The Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has called on Christians and other Nigerians to use the Lenten period to pray to God for peace and the unity of Nigeria as the March and April elections inch in.
The governor in a message by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, appealed to Christians to use the occasion to supplicate to God for the peaceful conduct of the forthcoming elections.
Aregbesola stressed that all hands must be on deck to ensure that the 40 days of the Lenten period must be used by brethren to pray for the country to have credible, fair and violence-free elections.
He admonished faithful to imbibe the lesson of the Lent, a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline.
Aregbesola advised Christians to set aside time to reflect on Jesus Christ, his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, resurrection and above all his love for humanity.
According to him, “What our nation needs at this time is love, sacrifice and forgiveness, we must all pray and join hands with our security agencies so that God can in His mercies on the occasion of Lent help the country conquer insurgency that is ravaging part of the country.
“I will also like to use this opportunity to charge our Christian clerics to educate their congregations on the need for peace and the unity of the nation.
“We must always pray to God for His will to be done on the nation, we must use the time of this Lent to pray for the coming elections to be free, fair and devoid of violence.
“As citizens, we owe our country a duty to be loyal. The stark reality is that we have no other place to go and so we should pray for continued existence of the nation.
“This season of spirituality is also good for our Christian brothers and sisters to preach and practically demonstrate love for other faiths so as to promote religious harmony wherever we live”. The governor stressed.
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