By Neta Nwosu
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins has urged Nigerians to make more efforts to live in the spirit of brotherly love, unity, and selfless sacrifices that the Easter event presents to us. He said that this is an imperative for peaceful co-existence. He also said that this year’s Easter season offers us all another opportunity to reflect deeply about the love of God for humanity who offered his Only-Begotten Son as a sacrificial lamb to redeem us from the shackles of sin and eternal damnation so as to enter into the joy of eternal beatitude.
In his 2024 Easter message, signed by the Director of Social Communications, Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, the prelate noted that it is only by practicing the true virtues of love for one another and empathy at this critical period that Nigerians, irrespective of their tribe and faith, can live in true peace and harmony, not minding the grave economic and security challenges that they are facing. “At Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of Christ which is the core of our faith as Christians. It is a special period when we are expected to unite with Christ by serving him through offering our services to others, especially those who are in great need. Easter reminds us to continue to proclaim the Mystery of our Faith as Christians: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.”
As we have commemorated the suffering and death of Christ and now, we rejoice in His resurrection at Easter, we must also be mindful of the spiritual implications of the season because they reveal to us the importance of sacrifice and love for one another. These are important virtues that we need to make more abundant and demonstrate more vigorously at this period that we are confronted with immense economic hardship, poverty, and social dysfunction.” Archbishop Martins condemned in strong terms the recent murder of 17 officers and men of the Nigerian Army at Okuama Community in Delta State and urged the Federal and State governments to ensure all those found complicit are made to face the full wrath of the law.
He also advised the army to show restraint in the face of provocation and allow the rule of law to take its effect. In this vein, he commended the conferment of posthumous national honours on the heroes as well as the award of scholarship to the children of the soldiers while expressing the hope that they would not have any difficulty in securing the scholarship. He equally called for adequate measures to better safeguard the lives and improve the welfare of our law enforcement agents who sacrifice so much for our country. While calling for more stringent measures to tackle insecurity, the Archbishop equally implored the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the food sector to tackle the excruciating hunger and deprivation being experienced by Nigerians owing to the parlous state of the economy.
