The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has asked Nigerians to join hands to fight insecurity, corruption and other vices ravaging the land.
While felicitating with Christians on the occasion of the remembrance of the death and resurrection of Christ, Ngige said that what the country needs now is peace and unity.
In statement from his Media Office in Abuja, the minister appealed to Christians to see in Easter, another great opportunity to re-awaken the dying fervor of personal and collective sacrifice, while calling on all Nigerians to unite against a common enemy.
“Here is the Messiah, Christ the son of God, suffering death for the redemption of mankind. For our sins , he became obedient to a shameful death on the cross. Thus, leaving an undying lesson that obedient , absolute faith in God, perseverance and sacrifice make the ultimate path to victory. What else does the world want? What else does Nigeria need than these virtues at this crushing moment of national history,” Ngige asked.
He charged the nation to “unite in collective sacrifice against the common enemies of insecurity, corruption, lukewarm patriotism and every other vice, eating out and ebbing away the progress of the Nigeria.”
The Minister also congratulated Christians for “being steadfast with Christ, all through the forty-day lent, culminating in the crucifixion and death on Good Friday, and the eternal damnation of the of the powers of sin and death through resurrection on the Easter Day.”
He further used the opportunity to appeal to the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to consider the suffering of sick Nigerians, lying helpless in public hospitals as a result of their strike.
“While we acknowledge the merits in their demands, we also put on the front burner, the unprecedented intervention that the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari has made in re-positioning the health sector.
“We urge the doctors to also consider that this government, has substantially met their demands, and that the outstanding issues, are timelined for implementation in the Memorandum of Action, whose life spans a month. The time calls for mutual sacrifice,” Ngige added.