The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has said no amount of prayers can help Nigeria if the country continues to experience what he described as bad leadership.

Primate Ayodele, in a statement signed by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, said Nigeria had yet to fully experience the benefits of independence, blaming what he described as poor leadership for the country’s economic hardship, hunger and stagnation.

According to him, Nigerians are experiencing an “independence of hardship and hunger”, while the government spends more time complaining about the nation’s challenges than providing solutions.

He also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration, claiming that the president had not demonstrated the capacity needed to move the country forward.

“We are not fully independent. It’s an independence of stagnancy and hunger. Tinubu isn’t competent to be a president, so there is no way the people will enjoy independence. Our government complains a lot when they are supposed to provide solution. This independence is meant for rethink but the president isn’t ready for it,” he said.

The cleric also questioned the level of freedom in the country, arguing that the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket did not represent the independence Nigerians should enjoy.

“There is no freedom in whatever we are doing; a Muslim-Muslim ticket is no independence, it’s bondage. The only way we can have independence is through restructuring, but the government isn’t ready for that. In terms of infrastructure, health, economy, and other indices, it’s simply bondage,” he said.

Ayodele called for restructuring, which he described as the only way Nigeria could achieve what he termed genuine independence.

He further accused the government of being selfish and lacking adequate plans for the younger generation, saying this had continued to hinder the country’s progress.

“The government is selfish and careless; it is not a government that is arranged or organised, and that is why we are still in the process of independence; we have not fully attained it.

“There is no amount of prayers that can help us if we have bad leadership; our independence has been commercialised and sabotaged. This is a country with no plans for the younger generation,” he said. (Nigerian Tribune)