The Nation Newspaper

Tag: solve

  • ‘Industry-based solutions will solve construction problems’

    ‘Industry-based solutions will solve construction problems’

    •Association honours Gen. T.Y Danjuma

    The Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) has asked professional bodies in the construction industry to seek industry-based solutions to the challenges confronting the industry.

    This was the submission of the President of the Institute, QS Obafemi Onashile, at the first Construction Industry Institutional Business Dinner held in Lagos.

    Onashile said the construction industry in Nigeria faces challenges ranging from building collapse, injuries and death on sites, non-payment of contractors and consultants fees, environment degradation, housing deficit, high cost of construction and shortage of artisans, among others, resulting in stunted growth of the industry.

    He noted that rather than seek government-led solutions, professionals should tackle the problems headlong.

    The NIQS president called for an industry-wide commonly agreed solutions to these problems.

    He said: “The time has come for stakeholders to come together and pursue industry-wide reforms that will enhance the operations of the industry and improve the economy of our country.”

    Chairman of the occasion Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) noted that Nigeria had one of the highest costs of construction in the world. He called on professionals to find a way of cutting the costs of construction in the country.

    Gen. Danjuma was also conferred with the Honorary Fellow of NIQS, in recognition of his promotion of Quantity Surveying and various development programmes of expanding local capacities for the construction industry.

  • How to solve power sector problems, by NLNG chief

    How to solve power sector problems, by NLNG chief

    Nigeria should adopt an all-inclusive approach to solve the myriad of problems of the power sector, the Managing Director/Chief Executive officer, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), Mr. Babs Omotowa, has said.

    He said gas-to-power has become a problem in the industry, urging stakeholders, including the Federal Government, to proffer solution to problems in generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.

    He canvassed the exploration of opportunities in the grid and off-grid systems of power generation and also leverage on the strengths of the six geo-political zones through their resources, such as coal, wind, solar, water and gas, among others, to improve power supply.

    Omotowa said the country needed a holistic approach to solve its energy problems since it has tried various methods in the past, without success.

    He said: “A more comprehensive approach to resolving problems in the power sector is what Nigeria needs at this moment. There is the need to look at the energy strengths of each of the geo-political zones for growth.  For instance, states such as Benue, Kogi, Plateau, and others within the Middle Belt zone rely on hydro power, and should be allowed to use hydro power sufficiently.

    “The Eastern part of Nigeria should rely on coal because of the abundant coal deposit in the area, to solve the energy needs of that zone. The Southern part of the country especially the South-south should rely on gas, which means that turbines would operate optimally in that area, once there is gas infrastructure. A lot of the demands for gas are in the South-western part of the country, especially Lagos and Ogun axis. They have thermal plants and some of these plants are operating sub-optimally due to lack of gas. The power plants should be linked to gas pipelines to power the turbines. There are huge but unexplored opportunities in the country.”

    Omotowa urged stakeholders to give more attention to issues such as citing of power plants where gas facilities are, and the evacuation of electricity generated from the plants to the grid, adding that they are crucial to the growth of the sector.

    According to him, it is one thing to build power plants side by side with gas facilities, it is another thing for the plant to have capacity to take or evacuate the power generated to the grid citing Afam VI as an example.

    He said: “Afam power plant, for example, is cited close to a gas facility and today it generates 650 megawatts (Mw) of electricity. However, the grid cannot take all the megawatts of electricity generated by Afam. May be the grid takes about 300Mw or thereabout. Alaoji is another one power plant with similar problems. Having considered all the issues listed above, it is safer to conclude that an all embracing approach is what Nigeria needs to solve its energy problems.”

    He said the need to provide facilities that would help in evacuating electricity to the grid for onward distribution to customers is imperative for the growth of the sector.

    The industry is battling shortage of gas, poor power generation and distribution. This has resulted in poor supply of electricity.  To resolve the problems, the Federal Government embarked on upward review of gas price to ensure competitiveness, ensures effective policing of gas pipelines to forestall vandalism,among other initiatives. However, the problems persist.

  • How to solve oil sector crisis, by workers

    How to solve oil sector crisis, by workers

    How can the oil industry’s problems be solved? It is by the collective efforts of its stakeholders, say oil workers.

    According to the workers, under the aegis of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), the sector’s problems too many for an individual, group or government to solve.

