By Sam EYOBOKA & OLAYINKA LATONA
AS Christians mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Nigerian religious leaders have again called on fellow Nigerians to emulate the virtues of Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself for the sake of mankind.

Prelate of Methodist ChurchNigeria, Most Rev. Sunday Ola Makinde, in his message, urged Nigerians to live in unity and co-oporate with various governmental agen-cies for the country to over-come its multi-dimensional challenges.

According to Makinde, the way forward for the country is to take the issue of nation-building much more seriously than party politics, stressing the need for the nation’s leaders to be true statesmen who fear God and allow peace to reign in the country.

He also advised Nigerians not to relent in seeking the face of God for His favour and for the betterment of the nation, urging that irrespective of beliefs, they should rise, support and champion the project aimed at ridding the nation of sectarian crises and corruption.

His words: “Nigerians should join hands to build a nation with effective security because insecurity can break up the country if we are not careful. Insecurity is not solely a governmental problem. Hence we must join hands with security agencies to tackle the menace of terrorism.

“As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I am calling on all Nigerians to join hands to defeat corruption, unemploy-ment, insecurity, poverty, pray and love one another so that everything that is dead in this nation can come alive again,” he prayed.

We should allow peace, friendliness, good relationship to resurrect to resurrect in Nigeria, Makinde appealed.

In a similar vein, erstwhile national secretary of Pentecost-al Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, and presiding bishop of Cal-vary Kingdom Church, CKC, Bishop Joseph Ojo described Easter as a great occasion which Christians must hold dear to their hearts.

According to him, this year’s Easter marks 1980 years since the resurrection of the progi-nator of the Christian faith, arguing that a thousand years is one day before the maker of the universe, therefore it is not yet 2000 years as people erroneously claim.  Ojo said the 2000th anniver-sary of the Christ’s resur-rection comes up in 20 years time from now which will also mark day two of God’s plan for mankind.

God’s plan to be manifest

Nevertheless, he said this year’s occasion is significant in God’s plan for this country, noting that though it appears things are not exactly pleasant at the moment but God’s plan must be made manifest.

“I can assure you that God will turn things around this year for the nation, because it is not His will that these things are happening at this very time,” Ojo who will soon mark his 20th anniversary as a bishop, stated.

Delivering his Easter mess-age, the Dean of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Commu-nion) and Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos, Archbishop Ephraim Adebola Ademowo described Easter celebration as an important event in the Christian calendar, adding that any message that is not based on resurrection of Jesus Christ is not complete as Easter is the festival of rising.

Ademowo urged Nigerians not be part of problems con-fronting the nation, “be security conscious and intensi-fy your prayers for the country and her leaders.”