There is always a price tag, even when the service is prayer, which ought to be priceless and not pricey. The cost of prayers revealed by a former Executive Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba-Kusa, is indeed costly. But it is necessary to distinguish between the cost of prayers and the costliness of those hired to pray. At the end of the day, the cost of prayers is actually the cost of praying.
Baba-Kusa who is facing trial with a former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), and three others, said in his statement of witness filed in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT): “I approached the former NSA and discussed Boko Haram problems and I suggested there is need for prayers and he considered and accepted in 2013 when he first came to office. I personally sponsored many people locally and some few to Saudi Arabia. Some monies were later paid into our companies, which we paid to some of the mallams.” Baba-Kusa said he “used some of the mallams to organise prayers in Abuja, Zaria, Kano, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Kaduna and Saudi Arabia covering 2013 to 2015.”
The prayer funder continued: “I give them funds as required from time to time, ranging from N500,000 to N30million, depending on their needs, traveling, sadaqat and others for local expenses and travels to Saudi Arabia for Umrah and Hajj…Most of the payments in cash were meant to give out cash to people that have been organising prayers.” Baba-Kusa added: “The proposal made to the former NSA was not documented by him or myself. The verbal proposal to him was for prayers to overcome Boko Haram within the shortest possible time. The engagement for prayers by organising some people to be praying was not formally written down. There was no amount of money agreed on. I said to him, I will start organising, which he agreed and said he will see what he would give at a later time.”
In the end, the cost of organising these prayers came to N2.2 billion, according to Baba-Kusa. But he reportedly kept no records of the expenditure. He was quoted as saying: “I requested for no acknowledgement from them when I gave money to them.” Baba-Kusa said he had spent over N700 million of his own money on the prayer contractors before he started to ask Dasuki for money that was disbursed through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Alfred Lord Tennyson says “More things are wrought by prayers than this world dreams of.” In the context of the sensational revelations by Baba-Kusa, it would appear that more money is gained by organising prayers than this country dreams of.
Without suggesting the probability of fraud, although that may well be the case, Baba-Kusa’s tale is not only suspicious but also ludicrous. The global village now knows for sure that public funds meant for fighting and winning the terror war, running into billions, were rerouted by powerful individuals in the discredited Goodluck Jonathan presidency. The corruption-spiced narrative is still unfolding, with Dasuki right in the middle of the mess.
Under Jonathan, the country witnessed the absurdity of an ill-equipped national army struggling to overcome a mere militia. A panel probing past arms deals found out that the Jonathan administration purchased substandard weapons to fight Boko Haram extremists. The corruption-related finding further exposed the Jonathan administration’s scandalously counter-productive approach to the anti-terror war. There is an unmistakable connection between the mess of corruption and the messiness of poorly armed soldiers facing reportedly better armed terrorists. It is no longer debatable that the previous government didn’t do enough to checkmate the terrorists. Or, put more pointedly, the Jonathan government ironically did enough to ensure the prolongation of the war.
The point is that the prayer financiers and the prayer service providers were disadvantaged by design. In other words, even while prayers were being organised at a colossal cost, there was a colossal lack of capacity on the battlefield as a result of a colossal diversion of funds meant to equip the country’s fighters for victory.
Prayer may have a role in governance, but it requires the role of government to achieve the desired goal. The tragedy of Baba-Kusa’s confession is that it tends to give prayer providers a bad name. In the circumstances, prayer could not have reinforced what was non-existent. Since there was no anti-terror war as such, what was prayer meant to do? The situation defied the wise saying “Work and pray”. Even if there were prayers for Boko Haram’s defeat, the war effort was inadequate to realise the objective.
On the question of work and prayer, Jonathan, a Christian, played the pilgrim and visited Israel twice during his four-year term, specifically in 2013 and 2014. It was not difficult to guess that Jonathan’s repeat pilgrimage was probably connected with his 2015 re-election dream. Jonathan’s 2014 itinerary in the sacred land included a visit to the Wailing Wall, where he reportedly prayed privately before going to Mount Tabor and Mount Carmel, and other spiritually significant sites. Interestingly, the highlight of the pilgrimage was a prayer for Nigeria at an interdenominational church service with the theme, “A day with Jesus for Nigeria in Israel”. Whether Jonathan had a day with Jesus, or whether Jesus had a day with Jonathan, his defeat in the presidential election that crowned President Muhammadu Buhari was an eye-opening lesson that the power of prayer can be limited by the poor performance of power.
This lesson should not be lost on President Buhari who interestingly visited Saudi Arabia recently for prayers, apart from the business of leadership. Buhari visited Medina and the Grand Mosque in Makkah, where he reportedly prayed for the peace and unity of Nigeria. Buhari may pray for the country because the country may need prayers to escape its hellish situation. But he should also remember that prayers may not be enough without work. Nigerians want him to work and make the country work.
It could be useful to engage in prayers or engage prayer providers, but the ultimate approach is to work so that prayers may work for the achievement of purpose.