    Its President,  Mr. Francis Johnson, told The Nation: “What we (oil workers) want is an all-inclusive stakeholders’ meeting so that Nigerians will hear the position of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC); PENGASSAN; National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG); civil society; government and all other interest groups.”

    According to Johnson, no responsible union enjoys protests as they are the last resort where dialogue fails.

    “All what we want is for everyone to agree to work as one indivisible entity in the interest of Nigeria, so that the benefits from the oil and gas industry can come to all Nigerians,” he said.

    He identified some of the industry’s problems to include crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism, backlog of joint venture cash calls, poor state of refineries, corruption in the importation of petroleum products, subsidy payment to marketers and abuse of Nigerian content policy.

    Others are the status of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), and interfering role of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the performance of their mandates.

    On the restructuring of the NNPC, the PENGASSAN chief said the concern of his members was not to oppose what would bring the greatest benefits to all Nigerians, but to ensure that due process was followed and all interest groups were carried along.

    The main grouse of the oil workers on the re-structuring of NNPC, according to him, was the government’s insistence on carrying out the exercise without their involvement, despite that they would be involved in the implementation of the decisions taken.

    He added that the government could not go ahead with the restructuring of NNPC without first laying a solid foundation by removing all issues capable of posing problems or frustrating the exercise.

    He cited the NNPC Act of 1977 that set up the corporation, arguing that as a legal entity established by the Act of the National Assembly, there was no way the government would think of unbundling it without first either repealing or amending the Act.

    Johnson said the unions were concerned about the way the government was going about the restructuring, which suggested that it did not know what it wanted to do.

    “Initially, the minister spoke about unbundling NNPC and when there was so much pressure from the National Assembly over the issue, the Minister of State turned around to say the government was not unbundling, but restructuring or reorganising NNPC.

    “There is no way the unions or anybody would be against any decision that Nigerians are convinced would yield benefits to the people, provided such decisions are open, honest transparent and with sincerity of purpose,” he said.

    The PENGASSAN chief said there must be consistency in policy formulation and implementation. He said there must be an informed consensus on all issues.

    “There must also be a buy-in by everyone. All interested parties must be on the same page. Everyone must understand the direction the industry is heading,” he added.

    He further said it was not too good for the country that the oil and gas industry, the economy’s mainstay, would show such inconsistency in the way policies are formulated and implemented.

    “We seem to be moving one step forward today and two steps backward tomorrow,” he said.

  • Let’s solve our country’s central problem

    Let’s solve our country’s central problem

    To save Nigeria effectively, and to set her feet on a sensible and sustainable path, there is one imperative measure screaming for action. At all costs, we have to reduce the powers that have been accumulated into the control of the Federal Government. For our type of country, the Federal Government has become too big, too bloated, and too presumptuous, and its ponderous weight and shambling irrationality are destroying our country.

    Sure, with the best of effort and sincerity (the kinds that we all believe that Buhari is capable of), we can suppress public corruption. We can fairly well increase our country’s revenues and improve our revenue base. We may be able to reduce unemployment gradually over time. We will destroy Boko Haram, perhaps find ways to make Islamic fundamentalist terrorism unattractive to our bright youths, and improve security in our country. We may accomplish all these and more; but as long as we leave our Federal Government as a behemoth lumbering over our country and wrecking a lot of good values, our Nigeria will still be the same conflict-ridden and inefficient country. Simply, we cannot move forward as we should unless we trim down our overloaded central establishment and reenergise the muscles of our peripheries. Our real strength as a country belongs to our country’s peripheries – our state and local governments, our cities and towns and communities, our small local businesses and farms, and our petty traders and market women. We started to weaken our country when we let military ruler after military ruler pull all the energy of our country into a huge and chaotic centre and to focus all our gaze on that centre. It has been horrible.

    The fundamental reality behind all this is that we, as Nigeria, are a family of very different elements. Our nearly 300 nationalities had formed their cultural characters over thousands of years before the British came along and slapped all of us together to form a country called Nigeria. The English language has it as a saying that “what is good for the goose is good for the gander” because goose and gander are two names for the same one bird – the goose being the female and the gander the male. In our own various indigenous cultures, our women rear chickens and pigeons around the home, but they know very well that much of what is good for the chicken is not good for the pigeon– and vice versa. Whoever lumps chickens and pigeons together without a careful respect for the differences in their modes of life is likely to end up with a lot of dead birds. To think that living as Nigerians can wipe out our ethnic cultural differences in about a hundred years is to be laughably unrealistic. When we go on to employ that unrealistic folly to mold the very highest policies and structures of our country, we inflict immeasurable pains upon ourselves.

