Significance Of Easter And National Development

Significance Of Easter And National Development

Christians in Nigeria yesterday joined their counterparts in Christendom worldwide to observe Easter Sunday, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ after His passion and crucifixion.

It is important for them to be mindful of the significance of the occasion which includes his triumph over death, ascension to heaven and his reunion with God Almighty interceding ceaselessly for the faithful.

Ahead of the all-important occasion, Christians have gone through a spiritual journey of prayers, fasting, abstinence and almsgiving to the less privileged, during the Lenten season to get more intimate with their Creator and seek forgiveness for their sins.

One of the many lessons of Easter is sacrifice.

Simply put, Sacrifice means giving up something valuable for the sake of other considerations.

In the context of Easter, God gave His only begotten son to save mankind.

In the same vein, Jesus Christ accepted to suffer and die to redeem humanity.

In other words, without sacrifice, mankind would not have been saved and reconciled with God, his creator.

In view of the above therefore, it has become compelling for Nigerians irrespective of creed and religion, status and background to imbibe the spirit of sacrifice, to help one another and for the overall development of the country.

Today, it is disheartening to note that many Nigerians including those in leadership positions, who ought to demonstrate sacrifice, are more selfish.

Since one of the messages of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is renewed hope, the present administration which prides itself with the mantra should demonstrate sincere commitment with the right policies and programmes to make the citizens heave a sigh of relief.

This way, the various challenges facing Nigerians, especially economic crisis, insecurity, poor state of infrastructure and many others, would be resolved and the hope of a better tomorrow, rekindled.

More importantly, the President Bola Tinubu administration, in this spirit of Easter must exemplify a posture of sacrifice and love for the citizens who defied all odds to vote for them, to be God-fearing, staunchly committed to good governance, shun bribery and corruption, as well as implement policies and programmes that will alleviate the suffering of the citizens.

The President’s recent directive of cutting down the size of the entourage of some political office holders including himself and the three months ban on public funded foreign trips for same are good examples of sacrifice.

However, the government must show sincerity in keeping to these directives and initiating more, for the common good.

At this point in time, a reduction in the salaries and allowances of political office holders is not too much a sacrifice for others to breathe.

A situation where millions of Nigerians cannot afford food, but politicians leave in affluence does not speak well of them, instead, it portrays the politicians as taking undue advantage of the vulnerability of the people which betrays the grandstanding of the politicians.

It must be noted that Jesus Christ did not take undue advantage of the people but remained focused on the herculean task of saving them.

The lawmakers must also make concerted efforts to be seen as those sacrificing for nation building and not to be perceived as budget padding experts.

Also, judges must be seen sacrificing their interest by rendering fair judgments, not the seeming justice for sale they exemplify.

Everyone is a stakeholder in the task of building the nation and must be willing to sacrifice for common good.

This way, the significance of Easter would be seen to be internalized and effective.

By Tersoo Zamber, Edited By Grace Namiji