By VICTORIA OJUGBANA

Nigerians have been admonished to pray that God will deliver her rulers from the demon of power and its abuse that tramples on the will of the citizens, “such that we are not even permitted to choose those who will govern us in free and fair elections.”

Parish Priest of St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos, Rt. Rev. Dr. Monsignor John Aniagwu, who gave the admonition during a press conference on his Ordination’s 50th Year Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday, noted that:

“When someone or a group of people are possessed by demons, the only response is recourse to spiritual deliverance.”

Aniagwu said that “Nigerians need to pray, really storm heaven that God will deliver our rulers from the multiple demons that currently hold them hostage so that they are unable to provide the kind of leadership that Nigeria needs: a leadership that is devoid of greed, selfishness, arrogance, insensitivity, lawlessness; a leadership that is rather characterised by justice and fair-play towards all Nigerians, irrespective of where they come from or what religion they profess, respect for the rule of law, respect for the rights of all citizens, among others.”

Unfolding the remaining activities for the anniversary celebration, Aniagwu noted:

“On Wednesday, senior citizens of the parish, aged 65 and above, will feed the hungry and needy in the community; Thursday will be for charity visits to the Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted Children, Surulere, and St. Monica’s Orphanage Iju, Ishaga.”

According to the cleric, Friday has been set aside for a special anniversary luncheon with a public lecture and book presentation, while the grand finale of the week-long programme is scheduled for Saturday, August 14, with a thanksgiving mass in the church at 10.am.

Lamenting that those in power have shown themselves to be unreceptive to any suggestion of change that could potentially turn the fortunes of Nigeria around, the cleric said that “The half-hearted solutions that they put forward are self-serving ones that will only protect and entrench their own unmerited privileges. Those solutions cannot in any way improve the lot of the ordinary citizens of Nigeria.

“On their own, our rulers are never going to let go of the stranglehold that they have on the present fortunes of our country and its prospects for the future.

“Right now, our dear country is simply not working. Some people are already calling it a failed state. That may not be far from the truth.”

Rev. Aniagwu also lamented that “his vision for the future of Nigeria is a bleak one, as long as we continue to have the kind of rulers that we have had to date.”

He said that Nigerian “rulers have made it abundantly clear, by their actions and utterances, that they have no intention to make the changes that are needed for Nigeria to begin the slow and painful journey from the darkness of under-development to the bright light of a modern nation-state that works.” (Daily Independent)

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