    For some wisdom, let us look around the world. The English, Scots, Welsh and Irish have been living as one country of Britain for over 600 years, and each of these four nationalities (in spite of much admixture of the different peoples in the same country)  is still itself. The Irish, with the exception of one little Irish province, went off and formed their own separate country, the Republic of Ireland, in 1921. The Scots and Welsh are agitating for major autonomies, and in some cases, for separate statehood. Even the English, who, because of their large number, have always been the dominant nationality in Britain, are now demanding autonomy for their English nation too. More and more of English leaders are demanding that England must, like Scotland, have its own separate and semi-autonomous government based in Manchester – away from the over-all British government in London.

    The Spaniards, Catalans and Basques have lived together as parts of the one country of Spain for over 700 years. The Catalans and Basques still desire to have separate countries of their own – even in spite of serious admixture of Spaniards, Catalans and Basques all over Spain. In the 1920s, a Spanish dictator thought he could wipe out the ethnic-cultural differences, and he prohibited the Catalan and Basque languages. He did not succeed. After him, the repressed languages revived vigorously.

    In 1763, Britain, after defeating France in a war in North America, seized the French colony in the far north of the continent and added it to the English colony nearby to create the country now called Canada. That is 250 years ago, and the French provinces of Canada are still agitating for a separate French-speaking country of their own today. The Indian Union, with about 2000 ethnic nationalities, pursues a sensible policy of respecting the various cultures and languages of its nationalities. India has declared the English language and 21 indigenous languages as its official languages, all of them eligible for federal funding and support in the educational system in their various states. Therefore, although India’s ethnic complexity is much more profound than Nigeria’s, India is a more stable and more progressive country than Nigeria. After Indonesia’s independence, the Indonesian central government made a habit of launching tough military campaigns against any show of desire for autonomy in any province. After losing some provinces to secession, the Indonesian government is now more thoughtful, more respectful of its various peoples’ cultural peculiarities, and more willing to grant local autonomies without a fight. Even in Africa, the Union of South Africa has wisely followed India’s example and declared 11 languages as its official languages.

    But we in Nigeria have chosen to be blind to this universal wisdom. As soon as we became independent in 1960, the politicians who controlled the Federal Government (coming predominantly from the Northern Region and secondarily from the Eastern Region) decided to themselves that the Western Region, because it was doing more and achieving better than the other regions, was too independent-minded and must be subdued. By 1962, their plot against the Western Region began to produce its disruptive fruit. They started the dangerous trend. The soldiers soon came to intensify it. And, since the time of the Abacha dictatorship in the 1980s, the dictatorship by the Nigerian central government has been at its peak. The Federal Government dictates the curriculum for schools in Nigeria, and that curriculum excludes the teaching of any Nigerian people’s history or language. In fact, since the Abacha years, the Federal Government has sponsored the campaign that the various Nigerian nationalities are not nationalities at all. And, during those years, Nigeria has dangled very close to the absolute bottom – of instability, decline, poverty, hopelessness. If we do not now deal seriously and sincerely with this situation, we are almost certain to be saying goodbye to Nigeria sometime soon.

    General Buhari has a very large political capital as he comes into the presidency. Using that capital wisely and sincerely, he can get us Nigerians to deal amicably with this central problem of our country’s existence. Of course, it will not be easy; but it can be done. But if he thinks he can parry this central problem and cleverly focus our attention on other issues that are also important, he will discover by-and-by that he let the boat slip away into the rough and uncharted seas. His hatred of public corruption, and his independence of spirit, are great qualities. We, countless millions of Nigerians, who admire him now hope that he will surely make his rendezvous with destiny.

     

     

  • ‘Who does God expect to solve these problems?’

    Could the controversial rescheduling of the country’s general elections have taken God by surprise? This question is worth contemplation in the context of the concept of divine intervention in politics. A few days before the rationalised rearrangement of the dates by the electoral authorities under the not-too-subtle influence of the political authorities, the Benin monarch, Oba Erediuwa, drew attention to the all-knowing attribute of the Almighty.

