{"id":22228,"date":"2025-10-26T10:46:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T09:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=22228"},"modified":"2025-10-26T10:48:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T09:48:50","slug":"nigeria-would-have-collapsed-without-prayers-says-pfn-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/26\/nigeria-would-have-collapsed-without-prayers-says-pfn-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria Would Have Collapsed Without Prayers, Says PFN President"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>ABUJA, Nigeria (FN)<\/strong> \u2014 The national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, said Sunday that Nigeria would have collapsed without the prayers of its citizens, calling spiritual intercession the country\u2019s greatest defense against political and social turmoil.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking at a national prayer gathering in Abuja, Oke described prayers as the invisible force holding the nation together amid economic hardship, insecurity, and political discontent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe moment we stop praying, evil will take over,\u201d Oke said. \u201cThe prayers of believers have prevented the enemy from taking over our nation. Without divine mercy, Nigeria would have ceased to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He warned that the country\u2019s crises \u2014 from inflation to banditry \u2014 require not only good governance but also spiritual renewal. \u201cPrayer alone is not enough, but it has been a weapon of stability and hope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other senior clergy echoed his remarks, though some urged that prayer be matched with practical leadership reforms. Archbishop Daniel Okoh, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said while the church continues to intercede for the country, \u201cleaders must also address corruption, poverty, and injustice if prayers are to have lasting impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In contrast, Reverend Gideon Para-Mallam, a prominent evangelical leader, said Nigeria\u2019s resilience is evidence of \u201cdivine intervention,\u201d adding that \u201cthe moral fabric of society would have completely unraveled if not for consistent national prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Government officials also responded to Oke\u2019s comments. The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, said the administration \u201crecognizes the role of faith communities in sustaining national unity\u201d and praised religious groups for promoting peace during difficult times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe government appreciates the prayers of all Nigerians,\u201d Idris said in a statement. \u201cBut prayer must be accompanied by a collective commitment to lawful conduct, productivity, and tolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A senior aide to President Bola Tinubu, who asked not to be named, said the president \u201cbelieves in the power of prayer\u201d but is focused on policies that will \u201crestore economic confidence and reduce hardship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oke also emphasized the role of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria in national development, noting that Pentecostal churches operate many of the country\u2019s private universities and hospitals. \u201cWe are not just praying; we are building schools, hospitals, and transforming lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bishop called on Nigerians to rise above religious and ethnic divisions, urging unity and moral responsibility. \u201cWe do not want Muslims to die; we do not want Christians to die. Every life matters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He ended with a message of hope, declaring that faith and justice remain essential to Nigeria\u2019s survival. \u201cNigeria will not fail,\u201d Oke said. \u201cAs long as we keep praying and acting with integrity, there is hope for this nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 The national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, said Sunday that Nigeria would have collapsed without the prayers of its citizens, calling spiritual intercession the country\u2019s greatest defense against political and social turmoil. Speaking at a national prayer gathering in Abuja, Oke described prayers as the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wale-Oke.jpg?fit=510%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22229,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22228\/revisions\/22229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}