrogant approach to governance. They have showed Nigerians that their security and welfare is of no concern to this government.
The National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) did not merely produce the report card of the Tinubu administration, it also proposed a solution to him. This prayer call shall refer to both the report card and the proposal as follows:
1. That the Tinubu-led Federal Government’s performance in the critical areas of national security, economic development and the wellbeing of the citizenry has been hugely sub-optimal and manifestly disappointing vis a vis the unequivocal specification of Section 14(2)b of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”
2. That the direction in which the nation is being led by the Tinubu presidency offers increasing apprehension rather than hope, which has left all patriots with no option but to call on President Tinubu to kindly desist from seeking re-election for a second term, instead, like a statesman with an eye on history and posterity, to earnestly commit the rest of his tenure to restructuring Nigeria and giving her a new constitution.
A government that is not playing deaf and blind should give serious consideration to these resolutions and embark on corrective measures. However, like the former President said, it is difficult to wake someone who is pretending to be sleeping.
Bearing in mind that some people may still query the resolutions of the NCEF, a summary of the issues of concern about the Tinubu administration are produced below. They are topical issues that require no argument about the performance of the APC-led government.
a). Security": The Tinubu administration has failed to comply with Section 14(2)b of the Constitution, which states: “the security and the welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. The security and welfare of the people are evidently not the primary purpose of this government.
b). Poverty Under the PDP government, Nigeria had 33 million poor people. Buhari increased that number to 87 million poor people and turned Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world. Tinubu has increased the figure further to 139 million poor people, which represents 79% of the population living below poverty line. Instead of lifting Nigerians out of poverty, Tinubu has driven millions of the citizens into poverty.
c). Trust deficiency. The President promised on 25th January 2023 in Abeokuta that he would reduce the price of fuel. Within a few minutes of being sworn-in, he increased the price of fuel astronomically. When he made that promise, the price of fuel was N195.00 per litre. Today, fuel sells for N1,350.00 per litre.
d). Failure to reach his target. Tinubu declared that if he did not provide regular supply of electricity, he should not be given second term. Those were his words. Not only did he fail to provide regular electricity, he also used N10 billion to provide solar electricity for Aso Villa where he resides, while the country continues to wallow in darkness.
e. Inability to protect Nigerians. According to Nigerian Security Tracker, 63,111 Nigerians died during the eight-year tenure of President Buhari. In the first year of President Tinubu, 614,937 Nigerians were killed while over 2 million Nigerians were kidnapped and more than 2 trillion naira was paid as ransom to kidnappers. This data was released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
f).Senator Aminu Tambuwal and Senator Garba Maidoki, amongst many other voices, publicly protested that the 2024, 2025, and the 2026 budgets were not implemented. It is yet to be determined what happened to the money.
g). The profligacy of the Tinubu administration should not be permitted to continue. The N15 trillion for the Lagos-Calabar coastal road was not appropriated. The National Assembly appropriated N500 billion for Lagos -Port Harcourt Road. The President increased it to N15 trillion and extended it to Calabar. To worsen matters, he awarded the contract to a company in which his son allegedly sits on the board. The contract was awarded without following due process of competitive bidding.
h). Pipeline security: After removing “subsidy” on fuel, President Tinubu allegedly spent N17.5 trillion in his first year on “pipeline security and related costs”. This amount constitutes payment of subsidy for 12 years. If N17.5 trillion was available to be spent in one year, what was the logic behind removing the subsidy and throwing the people into unwarranted poverty?
In 1833, Benjamin Disraeli wrote in a novel, “hope for the best, prepare for the worst”. As Nigeria prepares for another election, the country should hope for the best while simultaneously preparing for the worst. The next election gives the impression of a contest that is “APC versus Nigerians”. A group of politicians seem poised to impose themselves upon the country despite mismanaging governance. In Osun State, the people have spoken eloquently, that they will not agree to such imposition. What the rest of the country will say remains to be seen in 2027.
May God grant grace that His peace and righteousness shall prevail upon Nigeria.
God bless Nigeria.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Lam. 3:22-23 Thank God and pray that His mercy shall prevail over Nigeria.
2. Is. 49:24-26 Pray for the deliverance of Nigeria from the hands of the mighty and terrible ones.
3. Ps. 94:20-23 Pray that the throne of iniquity shall not prosper in Nigeria.
4. Is. 8:10 Pray and cancel every manipulation and conspiracy to compromise the next transition of government in Nigeria.
5. Eph. 6:12 Take authority over the hosts of darkness that are assailing Nigeria to hinder the purpose of God for the country.
6. Ps. 24:7-10 Command every spiritual gate in Nigeria to open for Jesus Christ, the King of glory, to enter and reign all over the country.
7. Ps. 85:4-7 Pray that God will have mercy upon the Nigeria Church and pour the spirit of revival upon the land.
AMEN
