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Christians, the world over, will today celebrate the feast of Easter in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter concludes the ‘Passion of Christ,’ which begins with Lent, a period of 40 days of fasting and abstinence by Christian faithful. Easter is a season of love, sacrifice and selflessness. It is generally regarded as one of the principle feasts of Christianity. In other words, Easter is the most important Christian festival. That is why many Christians worldwide celebrate it with special church services and other festivities.
In Nigeria, Christians will mark the occasion with prayers, thanksgiving, dances and exchange of gifts. Unfortunately, the feast is coming at a time most Nigerians are besieged with many socio-economic problems. This year’s Easter, which is still celebrated under the COVID-19 pandemic, offers the Christian faithful another opportunity for sober reflection considering the impact of the pandemic on the economy and the general insecurity in the country.
This is, indeed, not the best of times for many Nigerians, including those of the Christian faith. Apart from grappling with mass poverty and rising unemployment, Nigerians are currently witnessing galloping inflation and rise in the prices of food items. These problems notwithstanding, Christian faithful will bear in mind that Easter is a joyous occasion, which calls for the celebration of the gift God gave mankind through the death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ.
Without doubt, in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, ‘death is swallowed up in victory.’ That is why the Christian faith is anchored on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter season is a period when Christians are expected to show love and kindness to neighbours, the needy, the sick, the elderly as well as the less privileged people in the society.
While the Christian faithful celebrate Christ’s victory over death with music, food and drinks, they should also not lose sight of its spiritual significance. With the defeat of death by Christ, mankind is saved from eternal damnation. Therefore, His resurrection represents the anticipation the Christian believers can have in their own resurrection.
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Through His death on the Cross of Calvary, Christ reconciled mankind to God. Beyond the celebratory aspect of the occasion, we call on Nigerian Christians to use the occasion to pray for the peace, unity and progress of the country. It is also an occasion for tolerance and forgiveness. They should also pray for our political office holders so that God will direct them on how best to govern the country and meet the needs of her citizens.
We urge the Christian faithful and indeed Nigerians to imbibe the significance of Easter and the eternal lessons therein. If Nigerians imbibe the lessons of Easter, the country will be a better place to live. Let the Christians and indeed Nigerians emulate the Christian virtues of forbearance, forgiveness, kindness, humility, love, peace and patience as demonstrated by Jesus Christ over 2000 years ago.If Nigerian leaders emulate the exemplary leadership style of Jesus Christ, the country will be better for it. Nigerian politicians should see politics as a call for patriotic and altruistic service to the country. They should eschew the ‘do or die’ approach to politics. They must use their positions to ensure the security and welfare of all Nigerians. We call on the security agencies to add more verve to the war against terrorists and bandits across the country and ensure that peace returns to the nation’s troubled zones.
In addition to tackling the nation’s security challenges, we urge the government to come up with comprehensive and clearly defined programmes that will lift millions of Nigerians out of excruciating poverty and misery. With targeted interventionist programmes and planned development of small and medium enterprises, Nigeria can surmount the rising unemployment problem. Therefore, in the spirit of the Easter season, let the government do something urgently to improve the welfare of all Nigerians.
We congratulate the Christian faithful on this joyous occasion and wish them and our esteemed readers a happy Easter celebration.
