PRESIDENT Jonathan yesterday stressed the need for prayers and sacrifices to enhance national growth.

Speaking while addressing participants at the 2015 Presidential Breakfast Prayer at State House, Abuja, Jonathan said both virtues are antidotes for peace and prosperity in all nations and that the absence of either could spell instability.

He told the gathering, which included two former Heads of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Chief Ernest Shonekan: “I always said that leadership is not all about giving directives. ‎A successful leader must be ready to make sacrifices. Everything about human life, as an individual, even as a child, if you don’t make the required sacrifice, you can’t go to where you want to go.

“I’m calling on leaders at other levels. Ministers must make the required sacrifice, our lawmakers (must) because they look at all our laws. They can create crisis in the country, if they are not ready to do things the right way.

“So, all of us in leadership positions must be ready to make sacrifices. And with our prayers and with our commitment, Nigeria will surely get to where it wants to.”

He added: “I have to thank God and Nigerians for the privilege and opportunity given to me this past 16 years. That is a reasonable length of time. So, I have to thank God, first, because if God did not will it, it would not have happened.”

Also at the commissioning of the Jubilee Resort and Leadership Centre, Abuja, built by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Jonathan urged Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of unity and work together for the good of the nation.