TODAY is Good Friday, which marks the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross more than 2,000 years ago.  On Sunday, Christians will celebrate Easter, the festival of the resurrection of Jesus Christ after a cruel death.

Easter and its message cannot change. Easter is about the sacrifice, the selflessness of Jesus Christ, and a call to all who profess the faith to follow these virtues in their dealings with others.

God chose to redeem the world through the death of His son. He died a humiliating death that atoned for the sins of the world. Without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, there would have been no Christian faith, yet Easter is marked with more sobriety than Christmas, fiesta of the birth of Christ.

Great lessons abound for all at Easter and they are useful to our country that is boiling over elections. Christ’s personal examples in all aspects of life are lost to those who want things for themselves. Selfishness makes people unreasonable. It destroys them.

Christ’s humility, with all the powers available to him, should challenge those who abuse their little powers.
There are great leadership lessons from Easter. In the blind bid for power, our leaders, even those who claim to be Christians, ignore the tenets of Christianity.

Leadership, according to Christ, is nothing without service to the people. Christ served people daily, often at great personal inconvenience. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, comforted the afflicted, and taught his followers to imitate him.

Even on his way to death, he served. During the Last Supper, he washed the feet of his disciples before the meal. A few hours away from a cruel death, he placed the comfort of his disciples above his impending death.
Politicians are celebrating their victories at elections won on promises they may never keep.

Do they care about the people? Would they, like Christ, be willing to  pay attention to the people? Do they know the pains Nigerians endure, in the abundance of natural resources that are being wasted? How can they relate to the people, when unlike Christ, they distance themselves from the realities of Nigeria?

Christ was ready to pay the supreme price – death – for the redemption of the world. Remarkably, he died, not for his own sins, but the sins of others, including the sins of those who nailed him to the cross. Can our leaders die for anyone?

It is important that leadership has real meaning with the next administration. Our next set of leaders must be ready to suffer with the people. They must sooth their pains; they must have a purposeful vision for Nigeria.

In celebration, we must spare a thought for the riots in parts of Nigeria. The tortuous journey to nationhood will suffer occasional forced stops as we help everyone into the bus.

An enduring message of Easter is that leadership is service. Those who lead must be willing to put their lives on the line, when service demands it.