    Significantly, the occasion was a promotional visit by President Goodluck Jonathan to the king’s palace. The Iyase of Benin Kingdom, Chief Sam Igbe, who represented Oba Erediuwa, reportedly said: “God and our ancestors already know your (President Jonathan) aims; whoever God has chosen is our choice.”

    Who knows whom God has chosen? How is God expected to communicate the divine selection to the electorate? How will the voters be certain about the divine source of the endorsement?  How true is the saying, “God does not play dice with the universe,” meaning “The course of all events is predetermined?”  Does the introduction of God into politics amount to a mystification of the fundamentally unmystical?

    It was equally intriguing that former president Olusegun Obasanjo brought God into the picture. The former Board of Trustees chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was quoted as saying: “I have said I will not speak again regarding the forthcoming election until it is over. After the election, then we will talk. But as for me, I have spoken with my mouth, eyes, nose and other body languages. It is now left for your understanding.” He added: “Whichever one that you do not understand, I will just put it in prayers for you that God Himself may make you understand all that I have said fully.” It is interesting that Obasanjo expects God to do the work of clarification, not necessarily the work of communication. Or perhaps to put it more specifically, God is expected to clarify Obasanjo’s communication.

    Speaking of clarity, the All Progressives Congress (APC) vice-presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, made a clear-cut presentation showing the country’s pathetic level of development in a lecture he delivered in Lagos to mark the 73rd birthday of the General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye. In his talk titled “Harmonising virtues to gain heaven and earthly prosperity,” Osinbajo said: “Our challenges are poverty – 112 million extremely poor despite being the largest economy in Africa. We are one of 33 of the poorest countries in the world; infant mortality – 3.9 million children have died between 2009 and 2014; maternal mortality – 55, 000 women die every year; diarrheal diseases – 110,000 yearly deaths; literacy – 10.4 million children out of school; 80 per cent graduates jobless; corruption; missing funds – N2.6 trillion NNPC petroleum subsidy scam; $7 billion kerosene subsidy scam; $1 billion missing excess crude fund; 400,000 barrels of oil stolen everyday…”

    According to Osinbajo, “Our challenges present personal and communal obstacles to prosperity and happiness. Who does God expect to solve these problems? According to Mathew 5: 13-14, we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth…we are the solution to Nigeria’s problems.”

    It is reasonable and important to understand Osinbajo’s definition of the solution in a wider and all-encompassing sense beyond the narrowness of a particular faith or belief system. In other words, it should be clear that the victims and casualities of the social problems highlighted by Osinbajo belong to all religions and to no religion. Indeed, the indiscriminate nature of these problems means that the solution providers must rise above discrimination. Didn’t Mahatma Ghandi say “God has no religion”?

    Certainly, the business of governance belongs to the secular space, which is not to say that it may not be influenced by the spiritual. Indeed, politics may benefit from spiritual enlightenment; given the reality that excessive materialism and materialist excesses exhibited by the political leadership have taken the country nowhere.

    The echo of Osinbajo’s striking and penetrating question just won’t go away: “Who does God expect to solve these problems?” It is also possible to ask: Who do the people expect to solve these problems? It is fascinating that while the people seem to expect God to provide the solution, God most likely expects them to fix the problems themselves, especially since these problems are man-made and man-sustained.

    Power to the people is a catch-phrase that must be actualised by the people themselves for meaningful change. Fundamentally, the country’s historically significant 2015 general elections represent an unquantifiable opportunity for the electorate to demonstrate not only discerning political consciousness but also confident mastery of its ultimate sovereignty. In other words, the elections are better appreciated as a People Power Project.  The people have the power to vote for change. The question, therefore, is whether this would happen, not whether it could, because it is always a democratic possibility based on people capacity

    Against this background, probably the main the challenge facing the progressive camp in the countdown to the defining elections is people mobilisation, which will likely come with the difficulty of spreading political awareness and enlightenment as well as delivering the crucial message of the need for game-changing political action within a population that is usually fatalistically absorbent. Indeed, how far the people are ready to go to protect the sacredness of their votes will be decisive.

    It is always too easy to declare that the voice of the people is the voice of God. It may be more important to find out whether the voice of God is the voice of the people. The logic of divine good and perfection means that, in the final analysis, God’s intervention is always excellent and faultless. Based on this deduction, can the electorate logically enthrone an ungodly model in God’s name?

    When the voice of man is equal to the voice of God, there will be no room for the champions of corruption; there will be no space for the despisers of the dispossessed; there will be no atmosphere for power-drunk oppressors; there will be only the rule of the righteous.

