Nigeria at 64: We’ve every reasons to celebrate, give thanks to God – Baptist President, Rev. Dr. Akanji

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By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi

Nigerians have been reminded that in spite of the present hardship and economic crunch, they have a great reason to celebrate the country’s 64th Independence Day on Tuesday, 1st October.

Nigerians were also told that even if there is nothing, there is every reason to celebrate and give thanks to God for keeping the country as one united entity.

The assertion was made by the President of Nigeria Baptist Convention (NBC), Rev Dr Israel Adelani Akanji in his Independence Day message to Nigerians.

According to him, “Yes, we have pains, yes, things may seem hard and difficult, yet, we have every reason to be grateful to God for the different things He is doing for us as a country, individuals and families.”

The Clergyman who took his text from Psalms 126 stressed that God is restoring Nigeria for good because He is a faithful God who will not abandon his people no matter what the situation is.

The NBC President added that,”We should not put our trust on man who can fail at anytime, rather, we should put all our hopes on Him because He has promised to meet all our needs according to His riches in glory.”

He also admonished that there should be constant prayers for the leaders and not curses stressing that the prayers of intercession is always heard by God expressing hope and confidence that things will get back to normal for Nigerians.

He added that, “Sometimes you don’t know where to go for solution to your problem but I am telling you today that you have a place to go, go to the Lord, lift up your eyes and hands to Him and your help will come from Him.

“When we are a cross road like this, it is the time for us to get closer to God, have faith and trust in God and these will make things easier for us. We need to come to a point in our lives when we understand that we can’t do anything on our own,” he added.

Akanji advised that, “Let us not see the present situation in Nigeria as extremely bad, God is able to bring something good out of such situations, that is the kind of God we have, He is above all situations. Our difficulties help us to know that we have a God who can do those things we cannot do ordinarily.”

Giving the theme of his message as ‘Sowing in Tears’, he stressed that sowing is all about planting seeds with the hope and expectation of good harvest at the end of the year with tears which stands for hard labour.

He however lamented that the situation of the country now is that of self- centeredness and looking away from the poor, those who are suffering bringing in different reasons for not helping.

The clergyman called on Nigerians to be their brothers keepers, share the little they have together in love and affection saying that, God is always happy with such situations and He will use to bring more blessings.

He stressed that, “Nigeria has the potentials to be great again irrespective of the present situation. All we need to do is to have faith and believe in God. As we celebrate the 64th Independence Day, we must look forward to a better and greater Nigeria.”