Our nation lacks commitment to righteousness — Osinbajo

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said on Friday in Abuja that the country was blessed with people who could pray well but lacked a commitment to righteousness.
Osinbajo made the remark at the Special Banquet, project launch, awards and presentations to mark the 20th Anniversary of Nigeria Prays, the pet project of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon.
The Vice President said that if the citizens “are called by His (Christ’s) name, stand up for the truth, righteousness and justice, clearly our country will turn around”.
According to him, there is the need to pray to God always, but it is more important that Christians turn away from evil in order to make the country great.
Osinbajo said: “If we want to be a nation that can feed its people, we must turn from evil ways and work for righteousness.
“When our pulpits preach righteousness, our people will rise up and become salts of the earth.
“Christians will stand up and be honest if we preach righteousness in the pulpit.”
Osinbajo said preachers had failed to tell the people that it was wrong to take bribe or accept money from government officials, adding that nations that had followed the principles of scripture had emerged as great.
He said prayer and fasting were good, but not enough to lift the country except the citizens went further to turn from evil.
He said: “The principles of hard work, integrity and innovation are things that made other countries great and they are all in the gospel and if we follow the principles we can be great.”
The Vice President extolled the virtues of honesty, integrity and hard work of Gowon and urged Nigerians especially leaders to emulate him.
Earlier, Gowon said the group had spent the past 20 years praying for the sincere intercessions for the healing of the country.
He said that passage of time had not diluted the vision of Nigeria Prays group.
Gowon said: “It has been an eventful journey to prepare a highway for God in our nation.
“By His Grace, we have succeeded in laying a solid spiritual foundation for national reflections and intercessions.
“Through prayers, rallies, seminars Nigeria Prays has created an opportunity for Nigerians and friends of Nigeria, irrespective of denominational affliction and religious background to be involved in the mission of birthing a new nation.”
According to the former Head of State, Nigerians have to continue to promote the virtues of patriotism and transparency in the citizenry and good governance and incorruptibility in leadership.
He said that in spite of how much Nigerians had prayed to exit difficulties a lot needed to be done and expressed optimism that the Holy Spirit will lead the way for the nation to be healed.
A cleric, Pastor Paul Adefarasin, in a message noted that Gowon was an exemplary leader and urged others to be patriotic and avoid partisanship as their elevation was an opportunity to build bridges in the country.
ADefarasin prayed that God will lift Nigeria and the leadership up and heal the country from the harm of corruption.
The event was used to present a book on Gowon, titled: “God’s Praying General,” as well as launch a N2 billion fund for the erection of a neighbourhood centre for Nigeria Prays.