By Stella Enenche, Abuja
The President, Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria ( CBCN), Most Reverend Lucius Ugorji, has called on Nigerians to renounce personal sins and rededicate themselves to the duty of nation-building.
The Archbishop of Owerri made the call on Thursday in his 2024 Easter message to Nigerians.
He said, “Easter, which recalls Christ’s victory over sin and the opening of a new pathway of life for humanity, is a call on us, the leaders and the led, to renounce our personal and collective sins, to embrace uprightness of life and to rededicate ourselves to the duty of nation building.
“This demands rising up to our civic responsibilities of being law-abiding and contributing selflessly to the common good to the best of our ability. The celebration of Easter reminds us of the transcendent dimensions of life in a world that is dominated by materialism and poisoned by the spirit of consumerism,” he said.
Ugorji who lamented over the general insecurity of life and properties, said Christians are celebrating this year’s Easter in an atmosphere beclouded by uncertainty and tension.
” The general insecurity of life and property across the nation is heightened by the recent hike in the kidnapping of school children for ransom, especially in the Northern part of the country. The decline in the value of the national currency is only surpassed by the alarming rate at which inflation is skyrocketing, making the price of basic commodities beyond the reach of the poor and vulnerable. Consequently, many families have been impoverished and are daily plagued by hardship, hunger, and malnutrition.
“This state of affairs is driving many compatriots to feelings of despair, cynicism, and apathy. Having had a myriad of shattered dreams and aborted hopes, many of our fellow citizens stare with despondency at a future that appears to promise them little or nothing. As a result of this state of affairs, many young Nigerians, who should constitute the labour force to build up our economy, flee the country as economic refugees in search of greener pastures in foreign countries.
“The prevailing disillusionment that reigns among our people mirrors the frustration felt by the apostles and disciples at the excruciating passion and humiliating death of Christ on a Cross. After the crucifixion of their Lord and Master, they returned home with shattered dreams and hopes dispirited, dejected, downcast, and miserable. Their high hopes of a Messiah to liberate them from the oppression and exploitation of Roman emperors faded and disappeared like a mirage.
He stressed that “the fallout of the 2023 general elections, which was marred by irregularities, is a strong feeling of political alienation and economic marginalization among some sections of the country. Easter, in recalling how Christ, the Prince of Peace, reconciled us to God and our fellow men, challenges us to be ambassadors of peace and agents of reconciliation in a nation divided by the politics of nepotism and torn apart by inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions and strife.
“As a means of fostering national unity and cohesion, we must choose the pathway to peace by shunning injustice, discrimination, bigotry, and fanaticism, which cause discord, disaffection, and disunity. Rather than take to violence, we must learn to settle differences amicably through dialogue, rooted in the spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness. Far from embracing violence as a way of settling our differences.
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