Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), former Nigeria Head of States and National Chairman of ‘Nigeria Prays’ on Sunday, led the group in a prayer rally for peace to reign in the North East zone and Nigeria at large.
Speaking during the one-day prayer rally organised by Nigeria Prays, North- East zone held in Bauchi, with the theme: ‘The Lord of Hosts is with Us’, Gowon said the purpose of the prayer rally was to fervently intercede for the country, most especially in this horrendous and troubling times.
He said the group from all the North eastern zone gathered in Bauchi in absolute submission to God in order to pray for God’s mercies and blessings on Nigeria.
This, he said was to appease the political, social and economic well-being of Bauchi state and the entire North East zone as they grapple with issues of terrorism, insurgencies and various kinds of insecurity and criminality.
“Lord as your people, we bring confession of the needless bloodshed, killings and attacks by the dreadful Boko-Haram insurgencies, banditry and the spate of kidnappings and all kinds of evil in various parts of the country.
“Lord we plead for your forgiveness, mercy and cleansing of the land,” he prayed.
Gowon, who noted that the country is faced with numerous challenges, urged all Christian faithful and other religions in the country to pray to God to help with the solutions of those problems.
“We pray that the land of Bauchi and the entire North East zone shall receive God’s divine visitation and deliverance from insurgency.
“May this war of insecurity end in Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi and indeed in the whole country,” Gowon prayed.
In his speech, Gov. Bala Mohammad of Bauchi State commended the former Head of state and all the organisers of the prayer.
He added that the prayer rally would afford them the opportunity to pray for the country so as to overcome its numerous challenges and send God’s guidance to all Nigerian leaders and the citizens at large.
He further stressed that Bauchi state and indeed the North East sub region were very proud of this initiative, adding that Bauchi state needed prayers to overcome the challenges of overpopulation.
He said because the state accommodated people escaping from their crisis zone, the population had risen from 4.6 million to 7.5 million.
“We also need prayers because we have more than 1.3 million out-of-school children and we need prayers to overcome agents of darkness and under development,” Mohammad said. (NAN)
