Fides Media Living the Faith
By Fr Pat Amobi Chukwuma
My dear heavenly Father, How are you? I bow down and prostrate my humble self before your divine majesty. I worship you the Three Persons in One God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Your mystical triune nature is incomprehensible as far as human mind is concerned. God the Son, you ascended into heaven after your redemptive work, crucifixion, death and resurrection. Jesus Christ the Saviour, I hope you arrived at your throne safely and sat at the right hand of God the Father.
Thank you for saving us from our sins and opening the gate of heaven once again after the fall of man from grace to grass. We are anxiously waiting for your second glorious coming. Please help us to be watchful and ready. As we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, we salute you God the Holy Spirit for descending upon us in order to strengthen our little faith and to renew the face of the earth.
May your glory shine on earth, especially on my country Nigeria! My God, kindly salute your Angels and Saints for me. I hope to be among them after I have completed your divine assignment here on earth. Till then, may your name be glorified forever!
My lovely God, you blessed my country Nigeria with abundant natural and human resources and made her the giant of Africa by size and might. You lose sleep everyday watching over us. I know that nothing is hidden before you. You are omnipotent and omnipresent. Nonetheless I want to bring to your notice that those abundant resources you endowed us with are not equitably shared among us Nigerians.
They are in the hands of a few. The rich continue to get richer and the poor continue to get poorer. Our greatest problem is bad leadership. Our leaders at all levels are selfish and are leading us astray. Hence we are languishing in the midst of plenty. Millions of us Nigerians are hungry and angry.
We are still far from the Promised Land. Corruption is walking about on two legs in our country. It has crippled both our leaders and the led. It needs to be arrested by your angelic warriors. When will you send us worthy leaders like Moses and Joshua to lead us safely into the Promised Land? Please do not delay, lest we all perish.
God of justice, you founded our country Nigeria on solid tripod. Unfortunately things have fallen apart and the centre can no longer hold. Our country is dangerously standing on one leg presently. Nepotism is the order of the day here.
The federal character which ensures equity among the various ethnic groups in Nigeria has been jettisoned. Monopoly has taken over. Thus, an ethnic group from nowhere is manipulating everything with the support of the incumbent national leader.
Almost all federal appointments nowadays are lopsided and favour one ethnic group and one religion. Injustice has therefore overtaken justice and equity in our land. We appeal to you the God of justice to come to our aid before we disintegrate beyond repair. Our present national leader on the day of his inauguration swore that he is for everybody and for nobody. But the reverse is the case.
We elected a President to speak to us and to protect our lives and property. But most often we hear more from the Presidency than from the President. Also the Presidency takes decisions more than the President. As a result of this lacuna many are asking, “Is our President no more here with us?” Or is he on tour over there? Please God we are waiting for your divine answer.
Heavenly Father, you are the God of Light. Before your creative activities, this world was formless and shrouded in thick darkness. Then you commanded, “Let there be light.” And there was light. Nigeria was among the beneficiaries of this divine lightening. It is unfortunate that today in our country we are wallowing in darkness. The agents of darkness are at work in our land. They are struggling to put out your divine light through their nefarious activities. Indeed, darkness has descended in our land and we are writhing in acute pains. In fact Nigeria is standing on a keg of gun powder waiting to explode. God, save us!
Righteous God, you commanded us not to kill. But as you can see, our land is soaked in blood. The blood of the innocent is flowing like river all over our country. The Boko Haram terrorists, the bloody Fulani herdsmen, bandits, kidnappers, known and unknown gunmen are slaughtering your children like fowls on daily basis. Their local and international sponsors are known by you.
The forests in our land have been converted into business centers where bargain for millions of ransom is made. Also, many innocent souls have been wasted in the forests and vultures are feeding on their carcasses. We are handicapped. Our Federal Government has woefully failed in her constitutional duty of safeguarding the lives and property of her citizens. Hence we turn to you in tears appealing for your divine intervention in stopping this carnage or senseless killings in our land. Within these few years, our eyes have seen our ears. Insecurity has strangled us.
Bounteous God, you created us and gave us farmland to cultivate, plant and harvest our crops for life sustenance. Unfortunately, herdsmen, bandits, kidnappers and terrorists no longer allow us to go to our farms. Many farmers have been butchered on their way to their farms.
Consequently, food scarcity is roaming about in our land and famine is starring at us seriously. We are hungry and angry. Kindly come to our rescue by sending your Archangels to come and deliver us from those evil forces in our farms and forests nationwide.
Almighty God, all powers belong to you. But some persons in the corridor of power at the State and National levels in Nigeria are misusing the little power you gave to them. They have caused divisions and ethnic sentiments all over the country. Consequently, anarchy has come to town. Injustice, arising from the misuse of power and exclusion of some ethnic groups from the center, has compelled those excluded to call for secession.
At the same time the Federal Government is using the arsenals in her disposal to ruthlessly deal with them. How can one beat a baby and forbid it to cry? God, how do you see this?
God the Creator, you created man and woman in your own image and likeness. Then you put all other created things under his control. By so doing you raised the dignity of human beings above animals, plants and non living things. Sadly the dignity of man in Nigeria has been reduced to zero. The life of cows is now more valuable than the life of human beings. We are in the regime of the superiority of cattle.
Thus cows are roaming about all over the places. They destroy crops. Their herders kill residents of villages and burn their houses in order that their cows may feed. The herders presently carry Ak-47 and other dangerous weapons to wipe out farmers and residents. They also rape women and kill at any resistance. Yet our national leader has not branded them as terrorists. God is this fair in your sight?
Heavenly Father, order is the first law in heaven. An ordered society guarantees peaceful co-existence. Hence, the lovers of peace and order in Nigeria have called for modern method of ranching of cows. Recently, the 17 Governors of the southern part of Nigeria deliberated and came out boldly to ban open grazing in their geographical areas. Unfortunately the enemies of progress have opposed this declaration. Father, your quick intervention is highly expected.
God of peace and order, call our national leader and his men to order before things get beyond control in Nigeria. Many lovers of peace and progress have time without number called for the restructuring of our country towards the path of true Federalism.
There is urgent need for devolution of powers from the center to the states. When this is done, Nigeria can move forward and be counted among the Comity of Nations. Unfortunately the beneficiaries of the present unjust and lopsided state of our country pay deaf ears to the clarion call for restructuring. God of might, kindly call those selfish minds to order before it is too late.
Dialogue is better than bullet. Violence does no one any good. National dialogue by the representatives of the various ethnic groups and religions that make up Nigeria is a sine qua non at this critical time. Merciful God, you can make this possible by touching the hardened hearts. Man proposes but you God dispose. Almighty God, how I wish you restructure Nigeria by yourself.
Finally, I in union with all concerned Nigerians fall on our knees and plead for your divine intervention. You have done it before and you can do it again. Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of our bloody, corrupt and unjust Country called Nigeria! All Powerful God, I look forward to positively hearing from you soonest. May your Name be glorified in Nigeria! Amen! Thank You Lord, till further notice.
Yours unworthy servant,
Pat Amobi Chukwuma