PFN Laments Hardship, Social Challenges

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has lamented the country’s prevailing economic and social challenges and called for urgent divine intervention.

Speaking during the PFN national executive Retreat tagged Uyo 2025, currently held in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, the national president of the Fellowship, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, said that only God’s intervention could rescue Nigeria from its present difficulties.

In a statement yesterday in Ibadan, the Director of Media and Publicity to Bishop Wale-Oke, Akinwale Aboluwade, said the retreat, which also heralds the 40th anniversary of the PFN and is scheduled for October 27, 2025, was themed ‘PFN: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’.

According to the cleric, the event is focused on rededicating the nation to God for spiritual and national renewal.

“This year marks 40 years of the PFN’s founding. God has used the Fellowship to impact Nigeria in many ways.

“We are here to celebrate God’s goodness with praise, prayer, and the word. We believe God will use PFN as His instrument of mercy to deliver Nigeria”, he said.

He noted that the country is at a critical juncture, citing widespread insecurity, economic instability, the declining value of the naira, and increasing emigration, popularly known as the ‘JAPA syndrome.’

“We are at the threshold of history. Nigeria faces many existential threats. But we know the pillars of the earth belong to the Lord. If He steps in, there shall be light,” he said, quoting 1 Samuel 2:8.

Bishop Wale Oke emphasised the role of the Church in national healing, referencing 2 Chronicles 7:14. “The time to act is now. May the PFN be God’s instrument of mercy in this season.”

He urged PFN members to use the retreat to strategize for the remaining three years of the current administration and to intensify their spiritual efforts at all levels—national, state, and local.

“We must not continue like this. A change is coming, and though we don’t know how God will do it, we believe He answers prayers.”

He renewed calls to prayer, repentance, and righteous living, saying, “Nigeria needs healing.

“That’s why we are here. We can build a just society through prayer, fasting, and the preaching of the Word. Darkness cannot overcome light—there will be light at the end of the tunnel for Nigeria.”