Easter: Buhari Admonishes Christians To Imbibe Jesus’ Message Of Love
BEVERLY HILLS, March 26, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday felicitated with Christians in Nigeria on the occasion of this year’s Easter, urging them to live out Jesus Christ’s charge to his disciples and followers to “love one another as I have loved you”.
In an Easter message personally signed by him, the President maintained that “it will serve our dear nation very well if we all imbibe this essential message of Jesus Christ and truly learn to love our countrymen and women as we love ourselves.
“Indeed, we will surely make faster progress towards the achievement of the peaceful, united, strong, progressive and prosperous country we all desire if, as a nation, we eschew all divisive, parochial, ethnic and religious sentiments and rivalries, and begin to live more harmoniously with our compatriots, as Jesus Christ and the founders of the world’s other great religions enjoined mankind.
“Our unfortunate notoriety in recent years as a country where the blood of men, women and children are wantonly and callously shed in frequent orgies of criminal, political, ethnic and religious violence has become very embarrassing and utterly unacceptable.”
Buhari went on to express the determination of his administration to achieve greater peace and security across the country by ending the avoidable conflicts and crises that hinder national progress.
While asking for greater support from all Nigerians for this to be actualized, he called for an end to politically motivated killings in order for Nigerian communities to be made safe again for all inhabitants to live together in peace and harmony.
The statement read in part, “Our armed forces, police and other security agencies are being progressively reformed, repositioned and empowered to win the war against terrorism and make mass killings, abductions and other criminal atrocities things of the past in our beloved country.
“Let us all also play our parts as patriotic citizens and do all that we can to ensure that we make Nigeria a safer, more peaceful and happier place for its people and others.
“Faith, belief and the fulfilment of expectations are also key themes of the Easter celebration. I urge you all therefore, to continue to have faith in the future greatness of our country and to believe that the CHANGE my administration promised will surely come to fruition.
“That CHANGE, which we all yearn for, will certainly occur more rapidly if we all place the love of our country above selfish personal and group interests.
“The National Assembly has just passed the 2016 budget. I assure all Nigerians that we will do our utmost best to ensure that the budget, the first since my election as President, is efficiently and successfully implemented towards achieving our objective of faster economic growth and development.
“I thank the vast majority of Nigerians for their patience and understanding in the first ten months of this administration.
“As we go forward, I assure you all that we are working very hard to overcome the challenges we encountered on assumption of office.
“We are moving on with an unshaken resolve and determination to deliver on the mandate you gave us on March 28, last year.
“I wish you all very happy Easter celebrations.”