Lord, I begin the typing of a portion of this prayer of repentance on bended knees. I cannot endure typing in that position till the end or else I would have done so because I know the enormousness of our sins against you and our crimes against our country and our fellow countrymen and women. It is this realization that has led me to my brokenness and has compelled me to lead this prayer of repentance on behalf of myself and my country. I sense in my spirit that the hardship and hunger that have come upon us is certainly a punishment from you for our misdeeds as a people.
Number one charge against us: There was a time you blessed us with so much quality and God-fearing persons in position of leadership and with so much money that one of our leaders once said infamously that the problem of Nigeria was not the lack of money but how to spend it. From that time till date we have continued to fritter away the manifold blessings you have blessed us with.
Today, we stand in shame as one of the most wasteful persons on earth. We never knew that you were watching us and that one day you will compel us to come to our senses.
That one day is now. We used to wash our hands with champagne. Today, that drink is now an item on a major capital budget. Garri and akpu were once food for the poor. Today, they are unaffordable by even middle income earners.
There was a time in our country that some of the well off among us used to send their clothes to London for dry cleaning. These days some of the well off cannot afford a flight ticket to fly even domestically. In the days past, a big man could send his driver to take a 12 –year- old son from Calabar back to school in Lagos. These days, no big man can afford that kind of luxury not even for himself.
Number two charge against us: I know that one of our major sins against you is ingratitude. Unthankfulness is steadily becoming our national character. Many in my country just find it hard to thank God or man for any favour they get. Since many survive on stealing, extortion, robbery and corruption, they think the wealth they have is the result of their intelligence.
Like the Israelites, when we were swimming in the affluence you bestowed on us, we never regarded the works of your hands. We never gave you the thanks that you deserved. And you said in your word that when a people do not regard the works of your hands, you will ‘’destroy them and not build them up’’ (Psalm 28: 5). Today, our country and us lie prostrate. We have become a poor, destitute and beggarly nation. We need to rise again, Lord. This time around, we will not forget to thank you and thank and thank you because it is not easy with us at all. We have tasted wealth. Now we are tasting woes and we know which one is better.
Lord, since the year 2005 you gave me a thanksgiving ministry. You commanded me to teach what you call an ‘’ungrateful generation ‘’how to thank you and fellow men. To the best of my ability, I have been carrying out this assignment. But when I teach some people, they say some heart-warming things, saying that they never knew the importance of thanksgiving before. But as soon as they leave the venue, they seem to forget. Hold not this sin against me and my household because we are continually grateful to you for the blessings we enjoy from you.
Charge Number three: We embraced the worship of many small gods, sacrificing our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, cousins and nephews without conscience or mercy to get rich. We committed many unspeakable misdeeds. Some men sleep with their mothers and daughters while some mothers sleep with their sons in order for tonnes of money to come to them with little or no sweat.
Number four: Failure to be a thinking people. I know, Lord, that bad leadership is not the cause of our present difficulties. It is only one part of the package you have for us. They are the catalyst used to speed up the chemical reaction that is meant to force us to change because we are a stiff necked people. We find it hard to think even when the reality is as clear as crystal. We ought to know without being told that the way we were living our lives like drunken sailors, one day a ship wreck will occur against us. We are now adrift in a mighty ocean being tossed from coast to coast.
Only you, Lord, can salvage us. No coup-day revolutionaries can redeem us now. From the honesty and sincerity of my heart, I pledge on behalf of myself and fellow countrymen and women that we have sinned greatly against you. I plead for forgiveness. Regard not our many iniquities against you. You are a God of mercy and forgiveness. Hear this my heartfelt plea for forgiveness and blot out all our misdeeds and give us a new heart and a new spirit to sin no more.
Anoint for us God-fearing leaders who hate bribery and corruption, who love justice and righteousness, who have the milk of human kindness in them. Give us, Lord, leaders who are prudent in the management of the resources you put in their care to superintend over our affairs.
We have too many spendthrifts in power. Lord, when shall we have leaders who have conquered their greed? Even as we speak, go now to the garages of some of our leaders. They look more like warehouses for vintage cars.
Charge number five: This one is perhaps one of the most grievous. It is that the love of fellow brethren and countrymen has waxed cold.
Nigeria is now like what our Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka once said of the then ruling party in our country, the PDP, that it is ‘’a nest of vipers’’. Truthfulness, honesty, sincerity, justice and love for fellow brothers and sisters have taken a French leave from our country. Right now, some blood brothers and sisters can tell a naked lie or swear falsely to an oath in order to ruin a more successful brother or sister in order to get an undeserved piece of his estate.
Many potentially prosperous businesses crumble because of the terrible insincerity and dishonesty of most of our brethren. They think they are being clever when they take actions supposedly for self when it will in fact lead to their unemployment and those of many others. Lord, we are in trouble with ourselves and with our country. Bail us out or we will fail completely and become a problem to our neighbours many of whom are not as well endowed as us.
