Please pray for Nigeria

I beg anyone who comes across this op-ed to pray urgently for Nigeria. The bloodshed in my country continues to rise daily, and corruption has eaten deep into every sector of government, including the judiciary. Even the supreme court is colluding with the corrupt government and financial actors in rigging the upcoming elections.

In less than two weeks from now, Nigerians will be going to the polls to elect another president that will replace Muhammadu Buhari. This present administration has made my country Hell on earth. Christians are slaughtered every day and the government pretends like nothing is happening. Nigeria has become one of the worst places for a Christian to live and the international community continues to remain silent.

Many hope to bring a lasting change by voting out this bad government, but we need nothing less than divine intervention.

Some years ago I attended a meeting in Kebbi state, Northwest Nigeria where the Commissioner of Environment told us pastors to remove the speakers from our churches. When I objected, he said to me: “Don’t you know that Christians are second-class citizens in this state?” I have since learned that he was exactly right.

In 1986, Sydney Granville Elton — a missionary to Nigeria prophesied concerning Nigeria: “Nigeria and Nigerians will be known all over the world for corruption. Your name — Nigeria will stink for corruption, but after a while, a new phase will come — a phase of righteousness. People from the nations of the earth will hold a Nigerian and say, ‘We want to follow you to your nation to go and learn righteousness.’” We have been known for our corruption and wickedness ever since.

Pray that God should give us sufficient grace to pass through all the remaining phases of these challenges and help us to stand firm even when death stares us in the face. Our love for God should not wax and wane and depend on our earthly circumstances. It is our desire that the United States should include Nigeria in the list of countries of special concern, but it seems like President Biden does not understand the severity of the human and religious rights violations that are taking place in Nigeria.

Pray for the unity of Christians in Nigeria. We are divided along denominational, ethnic, and tribal lines and are now finding it difficult to speak with one voice. “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:25).

Pray that the United States government comes to the rescue of Nigerian Christians.

Pray that God gives us the grace and wisdom to vote rightly.

Pray that God gives us a righteous leader; a leader who will defend our religious freedom, and a leader who will use public funds for the good of the people.

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs 29:2). Christians in Nigeria have been mourning for the past eight years. We hope God will bring an end to our mourning.

We covet all of your prayers.