As Christians in Nigeria join the faithful all over the world to celebrate Christmas, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) called on all Nigerians to use the celebration to imbibe the virtues of Jesus Christ and pray for renewed spirit of love, unity and brotherhood amongst Nigerians towards building a stronger, more stable and progressive nation.
In a Christmas felicitation, the Director General of NOA, Dr Garba Abari recalled that Nigeria’s journey of nationhood has always leveraged on occasions such as Christmas to renew the common bond that unites Nigerians, irrespective of religious, tribal or political differences. He said the birth of Christ symbolized God’s gift of love to man, man must also extend to his fellows and therefore stressed the need to emulate the virtues of love, peace, kindness and forgiveness as exemplified by Jesus Christ.
Abari urged Nigerians to ensure the practice of sharing love outlives the Christmas season‎ as a panacea to the nation’s challenges, adding that the NOA would continue to promote good virtues and patriotism for lasting peace and mutuality ‎in the society. He was optimistic that sustaining the spirit of Christmas would prevent the crises and the swell in hate speech witnessed across the country in the outgoing year.
The NOA Director General also assured Nigerians that government has put in place adequate security measure to guarantee hitch-free Christmas celebrations, while urging them to remain law abiding and security conscious during and after the Christmas festivities.
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