By OLAYINKA LATONA

Easter is the most important Christian festival as it celebrates Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, three days after he was executed by crucifixion.

According to the Bible, Jesus’ death and resurrection occurred around the time of the Jewish Passover, which was celebrated on the first full moon following the vernal equinox. This soon led to Christians celebrating Easter on different dates. At the end of the second century, some churches celebrated Easter on the day of the Passover, while others celebrated it on the following Sunday.

Orthodox churches, observe Easter with the Lenten fasting, processions on palm Sundays, plays, and overnight prayers. Some orthodox churches also avoid eating meat during this period starting from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.

Pentecostal churches on the other hand, observe Easter by holding special programmes such as street evangelism, outdoor crusades, retreats, visiting the elderly and orphanage homes.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, is using the Easter period for evangelism which is known as the annual Easter Let’s-Go-a-Fishing in different areas of the church’s operation which ends today.

The Deeper Christian Life Ministry also holds an ongoing 6-days Global Crusade and global Easter retreat with the theme; ‘The All-Sufficent Jesus’.

Celebrating Jesus Amidst Economic Hardship

Arguably, majority of Nigeria’s population celebrated the all-important Christian festival in a very austere condition because of a biting economy that made prices of all commodities stretched beyond the reach of millions of Christians.

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Everywhere one turns, there are men, women, boys, girls irrespective of tribe or creed lamenting the prevailing economic hardship and the attendant high prices of food items in the country. Staple foods such as rice, beans, garri, pepper, tomatoes, onions, vegetable oils, Palm oil are now out of the reach of average Nigerians.

Prelate Emeritus of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Sunday Ola Makinde pointed out that Easter is generally regarded as the most important feast in Christendom because it commemorates the supreme sacrifice paid by Christ to redeem humanity from the shackles of sin and to give them access to eternal life.

He however called on Nigerians to seek divine intervention from God by overcoming what he described as the multifaceted trials confronting the country.

In a telephone interview with VANGUARD NEWSPAPER, the Prelate Emeritus said Nigeria needs urgent spiritual help to overcome the challenges confronting the nation.

The former prelate of Nigeria, urged the present administration to do everything humanly possible to make life easier for Nigerians.

Congratulating Nigerians on the grace and privilege of being alive to witness yet another Easter celebration, a period that we are all reminded of God’s work of redemption for humanity, the cleric urged Nigerians to remain positive and continue to contribute their quotas towards ensuring that the country overcomes its current challenges and becomes great again

The clergy maintained, “Nigerian people should put their trust in God, remain courageous and be strong in the face of the current challenges. Asking the masses to continue to support and intensify prayers for the government at all levels for them to discharge their duties effectively.

In his words: ” It is no doubt that we have tasted good times in this country and there is no doubt that there is serious hardship in the land. However, most of these challenges are caused by our disobedient, shedding of blood, selfishness, bad leadership among others. We shed blood in this country as if we are pouring water and this is very bad. God is not happy with all these evil deeds”

“I believe Nigeria will resurrect from this bad economy challenges if we can truly repent from our evil ways, embrace love, peace and unity. We should remember that the situation of any nation will not change for until the people have a positive attitudinal change, because if government is committed on its part and the citizens are not doing the right things, there will not be much progress”.

Bishop Akinola Call for More Palliative Measure

Also lending his voice, President, Rhema Christian Church &Towers, Bishop Taiwo Akinola, urged the government to support more Nigerians with palliatives as they continue to struggle with the harsh economic realities.

According to Bishop Akinola, largely today, the economy is in bad shape, and in many quarters, people are not having it easy. The sociopolitical life is generally looking down, and many people find themselves in terrible situations on many fronts. Suffering and struggling to barely survive, they have resigned to eating their bread without butter!

Continuing: “In view of this, it is my well-considered advise to governments at all levels that they should devise more effective ways of reaching the masses with palliative measures and other subsidies at this time, even as well thought out policies are being rolled out to improve our national economic outlook in general”

“I believe this will go a long way to boosting the morale of the citizens and make it easier for them to generate some confidence in the government”.

Nigeria needs sacrificial leaders——-Rev. Fr. Godonu

Parish Priest, Catholic Church of the Presentation, Festac, Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu in his response advised government in the country to drastically cut the remuneration of political office holders. He said politicians should see themselves as servant leaders and not greedy leaders who amass wealth for themselves, the priest, lamented that various challenges the country is passing presently were as a result of what greedy politicians occupying positions of authority have done for selfish gains.

He said: “We are all not oblivious about the stark reality of times in our nation where there’s much hunger and anger because of the economic crisis ravaging our nation. The same thing we have been saying.

expunge corruption and formulate people oriented policies that will bring succour to the hearts and souls of poor Nigerians.

“Palliative are just temporary measures. They cannot solve the problems of Nigerians if the political elites are not ready to sacrifice their selfish ambitions of humongous salaries and allowances.

“Amidst all, as we celebrate Easter, we call all well-meaning Nigerians to be their Brother’s Keeper by offering a hand of solidarity through generous donation of food items and monetary assistance to their closest neighbours.

“This will go a long way to cushion the sufferings in the land and bring to life the true meaning of Easter celebrations. May God bless our Land with Peace, Progress and Unity”.