- Says “I will be the oldest First Lady Nigeria will have”
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The wife of the President-elect, Remi Tinubu, has declared that her family is blessed and does not need Nigeria’s wealth to survive but to do the right thing.
She spoke at the 2023 Presidential Inauguration Inter-Denominational Church Service at the National Christian Center, Abuja ahead of the swearing-in of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, as the 17th President of Nigeria.
The incoming First Lady, while calling for prayers for Nigeria to succeed under her husband’s administration, promised that with the help of Nigerians and with the help of God, Tinubu’s tenure will set the nation on the right path.
She said: “Nigeria’s world is the Commonwealth of all. It belongs to everyone.
“God has blessed my family. We don’t need the wealth of Nigeria to survive but to do the right thing. And I promise you on this altar, that with your help, with the help of God, we will set this nation on the right path.”
Mrs Tinubu stressed that God has been merciful to Nigeria and that for two years Nigerians prayed to God to do a new thing as stated in Romans 8 but unfortunately, when the new thing came, Nigerians kept arguing with God.
She said: “I will begin from the Word of God in Romans 8 that says God will have mercy on whomever he will have mercy and show compassion on whoever he will show compassion. It is not he that willeth nor he that runneth but is God that showeth mercy.
“God has been merciful to us. I can tell you on my own that we never believed this could happen. But thank God for giving us hope, for giving us the resilience to continue in the race of life.
“Ashiwaju is 71 and I will be 63. I bet I will be one of the oldest First Ladies Nigeria would have.
We need the grace of God and we need everyone to do what Nigerians are expecting.
“Today, God has really proved himself as he did on the night of the primaries and put his seal on it. Because, when I saw the votes count to be 1,271, I said God it means you are here.
“I was humbled to my rock bottom. And to believe that this is the 7th consecutive democratic transition Nigeria will be experiencing shows that this is a time of perfection for Nigeria.
“Perfection in the sense that, in the word of God, I remember for over two years we have been praying in our churches, according to Isaiah 43:18-19, that we should not remember the former things, that God is going to do a new thing. A new thing came and we still kept arguing with God. Who can argue with his maker? No one.
“I know in Ecclesiastes 3:14, God said whatever he doeth is forever, we cannot add to it, we cannot take out of it:
“God does it so that men will fear before him and the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
“Today we have heard in Psalm 133:1-3. Except there is unity, lessons cannot flow down. This is the time for Nigeria to come together, for us to be renewed in our hope again. To hope in Nigeria as our young children I’ve sung here today. They are expecting the best for Nigeria.”
The incoming First Lady who described herself as a silent achiever reiterated her call for prayers.
She said: “We need your prayers. We need your prayers.
I can tell you, I for one. I’m a silent worker. I’m not a noisemaker but I listen and I hear, not out of pride. But is about what the journey has melted on us.
“We’ve been bruised, our bodies are not like the same again. But once the spirit is strong, the Bible said if the spirit is there, it will sustain your infirmity. But when the spirit is gone, who can stand? But the Spirit of God is in us. We will do the right thing by the grace of God.
“We need your prayers.
We need your prayers. We need the prayers of the church. We need the mosque. We need everybody to pray to that one God who we just read in Ephesians that he is one God of all, He is a God of all flesh. He is sovereign and He sits in heaven and He does as He pleases.
“In conclusion, I think I will end with that last verse of Ephesians 4:6. He is one God, Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all, and in you all. He is in every of His creation.
“We want to thank you all for coming out today. We thank our fathers of faith and our mothers of faith. God bless you. God will continually renew your strength. You have prayed for this nation and so it shall be.
“But the little oil that God placed on my head, I pray over this nation, there shall be peace in our borders. This land shall be prosperous and it will grow in leaps and bounds. Nigeria will be the cynosure of all eyes, and Nigeria will take its place among the community of nations in the name of Jesus. Thank you so much for your time. God bless you all. God bless our nation, Nigeria.“