By Bimbola Segun Amao
Today is the weekly environmental sanitation day for shop owners and artisans alike. The State government would expect them to show up at their shops and workshops and clean the environment. You’ll observe that just a handful shows up in these workshops to clean, others find something else to do for that duration. And yes, Thursdays like today is a good time for prayer meetings. I can hear the drums already from one of the churches around, the praises in crescendos, then the prayers would soon begin from different parishes; some devils by now know today is the day they get roasted and every enemy of progress would forcefully be dealt with this hour.
This habit of running to prayer houses at every government-given opportunity would leave me extremely peeved before now. I would be irritated at this habit of dropping everything including our brains at God’s feet. But I’m no longer vexed, I am beginning to accept that the whole nation is outsourced to this Big God. We all need to lobby him for our portion.
One needs to lobby him for road safety; you need to pray before hand not only for yourself but other road users, 70% of which are driving with one hand and the other hand clutching on to their frustrations. A typical Lagos driver is likely to be in a hurry for no particular reason, unnecessary unpleasant or plainly crack-brained. Driving 100km/hr in a residential area proves all is not well with the driver, you need God to keep you away from such people.
Then, when you remember you can’t afford to be in ill health, you pray harder. Last week, I was at the hospital; with the Ebola virus scare still looming, the nurses yet were very comfortable touching and handling patients with their bare hands. After a mild protest and admonishing for them to use hand gloves, they did. But that one pair of gloves would serve many other patients till the next protestant. And I tell you, the hospital wasn’t a cheap one. One’s need for God just got more real.
Ha! the prayers you, your mom, dad, and siblings prayed before you got the job cannot be rested now, it can only be improved. One needs to pray that Oga doesn’t mis-manage office funds leaving employers stranded for months without pay, you need to pray that company’s fund isn’t used up for ‘owambes’ or political ambitions. You need to pray Oga doesn’t ‘forget’ to pay when the month ends. It’s a Nigerian prayer need, but then you are here, you have to pray hard except you work with the few exceptions. Didn’t the Bible also say that ‘the King’s heart is in the hands of the Lord, like the rivers of waters, he turns it wherever he wishes’?
How about PHCN? I pray that they at least supply enough power to keep the freezer intact , that I may not die of pasta and noodles as I can’t keep up with cooking fresh meals every night. Then the prayer against traffic; if you’ve never been stuck in that Lagos-Ibadan traffic gridlock, you may not understand this prayer. This is not a prayer of faith; it’s a prayer of begging…’God, please, just make a way for me here’.
By the time you are done reading or watching the news, you’ll be quoting scriptures about security and protection. You’ll hear news like ‘FG blocks Ebola finally’, then the next news item is ‘FG closes down School to curb Ebola spread’. And you are rattled, if EVD is blocked, why close schools?
Your need for prayer is enormous, so go ahead and pray. I can only say, find God for your self, not the one shoved down your throat. You know how it is in Nigeria with counterfeits, you need to shine your eye and identify the authentic God for yourself. When you do find him, please pray everyday; not the mushy mushy prayers though. I tell you, African demons are stubborn, you need strong violent prayers against them. Then do you know how to plea with God? You should. It’s prayer on another level but I can’t write about it now, I need to go. But then I covet your prayers, that the ATM machine nearest to my house would dispense cash as I don’t have a kobo in my wallet to set out for today.
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