Nigeria is Bleeding, Sliding to Failed State, Says Dickson

Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, has said Nigeria is seriously bleeding and divided more than ever.

He said the continuous wanton killings by Fulani herdsmen across the country is symptomatic of a failed state.

The governor called for prayers for the country to surmount all the challenges facing it.

A press statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary,  Mr. Francis Ottah Agbo, noted that the governor stated this during the national prayer conference organised by Nigeria Prays at the Ecumenical Centre, Yenagoa, with the theme: ‘Lord Rend The Heavens.

He said Nigerians must unite in prayers and resolve to work together to ensure fairness, justice, equity and equal citizenship.                                   The governor lamented that the country was bleeding and urged leaders across the country to take the responsibility to stop the bloodletting.

He added that the emergence of Nigeria Prays was more critical than ever before, as it encourages the different denominations to pray fervently for the nation. 

He said: “In this country,  God’s children, human beings irrespective of the God they worship, are being slaughtered mercilessly, remorselessly in many parts of the country. Our nation is bleeding, we must unite in prayers and resolve to do what is right and fair. Our nation should be a nation of fairness, justice, equity, equal citizenship and united by common ideals of being the greatest black nation. 

“We are united by our common shared humanity and nationality, so injustice and unfairness anywhere should be a concern to anyone and everyone in our nation. I join you in praying that the bloodletting, unnecessary killings under any shape or guise ends in Jesus name. God should intervene so that people will feel the need to do the right thing, be fair and just to one another. 

“Anyone who denies his fellow man justice is less human than his victim because what qualifies us humans created in the image of God is our believe in doing what is right and just. So I call for a just, egalitarian, fair Nigeria where every one is proud to call his or her country. No one should play the ostrich.” 

The Chairman and convener of Nigeria Prays, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), in his opening remarks, expressed appreciation to Dickson for giving Nigeria Prays the privilege of holding its national prayer conference at the Ecumenical Centre, which he described as a magnificent edifice built for God’s glory and the edification of man. 

According to the former Head of State, the governor has demonstrated his faith in God by building the Ecumenical Centre and urged other state governors to emulate his noble and progressive initiative to provoke God’s blessings.

Gowon, who noted that prayers can solve Nigeria’s problems better and faster than military generals and soldiers can do with physical weapons of war,  assured Nigerians that God  will honour the collective prayers and intercession for the nation, while also advising people to shun violence and retaliation.