Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, has called for prayers for the new Pope to enable him succeed in his assignment.

The governor made the call while joining billions of people throughout the world to celebrate the emergence, last night, of the new Pope, saying that it is the continuation of the fulfillment of Christ to his Church that the gate of hell shall not prevail against her.

Obi in a statement in Awka, the state capital, described the emergence of the new Pope as the triumph of a process. He insisted that one vital lesson that Nigerians should draw from the rancor-free and transparent way the new Pope emerged is that the process of being elected into any position is far more fundamental than what the person elected does thereafter.

The governor said that with the emergence of a new Pope, what is required now is for everybody to join the Church in prayers for the great task ahead of the successor of St. Peter, the prince of the Apostles.

Describing the new Pope, His Holiness Pope Francis, formerly Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as a deeply intellectual and religious leader, he said he did very well as Bishop of Buenos Aires. “He will most certainly do well as the Pope with the support of our prayers,” the governor, who is a devout Catholic, said.

•Photo: His Holiness Pope Francis I.