  • Mark, Ekweremadu: bombing won’t solve our problems

    Mark, Ekweremadu: bombing won’t solve our problems

    Senate President David Mark yesterday urged those killing innocent Nigerians to stop it.

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, the Senate president noted that no matter the disputes among Nigerians, killings should not be seen as the solution.

    Also yesterday, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu condemned the bomb attacks.

    Mark said violence or killings, rather than solve any problem, aggravated and complicated them.

    Mark said the incessant killings and destruction of property would only worsen Nigeria’s economic and socio-political conditions.

    He urged the perpetrators to reason and embrace dialogue.

    Mark said: “This resort to bestiality without human feeling any more is what cannot be contemplated or tolerated in a descent society. There are a lot of channels, including the law courts or the National Assembly, for any aggrieved person or group of persons to seek redress.

    “Resort to killings is inhuman, barbaric and reprehensible. Let us meet at a common ground to solve this problem. Life is too precious to be wasted. I also know that no religion anywhere in the world preaches violence or killing of people.”

    The Senate president urged the security agencies not to be deterred by the development but to work harder in the war against terrorism.

    He condoled with the bereaved families and advised Nigerians to be more vigilant.

    Ekweremadu described the bombings as a double tragedy aimed at the soul of the nation.

    A statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu, quoted Ekweremadu to have expressed a deep sense of loss over the mass killing and destruction of property by the perpetrators.

    The deputy Senate president also expressed solidarity with former Head of State and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, and the Islamic scholar, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, over the bombings.

    He noted that those behind the attacks were “unrepentant agents of Satan and desperate schemers bent on throwing the nation into chaos and bloodshed”.

    Ekweremadu said: “This is another desperation to aggravate and exploit the nation’s faulty lines. They have attacked churches to set Christians at war with their Muslim brethren, but without success. They unleashed terror on the mosques to set the country aflame, but that too did not work. Thus, the unsuccessful attacks on major opposition and religious leaders were yet another heinous plot to get at the soul of this nation.”

    The deputy Senate president called for caution and restraint among politicians to avoid heating up the polity.

  • ANPP: free and fair election’ll solve crises

    The National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has expressed optimism that Nigeria will develop, if leaders ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2015.

    Onu spoke during last Saturday’s edition of a Radio Nigeria interactive programme, ‘‘Radio Link’”.

    He suggested that in the constitution amendment, priority should be given to the aspects which will enable the nation to achieve free and fair elections.

    “Our problem is that we move one step forward and then two backwards.

    “When we make progress, we do not maintain it. In developed nations, they maintain progress.

    “Our party is interested in ensuring that Nigeria grows. This is why in the ongoing constitution amendment we are particular that priority ought to be given to aspects which will ensure free and fair elections.

    “Once this problem is solved, Nigeria shall begin to excel. In fact, we will develop faster than China because the energy in Nigeria is tremendous.”

    In a statement in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Emma Eneukwu, ANPP said: “We want a situation where after elections all matters concerning the electoral litigation and court cases would have been solved and concluded before swearing-in.

    “This thing has been done before in this country, we don’t have to look to the United States to set an example.

    “In 1979 after the presidential elections, electoral matters were finished before the swearing in of the officers. Our problem is that we do not maintain progress.

    ‘‘Also, we ask that all elections should be held on the same day. This will save cost and guarantee better participation.”

    Concerning the merger talks among opposition parties, Onu said efforts are on to bring the parties together in a merger, or in an alliance if merger does not work.

    He said the planned alliance would incorporate zoning into the procedure for fielding candidates in 2015 elections.

    ‘‘My party believes in the coming together of opposition parties.

    “Efforts are on in talks among the parties. It has never happened before that three years before the general elections, the opposition is talking about merging.

    “We believe because of this, and God’s help, we will succeed.

    “I want to assure Nigerians that this time the merger will work, with the help of the Almighty.

    “The ANPP believes in zoning. We uphold it; it is in our constitution.

    “Should we merge, zoning will be a key aspect in the constitution of the new body, and I assure you that it will be upheld to the letter because we are honourable people.

    “As a party, the ANPP does not have any preconditions for the merger. We are coming to the table with nothing, when you come with conditions, the talks will fail.

    “You have to bring everything you have to the table. We are coming with an open mind.”

