Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, South-South Nigeria, has called for a declaration of national day of prayer for the peace and progress in the country.

He made the call while answering questions from correspondents at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on his return from Israel.

“It is important that we have a national day of prayer,” said Chief Akpabio Tuesday, fresh from pilgrimage. “It doesn’t matter what religion you belong to, what matters is for you to just go and pray for your nation, pray for yourself, your family and your state. Let the Muslims also pray and the Christians also pray. On the whole, I am excited with what has happened.”

The governor lauded President Goodluck Jonathan for turning Nigerians to God and for his humility in visiting Jerusalem on pilgrimage, saying that this is the beginning of a major transformation in the country.

According to Akpabio: “He is not the first President of Nigeria but I can tell you that he is the first Nigerian President since independence in 1960 to undertake a pilgrimage to Israel – a place that God has said ‘this promise land and I have made covenant with Abraham’ and we are descendants of Abraham. I think it important that is the beginning of a major transformation in Nigeria.”

On the impact of his going for the pilgrimage would have on Akwa Ibom, Akpabio said: “This spiritual rebirth. The idea of this pilgrimage, the idea of reconnecting with God is important for me and the future leaders. I have to ensure that the next leader of Akwa Ibom State continues to connect with God and continues to lead people towards the path of God. Once he does that God will give him divine direction.

“We don’t need to pray for any other thing, we should pray for a leader who will recognise God; a leader who will put God first in the affairs of the state. When we have that, God will take over the leadership of the state, the infrastructure would be sustained, the uncommon transformation would be sustained and there will be quantum leap in terms of development in Industries. This is all we need. We just need a leader who will come in and connect directly with God and allow the will of God to drive the progress of our state.”

Commenting on how to consolidate the uncommon transformation in the state, the governor explained: “It was not through my efforts that I became the Governor of Akwa Ibom State. It was through God’s benevolence and God’s grace. Remember, I was not campaigning to be governor, I was campaigning for the will of God to be done and I was the one that was selected out of 57 people.

“I knew that God had a mission for Akwa Ibom and that that mission must be seen through my vision. I knew that we were going to achieve a lot. So God has not even started with us yet. What you see in Akwa Ibom today is a child’s play. That is why I use to tell people that you aren’t seen nothing yet because I knew that indeed God was working.

“I didn’t see myself as somebody who was going to defeat all the major political players and the timber and calibre at that time, but all I knew was that God would allow His will to be done and I said ‘Let God’s will be done’. God’s will was done and I became the governor and then God’s will is also done in all facets of life – in the health sector, education.

“We haven’t achieved everything. Some sectors are not satisfied because we don’t have the kind of funds we would have needed to turn the entire State under the few years of my administration. But it is going to be like a building block, I have done and have taken it to this level and the next governor will take to another level.”