Nigeria’s acting leader urges more work, less prayer

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Nigeria’s vice president Yemi Osinbajo Thursday has urged his fellow citizens to work more and devote less time to prayer.

He said great nations are made by a workforce known for its commitment and hard work and not necessarily for their prayers -- an attack on the country's monicker of being a nation of highly religious people.

“No matter how much you pray or fast our country cannot grow without some of us deciding to do the hard work that makes nations work,” said Osinbajo, currently the country's acting president in the absence of the ailing 74-year-old Muhammadu Buhari.

He was speaking at a program to enlist the support of Nigeria’s civil servants on executive orders introduced to make business operations simpler easier in a country notorious for its bureaucratic bottlenecks.

“Great economies and great nations, prosperity and abundance of nations and communities are created by men and not spirits and I want to emphasize this point that those who make nations great are you and I, not spirits,” he added.

Osinbajo urged the civil servants to help fast-track the processes of registering business, adding that “every time that a public officer is an obstacle to business in any way, he attacks the prosperity of our economy and he attacks our future, it means our children cannot find jobs”.