Africa: For What Exactly Do We Pray?

[From my archives. Originally published on my website: www.alaye.biz)

Jun 19, 2025

Oh, my body, make me a man that ask questions.” – Frantz Fanon.

So, once again, the president assembled some Christian priests, and together, they prayed for the nation. At the end of the jamboree, they declared a 7-day prayer for the country.

Ah!

Are we ever going to learn in this country?

Readers will agree that this column has consistently maintained the principled stance that prayers are no substitutes for thinking and planning.

My younger brother’s favorite saying is: ‘Prayer is not a strategy,’ and I fully subscribe to it. Thank you, Deji.

It is difficult to know what we in Africa continue to pray for.

Why do people forget that Modern China is just eight (8) years older than Modern Ghana?

Today, we look up to the Chinese for technical and financial assistance.

The simple question we should ask ourselves is: would the Chinese be able to render help if they have wasted their time supplicating to gods as we do in Africa?

Malaysia became independent in 1957, the same year as our blessed republic. But today, Malaysia is so far ahead technologically that there is no longer any basis for comparison between the two countries.

We do not pretend to know everything or have answers to everything that ails us; we only interrogate our brains and ask ourselves questions.

If I were a god or the Jesus to whom Christians pray, my questions to African Christians would be simple and direct: What exactly do you pray for?

In many articles, we refer to the title of the classic by Nigerian writer Ola Rotimi, “The gods are not to blame.”

We have had our fair share of travel around the world, and we dare say that few places in the wide world are as blessed as our continent, Africa.

From Cape to Cairo, from Asmara to Casablanca, our continent has every mineral that should make us immensely wealthy.

In our dear Republic of Ghana, from Tarkwa to Wa, our land drips with one precious metal or another. Recently, we discovered commercial-quantity oil and gas.

So, please let us ask our president and the Christian leaders what else they want Jesus or the gods to do for us.

For what exactly do they pray?

If, without any effort on our part, the gods endow us with all the fabulous mineral riches we see in our land, they certainly have done their best for us.

If, out of laziness, greediness, stupidity, or a combination of the three, we sold our birthrights for a pittance, should we continue to disturb the gods with our uber-stupid entreaties and adjurations?

If out of selfishness, our paid officials signed away our mineral riches to foreigners, settled for 3-6% (for gold) and 10% (for oil), and gave foreigners the right to export our oil in crude form for twenty years, what can Jesus do for us?

And when we bear witness to how those we paid to rule us sold us for a song, and we did nothing, do we want Jesus to come and fight our battle for us?

Just as the president and the assemblage rose from their bent knees, there was a massive whoosh like the flapping of the wings of a giant, angry bird. A long, thin din followed the whoosh. The building shook with the vibration of invisible forces. A surge of an arctic chill closely followed a colossal heat wave; it was simultaneously cold and hot. Bodyguards rallied around their commander as priests uttered prayers in all the languages they knew. The women vociferated loudly in glossolalia. The massive chandeliers swayed, and their light dimmed. A magnificent rainbow arc illuminated the room. People cowered in fright.

The voice of Jesus came from everywhere.

Jesus: What is it that you pray for, my people?

A priest found his voice: Mighty Jesus, we pray to glorify your name…

Jesus: I am sorry to cut you short, my Noble Priest. My Father and I have listened to all your prayers, witnessed all your inspired sermons, seen all the offerings, and listened to all the melodies of your gospel songs. But the question that agitates our minds remains: What exactly are you Africans praying for?

Priest: We pray to sanctify your name and glorify the hallowed name of your Father, our God.

Jesus: Ha! I remain eternally grateful and flattered that you thought so highly of me to glorify my name. I speak for my Father when I say that we are thankful. I also speak for him when I say that few things would have brought joy to our hearts than to see that my efforts and Father's have not been wasted on you. If I look down and see that you people have managed to use the resources that my Father gave you to improve your conditions, my heart would have been filled with immense joy. If I had seen that your children were happily fed and decently clothed, I would have been delighted. If I had seen that you had used the immense power of the glorious sun to light up your houses and enjoy life’s comforts, as other people do, my Father and I would have been proud of you. If you have used the fertile land, plus the mighty rivers my Father gave you, to grow food and feed yourself, our hearts would have been filled with enormous happiness. From Tarkwa in your Western Region to Wa in the Upper West, my Father made your land drip with gold. What did you do with the gold? Not much, if the truth be told. Instead of building the factories to process them into valuable products, you sold them off. In itself, that is not a bad idea if only you had got a good deal. But, my Father’s anger was kindled when he saw that you accepted only three to six percent for the gold he gave you. I interceded on your behalf. I pleaded with my Father to forgive you because I thought you did not know what you were doing. With the hope that you have learned your lessons, he gave you immense oil and gas deposits in your Western Region. Sadly, for those of us who pleaded your case, you did not learn a thing. You continue in your wanton ways. Rather than husband your precious oil and gas and build the capacity to use them productively, you signed away the rights like you did the gold my Father gave you. You agreed to receive a paltry ten percent. And you signed away the rights for twenty years. Your actions displeased me greatly. It also made my Father very, very angry. That explains why my Father has closed his ears to your entreaties. Like the Prodigal Son, you blew your riches away. But unlike him, you learned no lesson from your misfortunes. Nothing would have gladdened my heart and that of my Father than for you to have shown some appreciation for the immense blessings he has showered on you without any effort on your part. But I am not pleased when we look down and see the utter mess you have made of your lives. Pardon us if your prayers seem brushed aside today; we have had enough. My Father is quick to anger, but my immeasurable patience has been taxed beyond the threshold of tolerance by your wanton and crass selfishness, utter greediness, and unfathomable stupidity. Sorry, my people, but try to understand the dilemma My Father and I face: we do not know what you people pray. Let us take your sleeping in darkness as an example. It is a shame and an affront to God and Man that you continue to sleep in darkness despite getting the majestic sun all year round. The secrets of electricity are in the public domain. It does not require the intervention of either my Father or me to generate and distribute electricity for domestic and industrial use. Again, if we take food as another example, most of your staple food can easily be grown in the fertile land my Father gave you. With minimal effort, you can be very self-sufficient in the production of everything that you eat. But, my people, what displeases my Father and me the most is the hypocrisy of your rulers in Africa. While most of your people live in the most grinding, abject poverty imaginable, you have absolutely no compunction whatever to lavish the commonwealth on yourself and your family members and your cronies. Many of you have one, two, or ten planes, whereas your nation has none. You have no qualms about buying the most expensive jeeps and building the most expensive presidential palaces. Yet, you lead your people to pray for what, with little effort, you could very easily provide for your people. It is your sanctimonious hypocrisy that irks my Father and myself so much. Sorry folks, you have greatly tasked the patience of my Father and me. You are not the only creations we brought into being. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I am to tell you that my Father and I have decided to spend some quality time with the other people, who have shown us, through their solid achievements, that they are appreciative of what my Father and I did for them. My people, go in peace. Go and read the admonition in 1 Samuel 12:55 – “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

The vibration ended, the din stopped, and the rainbow arc disappeared. The president and his people looked at one another and did not know what to do.

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Pan African Digest

Africa: For What Exactly Do We Pray?

[From my archives. Originally published on my website: www.alaye.biz)

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