  • Only ACN can solve Nigeria’s problems, says Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday said Nigeria may not overcome its challenges unless the progressives take over government at the federal level.

    Aregbesola spoke at a one-day capacity building workshop organised for executive members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at the local and state government levels by the Ola Oni Centre for Social Research.

    Explaining that the Federal Government has failed to solve the nation’s problems, he said only the ACN can provide solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.

    Describing the ACN as the only truly democratic party in the country, Aregbesola, who was represented by his Assistant Chief of Staff, Mr. Adejare Adebisi, said the ACN has dedicated members, who can “weather Nigeria’s storm”.

    He said: “This is the tradition that began with the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and has passed on. Our members are rugged, fiercely loyal and indefatigable. They are as constant as the Northern Star in good times, bad times and in-between. In persecution, in power and in opposition, they are constant. They are incurably optimistic and resilient in the face of the vilest persecution.

    “At the times we are in, there has never been a greater challenge for our party and all progressives. At the national level, the ship of the state is in stormy waters and floundering.

    “In states outside our party’s control, the people are increasingly becoming disoriented and their investment of hope is turning to despair. While Nigeria is one of the richest countries in Africa, Nigerians are among the poorest, living on less than $350 per annum.

    “There are other shameful data on national underdevelopment. Nigeria is the eighth largest producer of oil in the world with daily production in the excess of two billion barrels, yet the country is a major importer of refined fuel. Even this the Federal Government cannot do successfully and truthfully.

    “There are fuel queues everywhere indicating acute scarcity on one hand and a scam of over N1 trillion indicating a mindless fleecing of the country on the other.

    “There are mind boggling security challenges and various parts of the country have turned to huge killing fields, but the Federal Government seems not to have the slightest clue on how to stop them.”

    Urging ACN members to be prepared for the challenge of taking over the Federal Government, Aregbesola said: “The task requires that we be prepared and ready. Our engine must be primed and we must be firing on all cylinders. We must be organised and our communication skills must be at the optimum.”

    Acting Osun ACN Chairman Mr. Adelowo Adebiyi stressed the need for members to work in unity to sustain the party’s glory.

    The party’s Publicity Director, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, said the achievements of the Aregbesola administration speak volumes and urged members to work together for the progress of the party and the state.

  • Jonathan: I alone can’t solve Nigeria’s problems

    The President yesterday pleaded with Nigerians for support, saying he alone cannot solve Nigeria’s problems.

    To him, the problems, which the country would eventually overcome, are temporary.

    Dr. Jonathan spoke at the 52nd independence anniversary interdenominational church service in Abuja. The theme of the service was: “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal”.

    Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) President Ayo Oritsejafor delivered the sermon.

    Vice President Namadi Sambo and other top government officials, who are Muslims, attended an Islamic prayer session for Nigeria at 52 last Friday.

    The President will today watch a ceremonial change of guards by the Nigerian Army Brigade of Guards at the State House in Abuja.

    The Vice President, Senate President David Mark, House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, Chief Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, former heads of state and members of the Diplomatic Corps are expected to join him.

    The anniversary celebration will be low key – for the second year running.

    The last time the country celebrated her independence anniversary with fanfare was in 2010, when she turned 50. But it was marred by a twin bomb blasts that rocked Abuja. The blast went off a few metres from the Eagle Square, venue of the ceremony. Many people died.

    President Jonathan said the low key celebration was to allow for an elaborate celebration of the centenary anniversary of Nigeria’s amalgamation in 2014.

    Dr. Jonathan is optimistic that with all hands on deck, Nigeria, like the old Jerusalem, will be rebuilt as it was the case in the days of Nehemiah, who rebuilt the gate of Jerusalem with support.

    He said the nation possesses many Nehemiahs in the National Assembly, the Federal Executive Council, the judiciary, the educational and private sectors, who God can use to rebuild the country.

    “Leadership at all levels is collective. One person cannot change a nation. Agreed the leader matters, but he cannot change things alone. All of us Nigerians must work together to rebuild our nation. Our men and women will change things in this country. There are so many Nehemiahs in the National Assembly, the Federal Executive Council, our judiciary, our teachers, businessmen and women and I believe God will use these Nehemiahs to rebuild the country.

    “I can say again that Nigeria will succeed. With your cooperation, we shall succeed.”

    The President noted for the umpteenth time, that his administration has sanitised the electoral process, adding that corruption will soon be gone for good.

