By EMMANUEL AZIKEN

Praying for those in authority is one of the basic injunctions of the Christian Faith. The early Christian missionary, Paul who was originally from Tarsus in a letter to one of his close aides, Timothy wrote that prayers should be made for all men and then for “kings, and for all that are in authority.”

Given the imperial oppression of the Roman emperors, there was no doubt that Paul’s injunction would have been received with serious misgivings by some of the Jewish converts at that time. As with the Jewish Christians at the turn of the millennium, so I believe it is with many Nigerians today.

Praying for Nigerian leaders is definitely not an easy obligation for anyone that knows the foibles of our leaders.
In the years of military dictatorship it was indeed easier to wish and indeed silently pray for the demise of some of the country’s more brutal dictatorships.

In those days it was indeed comfortable for many journalists to go to Afghanistan, that is, to focus on things outside the country using such as an allegory of things at home. As a dweller in Afghanistan for most of the years of the military I do remember many times turning on the radio with a silent wish to hear the sound of martial music heralding the termination of a military regime. Albeit, in almost all cases I went away disappointed.

The enthronement of democracy with the ascent to power of those the majority of Nigerians may have supposedly elected should have changed my frame of mind. Democracy indeed, should have gravitated me towards supplications for the stability of our leaders. But these days as I exchange banters with the ordinary men trudging the battered streets of Lagos, it is all apparent that many are not inclined towards supplicating for those in authority.

The reason is very obvious. Nigerians believe that they are indeed being taken for a ride by those in elected office. Indeed, party affiliation today does not differentiate the contempt majority of the citizenry hold for elected office holders.

As some would ask, why would a Nigerian who lost his relative whether close or distant, to the growing insecurity in the land at the end of last December, and who only a few days later was faced with the more than 100% increase in the prices of petroleum prices arising from the withdrawal of the alleged subsidy in the price of petrol pray for those in authority?

Such a citizen would have been even more dazed or disconcerted by the revelations in the report of the ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives on the utilization of subsidy by petroleum importers.

That House report on subsidy should have been a godsend for the administration to burnish its image. Imagine what a decisive implementation of the recommendations of the report or a determination to show itself as being on the same page with the House on the issue would have done for the image of the administration.

These developments or seeming inclination to self-destruct have sometimes led me to question the possibilities of saboteurs in the administration. Are there close pretenders or buddies who are desperate for the President to fail or to be seen to be failing?

Even when it has opportunities of celebrating its little successes the administration easily bungles such opportunities.
Last Monday as I learnt that the President had given his assent to the bill increasing the retirement age of university professors to 70 years, I called the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie who confirmed it and added that he and some of his officials were even in Abuja for the signing ceremony.

But as is becoming common for the little successes of the Jonathan administration, that ceremony that would have given a little positive image to the administration was botched at the last minute.

Sometimes, it is even tempting to believe that the President may well not bother with his image. Such impressions are dangerous for a democracy and it is the reason why none of us, even those who have given up on any good coming out from the administration should give up on praying for the administration.

As Paul told Timothy, praying for those in authority would ensure that we lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Now who doesn’t want that? So, on your knees fellow Nigerians!