    On corruption, he said the Transparency International – the global monitor – admitted in its latest rating that Nigeria is second to America in commitment to fighting corruption.

    Taking solace in the ranking, which he admitted was different from the usual rating, the President said: “God willing, we shall overcome it”.

    On the economic environment, he said at least 249 new companies according to the Manufacturers of Nigeria, have been set up. We shall continue to work hard to create jobs for our people,” Jonathan said.

    The President, who also spoke on the efforts towards a stable power supply, vowed not to rest until electricity is stabilised.

    “I want to assure Nigerians we will not sleep until we stablise power in this country,” he said.

    While also flagging off the one year prayer project, the president said prayer helped Americans to determine the direction of their country and can do same for Nigeria.

    In his sermon entitled: “God still answers prayers,” Pastor Oritsejafor called on those in the position of authority to turn from their wicked ways.

    He said: “Boko Haram is a terrorist organisation. The activities of Boko Haram are not fuelled by poverty, but by a religious fundamentalist ideology. Boko Haram is being funded from within by people who desire to use them to create political space for themselves and funded from without by those who want to see Nigeria divided along religious-ethnic lines.

    “ Boko Haram is also sustained by media apologist who feed the unsuspecting public with politically incorrect half-truths.”

    He noted that as a nation, as a people, “if we are serious about getting answers to our national prayers, we must, as a matter of urgency, turn from our wicked ways.” “Let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,” he said.

    Pastor Ortisejafor described as wickedness that Nigeria, according to the Centre for Management Development, spends N1.6 trillion on generators annually while a good number of Nigerians only see electricity cables without having electricity.

    He also noted that lots of beautiful homes dot the landscape of our major cities while many Nigerians do not have a place to lay their heads; adding that lots of people are surrounded by so much water and yet have no clean pipe borne, water to drink.

    The fiery pastor also added that for men to make incantations and satanic pronouncements over the nation in shrines and strange alters, all because some of them desire positions at all cost, is wickedness.

    He condemned people who play “politics of religion and ethnicity”, even as “a group of men continues to swell the number of widows and orphans.”

    Quoting copiously from the book of 2 Chronicles 7:14, Pastor Ortisejafor said the question that has bogged his mind for some time is: “Does God hear our prayers or has he abandoned us?”

    He went on: “We cannot judge God’s ability to perform on what we see, but what we know about God.

    “In the scripture we read, God expects the church to fast and pray for Nigeria, but so our church not become a ritual. He gives two very important conditions to answer prayer.

    “One, God says we must humble ourselves. He said he will not forget the cries of the humble. He resists the proud and gives grace to humble.

    “God hates pride and pride can hinder prayers. If we are genuinely serious about getting answers to national prayers, we must deal with pride.

    “The fact that I’m President of CAN does not make me God. Many of our politicians today, especially those elected, are so disconnected from the people and it can be put down to one thing – pride!

    “When you are disconnected from the people, you become the master and they your servants. Pride can hinder prayers and humility brings God’s hand on the people.

    “The second condition for answered prayer is, we must turn from our wicked ways. The word of God says, shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

    “Is it not wickedness that Nigeria, according to the Centre for Management Development, spends N1.6 trillion on generators annually while a good number of Nigerians only see electricity cables without having electricity? Is it not wickedness for beautiful homes to dot the landscape of our major cities while many Nigerians don’t have a place to lay their heads? Is it not wickedness for people to be surrounded by so much water and yet not have clean pipe borne water to drink? Is it not wickedness for men to make incantations and satanic pronouncements over this nation in shrines and strange alters, all because some of them desire positions at all cost? Is it not wickedness to continue to play politics of religion and ethnicity while a group of men continue to swell the numbers of widows and orphans on a daily basis?

    “We can have a Nigeria we desire, where no one is oppressed, not judge by religion or tribe but by their content. We can have the Nigeria that we desire.”

    Also quoting from 1 Kings 18:41, Pastor Ortisejafor said, “I speak as a prophet of this nation. It is true that I cannot see the rain but I hear the sound of abundant of rain. The rain of joy, peace, love, security, unity, prosperity.

    Some of the dignitaries present were former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, Senate President David Mark, Deputy Senate President, Deputy Speaker, ministers, Secretary to Government of the Federation, Chief of Staff, Chief of Defence Staff and Service chiefs, top government officials, top politicians and members of the Diplomatic Corps.